Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy David Bradshaw, John Chapman, Professor Maria Delgado, Shreela Ghosh and The Rt Hon. the Lord Mayor, Alderman William Russell.

There were no declarations.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, the public minutes of the meeting held on 13^th May 2019 will be resubmitted for approval to the meeting of the Board on 17th February 2020.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, the public minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd September 2019 will be resubmitted for approval to the meeting of the Board on 17^th February 2020.

Officers confirmed that, in light of recent events, all staff Members holding auditions in Hong Kong had safely departed.

The minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee of the Board of Governors of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama meeting held on 4^th November 2019 were noted by Governors.

The minutes of the meeting of the Governance and Effectiveness Committee of the Board of Governors of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama held on 28^th October were noted by Governors.

The Draft Public Minutes will be tabled at the meeting.

This item was deferred.

To Follow

This item was deferred.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board received a Report of the Town Clerk concerning outstanding actions.

RESOLVED – that the Report was noted by the Board.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a Report of the Town Clerk concerning the agenda plan for the remainder of 2019/20.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report

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

The Board received a Report of the Principal updating Governors on several issues.

The Principle confirmed that the Patron Scheme had been successfully launched and encouraged Governors to sign up.

A Governor added that the achievement of the highly competitive Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships should be noted.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a Report of the Principle concerning the Academic Board’s assurances for 2018/19.

Whilst thanking officers for the Report, Governors were keen that future iterations came with less detail and, instead, when appropriate, summarised the salient issues.

Governors expressed concern about the ratio between males and females when it came to offers to study music at the School. The Principal responded that her team took diversity and representation incredibly seriously – both in the make-up of the student body and, indeed, amongst staff employed across the School and were determined to ensuring that any barriers in the way of greater female representation at the school were removed.

A Governor was particularly concerned that a paragraph in the Report (5.5), namely; “This shows that males overall are more likely to be made an offer than females but when

looked at on a programme by programme, and instrument by instrument level the picture

is not as clear”, did not provide the requisite level of explanation as to what lay behind the reasons for more offers being made to males. 

The Principal added that her team continued to keep the issue of grade inflation top of mind. It was important to recognise that the government model employed was geared more to fit bigger institutions, many of which gave less emphasis to the bespoke training that GSMD offered. An internal review was underway, and an update would be provided to Governors in 2020.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the Academic Assurance Working Group.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the Academic Assurance Working Group.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning the School’s International Strategy.

The Principal stressed that, primarily, the outcome of Brexit would have a significant impact on the shape of the strategy going forward. In a scenario where the UK withdraws from the Erasmus programme, fees for EU citizens will increase considerably.

Whilst maintaining the in-take level of students from the EU was a goal, it was clear that increased fees (the unit costs were approx. £18K for music and £23K for acting) could present a significant barrier to maintaining numbers both in the short and the long term and, as a result, much thought needed to be given to alternatives, including reframing the strategy as “Home” (i.e. the UK) and “the rest of the world” (including the EU), as well as prioritising and forging deeper ties with external institutions based both in the EU and elsewhere.

The Principal noted that another potential mitigating action would be to add resources to those courses that are favoured among UK based students – for example, applications to study jazz and electronic music were particularly popular over recent years. She added, however, that the appetite and aptitude among domestic students would of course be reliant upon the resources and prioritisation provided at primary and secondary education level – something which had been highlighted by the Creative Industry Federation’s recent Durham Report.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve the Report will be taken under urgency procedures.

Report of the Principal.

This Item was taken in the non-public section of the meeting.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning remuneration.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning co-opted members.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

Report of the Head of Internal Audit.

The Board received a Report concerning the Internal Audit.

Governors welcomed the improvement in timeliness compared to previous years, however, they encouraged officers to inculcate a greater culture of challenge and stretch both during the next six months before completion of the 2019-20 Internal Audit Plan and in the longer term.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Report of the Chairman of the Board’s Audit & Risk Management Committee.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning audit and risk.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Joint Report of the Chamberlain and the Comptroller & City Solicitor.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning the independence of Members.

A Governor expressed his concerns that the City should not have approached the Office for Students directly, but should have liaised, in the first instance, with the Principal, who as the established contact, was the appropriate person to seek clarifications from the OFS.

It was vital, he added, that with the RISTA (Review of Institution Specific Targeted Allocation) Report coming up, all stakeholders were conscious of the risk that the OFS will be keeping a very close watch on all governance related matters and that this approach may well have flagged something, causing further / closer inspection in due course.

A Governor stated that whilst consideration should be given to the OFS’s concerns, City officers were operating in good faith and, significantly, in their corporate capacity and had every right to do so. The Principal accepted that appropriate City officers had the right to communicate with external bodies such as the OFS but said it would have been helpful if the initial communication had gone through her, so any further discussions or outcomes were dealt with swiftly and effectively.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board received a Report of the Town Clerk concerning decisions taken since the last meeting.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

There were no questions.

There was no 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 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.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 13th May 2019 will be resubmitted for approval to the meeting of the Board on 17th February 2020.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd September 2019 will be resubmitted for approval to the meeting of the Board on 17th February 2020.

The non-public minutes of the Finance and Resources Committee of the Board of Governors of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama meeting held on 4^th November 2019 were noted by Governors.

The non-public minutes of the meeting of the Governance and Effectiveness Committee of the Board of Governors of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama held on 28^th October were noted by Governors.

The Draft Non-Public Minutes will be tabled at the meeting.

This item was deferred.

To Follow.

This item was deferred.

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

The Board considered a Report of the Principal updating Governors on several issues.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

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

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the 2018 – 2023 Business Plan.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

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

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the accountability return.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the financial forecast to the OFS.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

Report of the Principal.

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the OFS Accounts Direction.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning risk management.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning Report and Financial Statements for the 2018/19 Financial Year.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

Report of the Principal.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning the year on year salary movements.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

The Board received BDO LLP’s Reasonable Assurance Report.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

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

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning management information.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

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

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the School Budget.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

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

The Board considered a Waiver Report of the Principal concerning a residential course in production arts for circus skills.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.

Principal to be heard.

The Board received a Report of the Principal concerning safeguarding.

RESOLVED – that the Board noted the Report.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.

The Board considered a Report of the Principal concerning the Capital and Supplementary Plan.

Due to the meeting being inquorate, a decision to approve will be taken under urgency procedures.