Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Sir Andrew Burns, Gareth Higgins, Kathryn McDowell and Alex Tostdevine.

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.

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council, 21 April 2016, appointing the Board and approving its terms of reference.

The Order of the Court of Common Council dated 21 April 2016 appointing the Board and setting out its Terms of Reference was received.

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

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.29.

The Town Clerk read a list of Members eligible to stand and Deputy John Bennett, being the only Member who expressed his willingness to serve, was duly elected as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuring year.

The Chairman thanked the Board for their continued support. He referred to recent challenges faced by the School and added that the year ahead would prove equally challenging, not least with the appointment of a new Principal to be considered.

The Chairman welcomed Deputy John Barker back to the Board who had been returned by the Court of Common Council to serve the remaining two years of his final three year term. He also welcomed Martin Moore, the relatively new Chairman of the Guildhall School Trust.

The Chairman, on behalf of the Board, thanked those who had left or were soon to be leaving the Board for their contributions in past years – Angela Starling (Common Council), Alex Tostdevine (Student Union representative), Kathryn McDowell (co-opted Member) and Peter Young (former Chairman of the Guildhall School Trust).

To appoint 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 out a list of Members eligible to stand as Deputy Chairman and both Deputy John Chapman and Vivienne Littlechild indicated their willingness to serve,

A ballot was therefore conducted and the results were as follows:

                                             Votes

Deputy John Chapman           5

Vivienne Littlechild                  7

Vivienne Littlechild was therefore declared Deputy Chairman for the ensuing year.

The Deputy Chairman thanked the Board for their support and stated that she would do her very best to support both the Chairman and the School during her time in office.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 22 February 2016.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2016 were considered and approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

A report of the Town Clerk was considered regarding the appointment of Members to serve on the Audit & Risk Management, Remuneration, Nominations, Reference, Finance & Resources and Governance & Effectiveness Sub Committees for 2016/2017. The report also detailed the Terms of Reference of each Sub Committee.

The Chairman emphasised that it was expected that Governors would be willing to serve on at least one Sub Committee.

RESOLVED – That the 2016/17 membership of the Sub Committees be approved as follows:

a) the Audit & Risk Management Committee comprise the following

Governors:

·     Christina Coker (elected Chairman of the Audit & Risk Management Sub

    Committee by the Board)

·     Marianne Fredericks

·     Lucy Frew

·     Jeremy Simons

The Town Clerk reported that she had also been informed that Neil Constable, whose term of office on the Board had now expired, had expressed an interest in continuing to serve on the Audit and Risk Management Committee. The existing Chairman of this Committee had indicated that she would welcome his continued input. The Town Clerk confirmed that the Audit and Risk Sub Committee had the power, if it considers it necessary or desirable, to co-opt members with particular expertise and they would therefore formally consider Mr Constable’s co-option at their next meeting.

b) the Remuneration Committee comprise the following Governors:

·       Deputy John Bennett (Chairman)

·       Vivienne Littlechild (Deputy Chairman)

·       Barry Ife (Principal)

·       Alderman David Graves

·       Alderman William Russell

·       Jeremy Simons

c) the Nominations Committee comprise the following Governors:

·       Deputy John Bennett (Chairman)

·       Vivienne Littlechild (Deputy Chairman)

·       Barry Ife (Principal)

·       Sir Andrew Burns (co-opted Governor)

·       Christina Coker (co-opted Governor)

·       Marianne Fredericks (Common Councilman)

·       Jo Hensel (Academic Staff)

·       Michael Hoffman (co-opted Governor)

·       Jeremy Mayhew (Common Councilman)

·       Jeremy Simons (Common Councilman)

d) the Reference Sub Committee comprise the following Governors:

·       Deputy John Bennett (Chairman)

·       Vivienne Littlechild (Deputy Chairman)

·       Deputy John Barker

·       Sir Andrew Burns

·       Michael

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama updating Governors on a number of current issues including Awards and Prizes, Drama tour of China and CYM Satellites.

Awards and Prizes

The Principal was delighted to report that all six finalists at this year’s Ferrier Awards had been alumni of the Guildhall School.

