Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Stuart Fraser, Sheriff and Alderman William Russell (lateness of arrival and early departure) and Nicy Roberts.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 3^rd July 2017.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2017 be approved as a correct record, subject to an amendment to the first line of the third bullet point of item 5 (page 5 of the agenda pack) to refer to ‘Members’ rather than ‘Governors’.

In response to a question from a Governor, the Town Clerk confirmed that the future report on the Board’s diversity and skills would be prepared following consultation with Human Resources, for presentation to the Board at the February 2018 meeting.   

To receive the public minutes of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on Friday, 21 July 2017.

The draft public minutes of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 21 July 2017 were received.

RECEIVED

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

Governors considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School and the following points were made.

·         The Principal reported on the arrival of the first group of Chinese students (12 – enrolled in acting) as part of the shared Beijing degree and said that future progress would be reported.

·         It was noted that further contact would be made with the Remembrancer’s Office on immigration and the arts and involvement with the House of Lords. A further meeting had taken place relating to lobbying conservatoires.

·         The Principal also referred to the progression of possible partnership initiatives with Barbican, with priority issues emerging which could be best addressed by more joint working. It was noted that the Culture Mile, and proposed Centre of Music, project had been launched at a joint Barbican / Guildhall staff meeting and press conference.

·         The Chairman referred to the high profile success of previous Guildhall attendees such as Jodie Whittaker as providing excellent publicity for the School.   

RECEIVED

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

Governors considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School on the Governors’ development day and the following matters were raised.

·         It was noted that the venue for the day was still be confirmed.

·         A Governor asked that reference be made under ‘other obligations’ to “UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)”

·         The Principal confirmed the intention to provide suitably tailored information to provoke thought and considered debate at the afternoon session.

RESOLVED, that the general outline of the development day be approved, with the above addition to ‘other obligations’.  

Report of the Town Clerk.

Governors considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding outstanding actions and the following was raised.

·         The Chairman informed Governors of a typographical error on item 6 (page 28 of the agenda pack), insofar as the reference to ‘Chairman’ should refer to ‘Chamberlain’.

·         The Chairman then referred to various vacancies existing on the Board’s sub-committees and related bodies and discussion took place, during which Governors noted the information provided by the Principal in relation to Professor Maria Delgado. During discussion, the Town Clerk undertook to clarify eligibility for vacant positions on the Remuneration Committee and the Principal confirmed the intention to discuss the vacancy for a senior academic staff member on the Nominations Committee at the School’s next Vice Principals’ meeting. Following further debate it was-

RESOLVED, that Governors receive the report and

·         Appoint Professor Maria Delgado to the Remuneration Committee as a co-opted member.

·         Appoint The Chairman to the vacancy on the Academic Assurance Working Group.

·         Appoint The Deputy Chairman as the nominated Governor to liaise with the Students’ Union; and

·         That the Town Clerk prepares a report as a standard item at each future Board meeting setting out the dates of the Board’s forthcoming sub-committee and related body meetings.

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

Governors considered a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director on the City of London Corporation’s Cultural Strategy and the Chairman said that high level comments on the strategy itself were being looked for at this stage. The following matters were then raised.

·         Governors asked that ‘our’ be inserted before ‘cultural organisations’ in the first priority action on page 41 of the agenda pack and that ‘and globally’ be inserted at the end of point 9 on page 36.

·         Concern was then raised by a Governor that elements of the draft showed that the City was ‘punching below its weight’ at present and that further work is required to capitalise on the unique location offer and better engage the important cultural ‘players’ to enable them to feel more a part of the City. The Governor offered her input to help improve the draft in this regard and said that she would discuss the issues further with City officers.

·         A Governor put forward the view that section 9 (pages 44 to 45) was mainly related to promotion rather than potential to engage. It was noted that engagement is already extensive but that a further co-ordinated effort would be useful and projects like the Culture Mile would enable further scope to do this by education and outreach.            

·         A Governor then raised the question of whether the nomination of ‘a senior officer’ (first priority action at bottom of page 45) provided sufficient resource to lead on the Strategy’s implementation and also how the outcomes would be measured. A Governor also drew attention to previous issues arising from the running of the City of London Festival which he thought should be taken account of in the light of experience.

Sheriff and Alderman William Russell entered at this point of the meeting

Questions on the work of the Board were then considered and a Governor raised the issue of external auditor appointment (item 8, paragraph 4 on page 13) and ensuring the appointee has sufficient expertise in regard to the task in hand. The Chairman said that the Chamberlain’s Department would be contacted on this matter with a report back to the Board.

RESOLVED, that the Board receive a report back from the Chamberlain’s Department on the arrangements for the appointment of the external auditor and to ensure that a suitable appointment be made.    

There was no other 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 100(A) 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 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd July 2017.

RESOLVED - That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2017 be approved as a correct record.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 21 July 2017.

The non-public minutes of the Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting held on 21 July 2017 were received.

RECEIVED

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

Governors considered a general report of the Principal of the Guildhall School.

RECEIVED

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

Governors considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School on an update on the Strategic Plan.

Sheriff and Alderman William Russell left at this point of the meeting (3.37pm).

RECEIVED

RESOLVED, that Governors agree to extend the meeting beyond two hours’ duration in line with Standing Order 40.

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

The report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on the reserves policy was withdrawn for consideration at the next meeting of the Board in November.

The Assistant Account to be heard.

The item on Finance review (academic year end position) was withdrawn from the agenda.

Governors considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on Safeguarding (see below).

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

Governors considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School on the Safeguarding Annual Report.

RECEIVED

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

Governors considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School on the Safeguarding Policy.

RESOLVED, that the revised Safeguarding Policy be approved.

There were no questions.

The Chairman informed the Board that Martin Newton would take over the role of Clerk to the Board during Gemma Stokley’s maternity leave.