Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Gareth Higgins, Paul Hughes, John Scott, Jeremy Simons and John Tomlinson.

Nicy Roberts declared a personal interest in matters relating to the Centre for Young Musicians, being a member of the CYM Monitoring Group, editor of CYM's termly magazine UPBEAT, and jointly responsible for the LSSO Alumni Database.  This was a standing declaration.

Sir Andrew Burns declared a personal interest as Chairman of the Hestercombe Gardens Trust. This was a standing declaration.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 11 May 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 2015 are approved as an accurate record.

Matters Arising

The Principal provided a brief update regarding the pavement leaks at Milton Court. He advised that further updates were being awaited from the owner of the property.

The Chairman advised that, along with the Deputy Chairman, he would be meeting with the Principal, the Town Clerk and Sir Andrew Burns following this meeting to discuss the guidance on Governance Requirements which had been received from the Committee of University Chairmen.

A Member suggested and the Board agreed that it would be good practice to establish an Outstanding Actions report for this Board, to ensure that all actions agreed by the Board were completed appropriately.

RESOLVED – That the Town Clerk ensures that an Outstanding Actions report is provided to future meetings of the Board.

To receive the public minutes of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 24 July 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 24 July 2015 are received.

Report of the Remembrancer.

The Committee considered a report of the Remembrancer which advised the Board of the relevant provisions of the Act which placed two new duties on governing bodies of educational institutions, including the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. First, the Board would need to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. Second, the Board would need to co-operate with panels put in place by local authorities to identify and provide support to those who are vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.

Members asked whether radicalisation of students was expected to be a significant issue for the Guildhall School. The Principal explained that this would be fully risk assessed, but at present it was not anticipated to be a major risk.

RESOLVED – That the Board notes the report.

Report of the Principal.

The Committee considered a report of the Principal which updated the Board on current issues at the school, particularly Awards and prizes, summer activities, Summer schools at Guildhall, Centre for Music and a strategic update.

Awards and Prizes

The Principal advised the Board that in addition to the awards and prizes listed within the report, Ashley Fripp was currently competing in the semi-final of the Leeds International Piano Competition. In response to questions from Members regarding the equivalence of prizes for Drama and Technical Theatre in comparison to Music, the Principal explained that Gold Medal winners for all categories were displayed in the School entrance, but it was difficult for prize achievement to be equivalent between the arts due to their different nature. He also explained that his reports would seek to further emphasise the achievements of recent alumni.

The Chairman requested that future reports include details of any significant monetary or scholarship prizes which were won from these awards and prizes to allow the Board to gauge the prestige of the various prizes.

Summer Schools

The Principal reported that the Summer Schools programme had been very successful. He noted that this was particularly pleasing given that it had occurred at the same time as nine capital projects were taking place around the School, from which disruption to the Summer Schools had been minimal. In response to questions from Members, Officers explained that the Summer Schools for Adults and 16-17 year olds had been particularly successful. The West End Stage School was also noted to have been a strong financial success.

RESOLVED – That the Board notes the report.

Report of the Safeguarding Lead, Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The Board considered a report of the Safeguarding Lead of the Guildhall School which updated the Board on Safeguarding developments during the Academic Year 2014/15 particularly with regard to current Safeguarding arrangements including update on priorities for 2014/15, changes to the Policy and Procedures, training undertaken by the Safeguarding Lead, staff and governors, the number and type of incidents/cases reported, and priorities for 2015/16. The Board was also provided with information regarding efforts to achieve the NSPCC Kitemark for Safeguarding over the course of the next year.

The Safeguarding Governors and the Board as a whole complemented the School for the strong work which had been conducted in this area. The Board commented that the number of cases reported, despite their not being directly related to the School, indicated that students felt comfortable in approaching staff regarding extremely sensitive issues.

RESOLVED – That the Committee approves the revised Safeguarding Policy which was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I 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 of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 2015.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 2015 were approved as a correct record.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 24 July 2015.

The non-public minutes of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 24 July 2015 were noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Board considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided information regarding the proposals for the future replacement of the existing Capital Cap arrangements which currently operated for the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School. The Board provided their comments on the report, to be conveyed to the Policy and Resources Committee.

Non Public Report of the Principal.

The Board noted a report of the Principal which updated the Board on a number of strategic issues.

Report of the Vice Principal & Director of Music.

The Board noted a report of the Vice Principal and Director of Music which provided an update on the review of under 18 music provision and its integration across the Barbican and Guildhall School.

Report of the Director of Creative Learning.

The Board noted a report of the Director of Creative Learning which provided an update on Creative Learning over the last 12 months.

Report of the Head of Development, Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

The Board noted a report of the Head of Development of the Guildhall School which detailed fundraising and alumni and supporter relations activity during the 2014/15 academic year.

Report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The Board noted a report of the Principal which provided an update on the sources of income and distribution of awards from the Guildhall School’s Scholarship Fund.

Report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

The Board considered and approved a report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer which provided the School’s five year forecasts to be submitted to HEFCE.

Report of the Chief Operating & Financial Officer.

The Board noted a report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer which provided an update on the Guildhall School’s finances.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board noted a report of the Town Clerk which provided information of action taken under urgency procedures since the last meeting.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

To agree the Confidential minutes of the last meeting held on 11 May 2015.

The Board approved the confidential minutes of the last meeting held on 11 May 2015.

The Principal to be heard.

The Board received a verbal update from the Principal in relation to the staffing matters in relation to Centres for Young Music and the Jazz Department.