Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy John Bennett, Deputy Catherine McGuinness, Trevor Phillips and Tom Sleigh.

There were none.

To approve the public minutes and summary of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 18 May 2016.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 18 May 2016 were approved.

To receive the draft public minutes and summary of the Finance Committee of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 29 June 2016.

The draft public minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2016 were received.

To receive the draft public minutes and summary of the Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 29 June 2016.

The draft public minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2016 were received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board received a report of the Town Clerk setting out the outstanding actions list and noted the various updates and additions. The forthcoming workplan for Board meetings in 2016 and 2017 was also noted.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Managing Director.

Members received a report of the Managing Director providing updates from the Barbican Directors on their respective areas.

Members commented positively on the role of the Barbican Ambassadors and urged that more be done to showcase their role and input on the website. The recent closure of the stalls bar was also commented on, with it noted that the Risk Committee had discussed the issue in some depth at its recent meeting.

Members discussed the potential effects of Brexit on the Centre and in particular the impact on those members of staff from the European Union who were not UK citizens, both in terms of the immediate impact on morale and the longer term outcome as to their continued residency and working rights. In addition, there was a potential impact in respect of attracting young global talent to the Barbican in years to come, a problem potentially shared by the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Members expressed particular concern that steps be taken in the shorter term to assuage the concerns of staff, particularly through the use of appropriate communication and messaging. The Managing Director reassured Members that some initial messaging on these lines had already been circulated amongst staff. In respect of the wider issue of communicating the Barbican’s position to the external world, the Barbican was working with others in the sector and through the Arts Council to ensure a coherent message was put out. Members agreed that it would be important to ensure that the arts voice was as united as possible on this issue in order to maximise the impact of any messaging; it was also suggested that it would be helpful to have an understanding of the potential impact on current staff, with a view to assessing the scale of risk in respect of motivation

Report of the Director of Arts.

N.B. – to be read in conjunction with the non-public sections and appendices of this report at Item 12.

The Board received a report and accompanying presentation from the Director of Arts and the Head of Visual Arts, following which Members took the opportunity to ask a number of questions. During discussion, the following points were raised:

• Members were effusive in their praise for the quality of the programme over the past year, which had continued to go from strength to strength.
• The tangible benefits of closer working between the Visual Arts team and the Communications & Marketing team were particularly noted as having had a significant impact on performance.
• Members were provided with a breakdown of the curatorial team, comprising an enthusiastic and complementary blend of talented individuals whom the Director was confident would provide continued success and innovation to the Visual Arts programme.
• It was suggested that it would be beneficial to work towards developing a greater understanding of the diversity of audiences attending exhibits, so as to help manage and inform a diverse programming approach.
• Members referenced their previous support for the concept of pop-up installations in outside spaces as an experimental and novel way of bringing the visual arts to people in unexpected places. The Head of Visual Arts reassured Members this was an area that continued to be explored wherever possible, highlighting recent instances such as the lakeside installation for the Ragnar Kjartansson exhibition and planned displays to coincide with a forthcoming exhibition focusing on Japanese art. However, it was cautioned that such pop-ups were sometimes relatively costly and so would need to be managed against the backdrop of decreased funding to the gallery.
• In discussing the Barbican’s competitors, the view was expressed that some of the increase in attendees could be due to the recent closure of the Hayward Gallery. However, it was noted that the Barbican and Hayward’s offerings were markedly different and

Report of the Director of Creative Learning.

N.B. – to be read in conjunction with the non-public appendices of this report at Item 13.

The Board received a report and accompanying presentation from the Director of Creative Learning and the Head of Creative Learning, following which Members took the opportunity to ask a number of questions. During discussion, the following points were raised:

• Members highlighted the fact that the Creative Learning team had engaged with over 40,000 young people over the last year, which represented an astounding level of impact. It was suggested that the Barbican should do more to make others aware of the huge impact of the Creative Learning team’s work, including the wider Court of Common Council and prospective funders who might support even more wide-reaching activity in future.
• It was noted that an additional 35,000 people would also be engaged in some way through the forthcoming Walthamstow Garden Party.
• The Director confirmed that the intention was to grow and expand the Creative Learning team’s activity and that work was underway to identify a suitable location for additional dedicated space. It was clarified however that growth within the Creative Learning team would require a corresponding increase in resource in other departments, such as Communications & Marketing, to adequately support this additional work. Consequently, wider planning would be required in this area and to this end a business plan was being developed which would more accurately identify resource implications.
• With reference to expanding national and regional reach, it was conformed that the intention was to seek to develop national partnerships for the Barbican Box programme, which would serve as a blueprint to be replicated in other areas. The team would be working with potential partners for this concept in the coming year.
• It was noted that the Creative Learning team’s work formed a significant part of the City Corporation’s overall educational strategy.
• In commenting on the financial summary, it was noted that the

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 agree the non-public minutes of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 18 May 2016.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 18 May 2016 were approved.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Finance Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 29 June 2016.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2016 were received.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board held on 29 June 2016.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2016 were received.

To be considered in conjunction with Item 6.

The Board received the non-public appendices to be read in conjunction with item 6.

To be considered in conjunction with Item 7.

The Board received the non-public appendices to be read in conjunction with item 7.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Board received a report of the Chamberlain setting out the Business Review for the Period 2 Accounts 2016/17.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Board received a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer which set out the latest fundraising results against budget.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Board received a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer outlining the various recommendations from recent security reviews of the Barbican and setting out the Centre’s implementation plan. 

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

N.B. – this was previously considered by the Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board at their meeting on 29 June 2016.

The Board received a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer updating Members on the key risks facing the Centre and detailing the steps being taken to mitigate these risks.

Report of the Managing Director.

The Board considered and approved a report of the Managing Director setting out the final outturn position for the third year (2015/16) of the Cap 3 period and presenting a revised project programme and expenditure plans for the final year of Cap 3 (2016/17).

Report of the Managing Director.

The Board considered and approved a report of the Managing Director providing the outcomes and lessons learnt from a project to replace the Concert Hall rigging system.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Board received a report of the City Surveyor concerning enabling works at the Barbican Exhibition Hall 1.

Report of the Director of Operations & Buildings.

The Board received a report of the Director of Operations & Buildings providing updates on those projects across the Barbican Campus.

There were no questions.

There were three urgent items:

a)         Service Based Review / Strategic Plan Update

The Board received a report of the Managing Director providing an update in respect of progress made in meeting the Barbican’s Service Based Review targets and Strategic Plan objectives.

b)      City of London WiFi Concession

          The Board considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor concerning plans to improve the provision of WiFi in the City.

c)      Appointment of External Member

          The Board considered and approved a recommendation of the Nominations Committee, concerning the appointment of Russ Carr to the Board for an initial three-year term.

          The Board also agreed to appoint Mr Carr to its Finance and Risk Committees.