Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director, Environment.

Members received a report of the Executive Director, Environment, providing an update on Keats House for the period April – September 2022.

The following points were discussed:

• Following the discussion at the previous meeting, opening hours for Keats House were now advertised at various sites around the perimeter and grounds of Keats House. Keats House had also improved its control over the advertisement of opening times on in-house webpages, and was working to improve its communication to ensure accurate information on third-party pages.
• Members expressed their concerns that there was not a requirement for volunteers at Keats House to receive DBS checks. Officers replied that all employed Keats House staff are DBS checked, and they are currently reviewing the requirements for volunteers. All Keats House policies, including staffing, are reviewed by Arts Council England as part of the Museum Accreditation.
• Members asked if Keats House was included in the Destination City strategy, and if there was anything more that Keats House could do to publicise its connection with the City of London Corporation. Officers and the Chair responded to say that the current brief for Destination City was to focus on the Square Mile area, but that team were aware of the City Corporation’s wider assets. Keats House marketing material currently carries the City Corporation crest and a strapline explaining the relationship.
• In response to a question from a Member, officers confirmed that much of the content produced for the Keats200 event had been taken offline but they were currently pushing for this to be restored.
• Planning permission for the wall to replace the wooden boundary fence on Keats Grove was ready to submit to the London Borough of Camden.
• Keats House had completed its Fire Management Strategy and undertaken remedial work as an outcome of this. Officers informed Members that historic properties such as Keats House would always have a high level of tolerable risk, and Museum Accreditation requires an emergency plan to be in place.
• The ‘Poetry vs Colonialism’ project, which involved Keats House’s resident poet, had already helped to inform the Culture Mile Learning programme.

RESOLVED, that – the report be received and its contents noted.