Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Lucy Musgrave, Wendy Mead and Alderman William Russell.

There were no declarations.

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 16 July 2020 appointing the Board and setting its Terms of Reference (TO FOLLOW).

The Order of the Court, appointing the Board and setting its terms of reference, was received.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.29.

In accordance with Standing Order No.29, the Board proceeded to elect a Chairman for the ensuing year. The Town Clerk read a list of Members eligible to stand and Deputy Tom Sleigh, being the only Member expressing his willingness to serve, was duly elected as Chair.

The Chair thanked Members for their support and was pleased to be democratically elected as Chairman of the Board instead of being in the role as Acting Chair.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30. The Town Clerk read a list of Members eligible to stand and Deputy Giles Shilson, being the only Member expressing his willingness to serve, was duly elected as Deputy Chairman.

To approve the public minutes and summary of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 20 May 2020.

The public minutes and summary of the Board meeting held on 20 May 2020 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board noted the various outstanding actions and the updates provided thereon. The Town Clerk confirmed that the Covid-19 pandemic had significantly impacted the work plan for Board meetings in 2020/21 and would be updated following decisions at this meeting.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk proposing an appointment suggestion for the Barbican Centre Board.

Members were informed that the Nominations Committee had considered and approved the recommendation to appoint Zulum Elumogo to the Board at their meeting today. Members were impressed by the candidate and were happy to approve the recommendation.

RESOLVED – That Members approve the appointment of Zulum Elumogo to the Board for an initial term of three years.

*Zulum Elumogo joined the meeting at this point following his Board appointment.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the appointment of its various sub-committees for the coming year.

RESOLVED - That:-

·         Approve the merger of the Finance and Risk Committees to form the Finance and Risk Committee;

·         Approve the Terms of Reference and composition of the Board’s Sub Committees;

·         The Reference Sub-Committee be terminated as it no longer serves a purpose;

·         The Chairman would continue representing the Board on the Culture Mile Working Party;

·         The Terms of Reference for the Finance and Risk Committee and Nominations Committee of the Barbican Centre Board be agreed; and

·         The following Memberships be agreed: -

Finance and Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board

Deputy Tom Sleigh (Chair of the Board)

Deputy Dr Giles Shilson (Deputy Chairman of the Board)

Jeremy Mayhew (Finance Committee representative)

Emma Kane (Chairman of the Barbican Centre Trust)

Alisdair Nisbet (Barbican Centre Trust)

Randall Anderson

Russ Carr

Deputy Wendy Hyde

Nominations Committee of the Barbican Centre Board

Deputy Tom Sleigh (Chair of the Board)

Deputy Dr Giles Shilson (Deputy Chairman of the Board)

Lucy Musgrave

Jenny Waldman

Report of the Managing Director.

Members received a report of the Managing Director providing updates from the Barbican Directors on their respective areas. The following comments were made:

·         The Art Gallery and Conservatory had reopened to the public receiving 5,149 visitors. The Barbican Library reopened on Monday receiving 354 visitors.

·         The Manging Director confirmed that whilst a thriving Centre remained the aim, there was a need to manage the speed and degree of return and a phased pattern was needed to ensure safety in line with Government guidelines.

·         Developing the digital offer has remained pivotal and cinema on demand had now launched requiring cross-team working.

·         The Creative Learning programme has moved into a blended model with improved digital content and strong Partner collaboration.

·         The Barbican and Guildhall School jointly hosted an online workshop around ‘Civic Conservatoire / Civic Urbanism’ following the cancelled joint Board away day in March. The Town Clerk agreed to circulate the workshop recording to Members. The Deputy Chairman stated that the civic workshop was very inspiring and pitched for more workshops.

·         It was noted that a workshop would take place tomorrow looking at how the Centre could refresh and progress thinking on technology which would include a range of staff inputting.

·         Members were informed that the aim remained to create an environment that enables and inspires, and the management alliance continued to ensure this was delivered in a compliant, appropriate and efficient way.

·         The Director of Operations and Buildings thanked the engineers and operational staff for their continued hard work throughout the building which ensured the reopening of the Barbican. Local residents were also thanked for their patience whilst works continued. The Chair echoed this thanks and appreciation on behalf of the Board and was happy that visitors were returning to the Centre.

·         The Managing Director stated that the closure of

Joint report of the Head of HR, Interim Artistic Director and Director of Innovation and Engagement.