The Principal went on to report that the winner of the 2016 Guildhall School Gold Medal was harpist, Oliver Wass who had proved to be a very popular winner. The Vice-Principal and Director of Music reported that this was the first time that the award had gone to a harpist.

Finally, the Board were informed that a former pupil of the Guildhall School, Michaela Coel had recently been awarded a BAFTA for the best female performance in a comedy prize.

Drama tour of China

The Principal wished to record his thanks to Co-opted Member Mr Hoffman for his intervention in ensuring that a member of the cast whose visa application was initially rejected was able to join the company in good time for the first performance in Shanghai.

HEFCE revised operating model for quality assessment

The Principal reported that the School’s five-yearly assurance review had taken place on 28 April. He added that this had been a success on the whole and had resulted in some observations/recommendations for the School going forward.

The Chairman drew Governors’ attention to Appendix A which contained some next steps for the Board to note, in particular, the need for the governing body to sign a statement each year equivalent to the statement already signed by the Principal on an annual basis.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama regarding a revision to the Strategic Plan.

The Principal clarified that the Strategic Aims and Vision within the Plan remained unchanged but that a revision had been required for inclusion in the recruitment pack for the next Principal. The Principal wished to record his thanks to the Strategic Review Group (consisting of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, four current and former members of the Board, the Principal and the three Vice-Principals) for overseeing the revision of the document.

The Principal reported that it was now suggested that two further amendments be made to the Plan. The first amendment was to reflect the fact that the School now featured in the QS world rankings among the top ten institutions for the performing arts in the world. The second amendment would be to refer to the City now carrying out its own strategic review of funding.

Governors welcomed the update to the document. A Member suggested that the word ‘educational’ be added to the description of the qualities of a Guildhall graduate within the document as it was felt that this was a key area of the Plan. The Principal undertook to make this revision.

In response to a question, the Principal reported that this document was last reviewed by the Board in 2013.

RESOLVED – That, the Board approves the April 2016 revision the Strategic Plan and three further proposed amendments to add the word ‘educational’ to the description of the qualities of a Guildhall School graduate and to reflect the QS top ten ranking and the forthcoming City review of funding for inclusion in the recruitment pack for the next Principal.

There were no questions.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

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 I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2016.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2016 were considered.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama detailing HEFCE’s assessment of institutional risk received by the School.

N.B: The outcome of the review of institution-specific targeted allocations (RISTA) and the associated provisional grant allocations for the 2016/17 academic year are embargoed until Friday 6 May. A report and analysis will be circulated electronically to Board members on 6 May for discussion at this agenda item.

The Board considered a late, separately circulated report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama summarising the outcome of the HEFCE review of institution-specific targeted allocations (RISTA) and the provisional grant letter for 2016/17, issued on 19 April and embargoed until 6 May.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama proposing a number of possible replacements for three non-City members of the Board of Governors who had now completed their third and final term of office and are therefore no longer eligible to serve.

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

The Board received a report of the Head of Development of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama providing Governors with a copy of the School’s fundraising case for support narrative which is currently under development.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama providing Governors with nominations for fellowships and honorary fellowships for the 2016/17 session.

Report of the City Surveyor.

N.B: REPORT TO FOLLOW

The Board considered and approved a late, separately circulated joint report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the City Surveyor providing an update on School Accommodation.

Report of the Principal.

N.B: REPORT TO FOLLOW.

The Board considered and approved a late, separately circulated report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama regarding the Fee schedule for 2017/18.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama providing Governors with the contents of the Access Agreement for 2017.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered and approved a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama providing Governors with an update on the School’s current amd previous Capital Cap programmes.

Report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

N.B: REPORT TO FOLLOW

The Board received a late, separately circulated report of the Chief Operating and Financial Officer detailing the Finance Review for March 2016, Period 12 of the 2015/16 Financial Year.

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration in the non-public session.

The Director of HR and Zara Wright of Perrett Laver provided the Board with a verbal update on the appointment of a Principal in the confidential session.

With the exception of the Town Clerk and Director of HR all officers (including the Principal) and those who were not Board members were instructed to leave the room whilst this item was discussed.