Issue - meetings

To approve the accounts for APPCT for the year ended 31 March 2013.

Nigel Watts, Director of Finance and Resources, Alexandra Palace, introduced the report as set out, and circulated an updated version of the wording for the Annual Review, which had been amended in line with comments provided by the auditors subsequent to the circulation of papers for the meeting. Indicative artwork for the annual report was also circulated to the Board for information. It was intended that copies of the final document would be provided to potential commercial investors and the document therefore aimed to present a holistic view in its narrative.

·        With regard to the amendments tabled, the Board was invited in particular to note the amended description of the support provided by the Borough on page 14 of the Annual Review, ‘As it has done in previous years, our trustee provided financial support to enable us to bridge the gap between our income and expenditure, to finance increases in working capital and to meet our loan repayments. It is the Borough’s current policy to continue providing this support until such time as it is no longer required’.

·        In response to a question from the Board regarding the summary of income and expenditure as set out on page 15 of the report, Nigel Watts advised that funding from the Council was not depicted as income in this chart, as this funding was viewed as a loan rather than a grant.

·        The Board congratulated Nigel Watts, Duncan Wilson, Claire Pendleton and everyone who had worked on the annual report, and recognised that this was the clearest set of accounts produced by the Palace to date. The importance of producing a high quality document was particularly recognised at this stage in the regeneration programme.

·        In noting the content of the annual report, the Board recognised its duty as trustees to do everything it could to ensure that the Trust’s financial performance was as good as it possibly could be. The report was a public benchmark, and it was hoped that the Trust would be able to demonstrate the progress it was making year on year.

·        The document had been designed for circulation both as a printed copy and as a PDF document. It was report that up to 500 print copies would be produced but the document would largely be circulated electronically and would also be available on the website.

·        In response to a question regarding the ongoing deficit, it was reported that this was not a matter that could be addressed in these accounts. It was noted that the Council had given its assurance that it would continue to provide support to the Trust. It was noted that the historic debt matter would need to be addressed separately.

·        In response to a question regarding the trading costs as set out in the waterfall chart on page 15 of the Annual Review, it was reported that this figure read £6.65m, or 18%.

RESOLVED

i)          That authority to approve the final accounts for APPCT for the year ended 31 March 2013 be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 303