Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Munsur Ali, Jason Groves and Nicholas Roe. The meeting was chaired by John Foley.

The Committee welcomed Simon Glynn to his first meeting of the Committee.

There were no declarations.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting held on 28 October 2022.

On DBS checks: A Member sought an update on the matter. The meeting heard that young people were frequent visitors to the House and therefore enhanced DBS checks were appropriate – but that volunteers were always accompanied by a DBS-checked staff member, did not necessarily come to the House very often, and did not meet criteria around regulated activity (therefore they did not meet the frequency and role-based criteria for DBS checks). In the event that a learning volunteer role was developed then it was likely that a DBS check would be appropriate.

In response to a question on the practicality of allocating a volunteer to always be with a staff member, the meeting heard that there was no way of avoiding a situation whereby a volunteer was always with a paid staff member.

In response to clarification on non DBS-checked people in the gardens visited frequently by children, the meeting heard that children were always with

parents or carers and were therefore not the direct responsibility of the House though House staff would always be aware of safeguarding matters (while school groups were accompanied and supervised by teachers and paid staff members – as set out in the risk assessment).

On the inclusion of Keats House in the Destination City strategy, a Member commented that there was no mention of Keats House on the Destination City (DC) website and that there ought to be a link to the Corporation’s other assets, including the London Metropolitan Archives. A Member noted that the matter had been raised with the DC executive and that it was being explored. The meeting noted improvements to the Keats House website.

A Member sought clarification on museum accreditation: the Committee heard that Keats House has not yet been invited to be involved, and the Museum

To receive the report of the Executive Director, Environment Department.

The Committee noted the report of the Executive Director, Environment together with three appendices: [Draft] Annual Report for Keats House Charity 2022/23; Keats House Divisional Plan 2023-26, May 2023 update; and [Draft] Keats House Activities Plan 2023/24.

Noting the importance of retaining and protecting core funding, a Member asked whether there was any competition for funding for Keats House (KH) in the light of City of London Corporation (CoLC) reorganisation initiatives. The meeting heard that opportunities for access to hitherto untapped funding were being explored across the full CoL heritage portfolio, and that there appeared to be no negative impacts to KH.

A Member asked whether any external funding targets or benchmark expectations had been set. The meeting heard that the current year’s income target was fixed, and that KH benefited from the generous CoLC support for core staffing and service delivery. The meeting heard that longer-term targets encompassed an expectation that new posts would be self-funding. The Committee noted that positive or negative balances at the end of the year were directed in or out of the charity reserves. The reserve was expected to be reduced to the charity reserve target level of £20K, and investments were being made in collection cataloguing management software alongside other projects including improvements to the visitor entrance area and the front pedestrian entry area (a dual-height wall).

A Member asked why it had taken so long for the boundary wall to be given attention and whether there was a budgetary impact to the delay. The meeting heard that a combination of factors came into play: London Borough of Camden had initially approved spending to enhance accessibility to the grounds and house to include improvements to toilets, pathways and lighting (partly to facilitate evening events) - however the consultation process had been

Keats Community Library: The Committee heard that the Hampstead Summer Festival was ongoing and that attendance figures were good. Keats Community Library (KCL) saw 12K movements in May 2023 representing a good recovery with a greater proportion of mainly primary school age children using the library (now 55%, as against 45% pre-pandemic).

A Member asked whether KCL events could or should be published on the CoLC’s website (given that KCL was arguably a non-CoLC entity), noting that such events were circulated via the 25K-strong mailing list and via KH social media. It was noted that KCL could be linked to the KH website and that there was merit in exploring closer website interactions.

The Committee noted a message from Nicholas Roe setting out his enthusiasm for the Keats Foundation to be involved in the centenary events scheduled for 2025 at KH to commemorate its opening, including a three-day conference in May that year, with funding support from the Keats Foundation to support other centenary-related events that year.

A Member commented that there was merit in promoting poetry as an oral experience as well as an experience of the written word, and suggested connections with audiobook producers. The meeting noted that some soundposts already existed in KH and that poetry readings regularly took place. Other oral elements were available and that the oral element of the poetry would continue to be promoted.

The next meeting will take place on Friday 13 October 2023 at 2.30pm at Guildhall.

Friday 13 October 2023 at 2.30pm at Guildhall, preceded by lunch at the Guildhall Club at 1.30pm.