Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Stephen Bediako and the Rt Hon. the Lord Mayor, Alderman William Russell.

There were no declarations.

To approve the public minutes and non-public summary of the Barbican Centre Board meeting held on 24 March 2021.

The public minutes and non-public summary of the Board meeting held on 24 March 2021 were approved as a correct record.

The Chair welcomed the new Chair of the Barbican Centre Trust, Farmida Bi, to the Board and she introduced herself.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk in respect of the Boards effectiveness and governance.

Members were advised that the report was a product of the Board effectiveness survey and discussions at the informal Member Board session held on 17 February 2021. The aim was to enhance the terms of reference for the Board’s Sub Committees in order to take decisions away from Board and give greater oversight. The proposals also set out discipline and guidelines for the Board’s Working Groups and proposals for new groups would follow.

The proposals aimed to pick up themes from the informal meeting and capture where the Board should put its focus by reducing operational items to advance the agenda strategically. By providing the Board more time at meetings, the hope was to develop this strategic content - e.g. succession planning, leadership and the Barbican Renewal Project - as these items were important for the future of the Centre.

A Member voiced concern that they were in danger of micro-managing a highly skilled team through the new NEI Committee and felt that the governance outcomes of the Lisvane Review should be realised first. The Member subsequently voted against the recommendations. The Chair responded that there was no guarantee how the Lisvane recommendations would turn out and the report only amended the existing remit of the Board.

A Member agreed with the concerns regarding micro-management and was of the opinion that the Board only had a right to be involved if there were concerns regarding a specific area of governance, e.g. EDI. It was felt clarity was needed concerning who was doing what and that the new NEI Committee did not become the executive board. The Member stated that Sub Committees should support but not replace the Board.

The Chair replied that there

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the appointment of its various Sub Committees for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED - That:-

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

·         Approve the Composition of the Board’s Sub-Committees;

·         Agree the Chair is to continue representing the Board on the Culture Mile Working Party; and

·         Appoint the Membership to the Sub-Committees for the year ensuing.

·         The following Memberships be agreed: -

Finance and Risk Committee of the Barbican Centre Board

Tijs Broeke (Chair of the Board)

Deputy Tom Sleigh (Deputy Chair of the Board)

Randall Anderson  

Russ Carr  

Anne Fairweather (Policy & Resources Committee representative)

Robert Glick OBE (Barbican Centre Trust representative)

Deputy Wendy Hyde (Finance Committee representative)

Alderman David Graves

Nominations, Effectiveness & Inclusion Committee of the Barbican Centre Board

Deputy Tom Sleigh (Chair of the Board)

Stephen Bediako (Deputy Chairman of the Board)

Randall Anderson  

Tijs Broeke  

Zulum Elumogo  

Lucy Musgrave  

Mark Page  

Dr Jens Riegelsberger  

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 Managing Director stated that things were on track with number of events going ahead. It was noted that the 17 May opening was only made certain when Government gave confirmation one week before and the same was expected for 21 June announcement.

·         Members were advised that EDI underpinned all work and this, along with the civic strategy with Gulbenkian alliance, the Barbican Renewal Project, the Centre’s approach to hybrid working and the development of Business Model, was fully intertwined in the future plan for the Centre.

·         The Managing Director introduced Will Gompertz, the new Director of Arts & Learning from 1 June, to the Board who stated he was looking forward to working with the Board on this next step for the Centre.

·         The Chair gave thanks to the Interim Director of Arts & Learning, Leo Thomson, and the Head of Finance and Business Administration, Niki Cornwell, for the fantastic work they had achieved who were attending their last Board meeting. These thanks were echoed by Members.

·         The Statutory Deputy Chair was pleased to hear that demand for business events was increasing, good to hear, but voiced caution regarding the 21 June deadline which could potentially shift highlighting the need for a plan b. Officers confirmed they were happy with uptake of pre-booked tickets, and were interested to see how demand continues as some surveys were indicating reluctance by some visitors; however, this could not be assessed until the restrictions were lifted. The biggest uncertainty was for the theatre programme.

·         The Managing Director highlighted the need for the Business model to be extraordinarily flexible. The return of people remained challenging as the public sentiment and reluctance to travel

Report of the Director of Innovation & Engagement.

The Board received a report of the Director of Innovation & Engagement and Head of HR Barbican/Guildhall School concerning the Barbican’s Safeguarding Policy which is reviewed annually.

The policy has been updated to include new details of the Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs). With the move of the Creative Learning team to be solely a Barbican department and not a joint department with the Guildhall School, this will be reviewed in further detail to ensure all safeguarding issues that would have previously been dealt with under the Guildhall School safeguarding process are covered. This paper sets out the current interim arrangements.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

There were no 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 24 March 2021.

The non-public minutes of the Board meeting held on 24 March 2021 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Operating & 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 Managing Director.

The Board received a report of the Managing Director providing Members with an update concerning the Barbican Renewal Project.

Report of the Interim Director of Arts and Learning.

(N.B. – the appendices have been circulated separately in the Information pack)

The Board considered a report of the Interim Director of Arts and Learning providing Members with an update on the Barbican International Enterprises (BIE) Strategy.

Report of the City Surveyor.

(N.B. – the appendices have been circulated separately in the Information pack)

The Board considered a Gateway 5 report of the City Surveyor regarding works required to the Barbican Exhibition Halls.

Report of the Director of Innovation & Engagement.

The Board received a report of the Director of Innovation & Engagement providing Members with an update on the progress being made towards a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for the organisation.

Report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

The Board received a report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer providing an update on the key business measures and of the implementation of the new Barbican Business Plan.

Report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

The Board noted a report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer setting out the Business Review for the March 2021 (Period 12 – 20/21) accounts.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.