The Board considered a joint report of the Head of HR, Interim Artistic Director and Director of Innovation and Engagement providing the annual Equality and Inclusion update on the work underway to develop a new strategy for 2020 onwards.

Officers acknowledged that whilst there had been some good progress since last year, the timeliness of reviewing equality and inclusion was more significant than ever following the recent impact of the BLM movement highlighting how much more needed to be done. The Barbican has since initiated Listen and Learn sessions for BAME staff to input into and Taskforce has been set up to review work and practices.

The Chair of the Barbican Centre Trust advised that greater diversity of Trustees was also important, and she intended to step down as chair to allow new talent to emerge.

The Chair advised Members that the City Corporation’s Tackling Racism Taskforce (TRT) was working quickly on all issues and encouraged the Team to input on issues within the cultural workstream that was in development.

A Member was concerned that separate BAME groups and networks were another form of segregation for BAME staff and colleagues and felt that groups should be open to all. Several Members disagreed with this view and a Member stated that affinity groups were considered good practice and a safe space for the group in question find their voice and space within an organisation. The Member added that since joining the Board he had and would continue to explore the diversity question and highlighted the importance of diversity of perspective as morally right and creating value in a post-Covid world. It was accepted that there was privilege on the Board, and they should look at what others were doing better to understand what racism was and to ensure diverse content.

Report of the Interim Artistic Director.

(N.B. – To be read in conjunction with the non-public appendices at Item 19)

The Board received a report of the on Interim Artistic Director providing an overview of the Visual Arts department’s current areas of activity and strategic focus, outlining the impact of our programme over the past year, and points to key future strategic initiatives.

The Head of Visual Arts advised that she was proud of the team as the department had managed to achieve great continuity in comparison to peers in other organisations who had been furloughed. Before the lockdown, huge audiences were being achieved from touring exhibitions. The postponement and cancellation of planned 2020 exhibitions had had a major financial impact, but the team were keen to overcome this challenging time and improve diversity and gender balance of the upcoming programme.

A Member queried why the Into the Night exhibition was hugely successful in Vienna but not in the UK. Officers advised that it may not have delivered as it tried to do too much and there were mistakes in how it was run leading to mixed reviews.

A Member noted the huge success of Basquiat and asked what the Centre did right so this success could be replicated. It was noted key learning from successes was important, but that Basquiat was a cult figure with a huge following with broad appeal which made the exhibition hard to replicate. It was hoped the upcoming programme would inspire success with great diversity and young audiences.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Director of Operations and Buildings.

(N.B. – To be read in conjunction with the non-public appendix at Item 20)

The Board 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 Chair noted that he had recently visited the Centre to observe the projects that had were completed during lockdown and the new carpet looked great.

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 Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 20 May 2020.

The non-public minutes of the Board meeting held on 20 May 2020 were approved as a correct record.

To receive the draft informal note of the Finance Committee meeting held on 6 July 2020.

Members received the draft informal note of the Finance Committee meeting held on 6 July 2020.

To be read in conjunction with the report at Item 12.

The Board received the non-public Visual Arts update and appendices to be read in conjunction with item 12.

To be read in conjunction with the report at Item 13.

The Board received the non-public Projects Update appendix to be read in conjunction with item 13.

Report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

The Board 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.

Report of the Director of Operations & Buildings.

The Board received a report of the Director of Operations and Buildings providing Members with an update on the Capital Cap system funding many construction/refurbishment and other projects at the Barbican Centre.

Report of the Interim Artistic Director.

The Board noted a report of the Interim Artistic Director regarding the Barbican Marketing and Communications Annual Report. 

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Board noted a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer providing a progress update on Catering and Bars 2019/20, outlining the performance and issues of 2019/20 and the proposals going forward.    

Report of the Director of Innovation & Engagement.

The Board noted a report of the Director of Innovation & Engagement providing Members with an update on the current status of the Barbican Guildhall Creative Alliance, following a strategic review and development of a new Framework, to promote and programme mutual benefit-driven collaborative projects.

Report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

The Board noted a report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer providing Members with an overview of the retail operation in 2019/20 (covering the foyer shop, gallery shop and online), an update on progress made following the retail review in November 2018 and the response to the Covid-19 pandemic so far.

Report of the Interim Artistic Director.

The Board 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 & Buildings.

The Board 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 Board considered a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer setting out the Business Review for the May 2020 (Period 2 – 20/21) accounts.

There were no questions.

There was one item.