Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Emma Kane.

There were no declarations.

To approve the public minutes and summary of the last meeting held on 7 September 2020.

The draft public minutes of the Finance & Risk Committee meeting held on 7 September 2020 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Head of Audit & Risk Management.

The Committee considered a report of the Head of Audit & Risk Management providing Members with an update in respect of Internal Audit activity related to the Barbican Centre, the last written submission having been made to the January 2020 meeting of the Barbican Risk Committee.

Members were informed that the Audit Plan delivery had been completed for 2019-20 and is progressing in respect of 2020-21. As of mid-October 2020, there were no live red priority recommendations and seven live amber priority recommendations which exceeded their original target dates for implementation. Revised target dates were supplied for these recommendations due to slippage in implementation timescales. 

The Head of Audit & Risk Management confirmed that there had been good progress since the implementation of the new audit system and Officers were confident that the Centre’s audit plan would be delivered. The new approach, which included the issuing of new reporting, had seen better dialogue with Senior Management and it was hoped this would help with finalising some older recommendations that were overdue past their original completion dates. Members were asked if March 2021 was an appropriate date to finalise these outstanding recommendations.

A Member was pleased to note improvements concerning bars and retail, with most recommendations largely resolved, and queried how these were being managed and followed up. Officers confirmed the audits were recently completed and would be revisited as per the targets. It was noted that follow up was generally one month after the scheduled implementation date and that timescales could be included on future reports with a follow up column providing scheduled dates.

A Member enquired if internal audit had looked at changes in process and approval of financial transactions as a result of Covid. Members were advised that this was mostly unchanged except for the ability of some committees

Report of the Director of Operations and Buildings.

(N.B. – To be read in conjunction with the non-public appendix at Item _)

The Committee received a report of the Director of Operations and Buildings providing Members with an update on the Centre’s maintenance and refurbishment projects that fall under the Cyclical Works Programme (CWP) and additional projects funded from other sources.

The Director of Operations and Buildings gave thanks to Members for their support and noted the huge amount of work being down behind the scenes to deliver the large pipeline of works which was moving forward.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION – That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of Exempt Information, as defined in Part 1, of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To approve the non-public minutes of the last meeting held on 7 September 2020.

The draft non-public minutes of the Finance & Risk Committee meeting held on 7 September 2020 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer providing Members with an update on the current situation for the Centre as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To be read in conjunction with the report at Item _.

The Committee received the non-public Projects Update appendix to be read in conjunction with item 5.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer setting out the Business Review for the September 2020 (Period 6 – 20/21) accounts.

Report of the Interim Artistic Director.

The Committee received a report of the Interim Artistic Director updating Members on the Programming Controversial Risk Register and the identified potential risks that occur as a result of specific programmed events and activities, as well as outlining the mitigation processes in place for each.

Report of the Director of Operations and Buildings.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Operations and Buildings updating Members on the risk management system in place at the Barbican, the significant risks that have been identified and measures for mitigation of these risks.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Committee noted a report of the Town Clerk updating Members on action taken by the Town Clerk under urgency or delegated authority in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman since the last meeting of the Committee, in accordance with Standing Orders No. 41 (a) and (b). 

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.