Agenda and minutes

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Noted.

An apology for absence was received from Robert Kidby and an apology for lateness was received from Councillor Berryman.

Nigel Willmott gave apologies for leaving the meeting early.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with at items 16 & 24 below)

None

None.

None.

i.     To confirm the unrestricted minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 10 February 2015 as an accurate record of the proceedings. (Pages 1-7)

ii.   To receive the minutes of the Alexandra Park and  Palace Advisory  Committee held on 20 January 2015 (Pages 9-11) and 14 April 2015 (to follow) and to consider any recommendations from that Committee.

iii.    To receive and consider the minutes of the informal joint Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee, and Alexandra Park and  Palace Advisory  Committee held on 20 January 2015 (Pages 13-20) and 14 April 2015 (to follow)

a.         Alexandra Palace and Park Board

The unrestricted minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 10 February 2015 were confirmed as an accurate record of the proceedings and signed by the Chair.

b.         Alexandra Park and Palace Statutory Advisory Committee

The minutes of the Alexandra Park and Palace Advisory Committee held on 20 January 2015 and 14 April 2015 (draft tabled) were noted.

c.         Joint Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative and Advisory Committee

The minutes of the informal Joint Alexandra Palace and Park Consultative Committee, and Alexandra Park and Palace Advisory  Committee held on 20 January 2015 and 14 April 2015 (draft tabled) were noted.

To receive the report of the Commercial Director, Alexandra Palace, informing the Board of commercial activity and the calendar of events at Alexandra Palace.

Received the report of the Acting Commercial Director, Lucy Fenner, as set out in pages 21 – 27 of the agenda pack.

NOTED that

a.         further to positive feedback from the promoter a case study had been written about the Ben Howard live music event held on 16-18 April;

b.         the Secret Cinema, not mentioned in the report, would host a live music event on the May Day Bank Holiday Monday.  Ticket holders will make their way to the Park (the secret location) using a set of published geographical coordinates;

c.         The Prodigy live music concert will finish at 3am on Friday 15 May and at 11pm on Saturday 16 May.  In response to questions about how the 3am closure would be managed Ms Fenner explained that there would be large numbers of security staff in place for the event and people attending had been sent messages reminding them to plan their journeys home. APTL (Alexandra Palace Trading Ltd) had arranged additional shuttle buses to transport concert leavers to Finsbury Park and Wood Green tube stations and was working with a local taxi firm to ensure taxis would be available;

d.         in addition to the information in paragraph 7.5, the Ally Pally Summer Festival would include: an ice hockey match; gala dance; water slide on the south slope. A future water slide fundraising activity would also be organised by the charity Cancer Research;

e.         the Drive-in Cinema dates, throughout April–July, had not been published initially;

f.          in response to questioning it was reported that a comparison exercise had been conducted and had concluded that the Hog Roast was the most popular during exhibition events although sales varied at the different catering outlets depending on the event;

g.         fewer external live events could be expected during summer months due to outdoor festivals taking priority around the country.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report.

To note the update on fundraising and future plans.

RECEIVED the Fundraising Report, introduced by Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive, Alexandra Palace as laid out on pages 29-30.

NOTED

a.         the fundraising target of £1,094,000 to support the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) project and that Trusts and Foundations were expected to be the main source of funding.  The Board would receive regular updates on pipeline applications for funding, including a decision at the end of May on an application currently in progress;

b.         the ‘buy a brick’ scheme in paragraph 7.3 had, since publication of the report, been further considered as impractical for various reasons and alternative opportunities for donations would be investigated (including possibilities for donors to name rooms in the Television Tower) and reported to the Board including crowdfunding proposals for later in the campaign;

c.         in response to concerns raised about potential sponsors being deterred by the idea that they could be funding a local government scheme: Mr Wilson emphasised that the fundraising campaign was aligned to APPCT (Alexandra Palace and Park Charitable Trust) and was not a local government project.

RESOLVED to note the report.

To receive the Alexandra Park update report.

RECEIVED the Park Update report (pages 31-34) introduced by Mr Wilson. 

a.         Park Vision

NOTED that the vision would provide a basis for future funding applications.  Mr Hutchinson, Friends of Alexandra Park, expressed that the Friends had been involved in initial discussions and welcomed a longer term vision for the Park. The proposed vision would be presented to stakeholders and subsequently presented to the Board in the autumn.

The Board discussed how the Park’s unique landscape was negatively affected by surrounding development and recognised that it was difficult to protect the views. It was reported that the Alexandra Palace Conservation Area Character Appraisal was a useful document utilised by the Trust in considering applications for local development and that Mr Wilson and the Assistant Director of LB Haringey’s Planning Service had discussed working together in relation to the Wood Green Area Assessment (emerging planning document as part of Haringey’s Local Plan) which took the views from the Park into account. Mr Hutchinson reported that, in responding to planning applications, the Friends of Alexandra Park, asked that proposals be reduced in height to avoid destroying the views, which would reduce the value of the Park to visitors.

Board Members discussed the Farmers Market becoming a permanent event and it was reported that consideration was being given to improving the long term offer.  The Board noted that there were barriers to relocating the Farmers Market for example, nearer to the Palace building. 

 Clerk’s note: Cllr Berryman arrived at the meeting during consideration of the above item (20:05 hrs).

b.         Grounds Maintenance Contract

REPORTED that the terms of the grounds maintenance contract would expire at the end of April 2016 and, due to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules, could not be extended beyond this period.   It was confirmed that any costs associated with tendering for and establishing a new contract would be covered, possibly by reducing the level of service in the contract.

c.         Go Ape Course

REPORTED that the Go Ape operator would submit a planning application for the course  and once approved would sign the lease.  It was likely that the two-day information exercise in the Park would be held mid-May, rather than April as indicated in the report (page 33, paragraph 6.3).

RESOLVED that

a.         the requirement to tender the Grounds Maintenance Contract be noted; and

b.         the progress on the Go Ape scheme and the satisfactory Charities Act report on the rental figures be noted.

To receive the report updating on Learning and Community Programmes.

RECEIVED the report of the Head of Learning and Community Programmes, Melissa Tettey.

NOTED that

a.         there had been 2,700 visitors to the War on the Home Front Exhibition exceeding the figures predicted to the HLF (Heritage Lottery Fund) of 2500 visitors for the year. The team had set themselves a target of attracting of over 3000 visitors by September 2015;

b.         a Board Member highlighted that crockery produced in the 1980’s bearing the old Alexandra Palace logo had been on sale to visitors of the War on the Home Front Exhibition.  It was explained that the Palace would keep a representative sample of the crockery, which was stored in surplus amounts in the Palace basement and funds from sales went towards the costs of the tours;

b.         Alexandra Palace Learning and Community social media networks had been launched;

c.         a tea party bringing together families affected by migration would take place in September;

d.         creative ways of delivering community and learning programmes would be considered during regeneration enabling works, when use of the Transmitter Hall would be limited, including providing the programmes in schools or in the Park.

RESOLVED to note the recent progress with the Trust’s learning and community programmes.

To receive the report of the Regeneration Director, Alexandra Palace, updating on the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) “Reclaiming the People’s Palace” project.

RECEIVED the report of the Interim Regeneration Director, Alexandra Park and Palace, Tot Brill, entitled Reclaiming the People’s Palace – Significant Dates, Aims, Procurement and Governance.

a.         Procurement (Paragraph 9)

REPORTED that the Council had entered into a North London-wide Framework Contract for construction work procurement.  Board Members were asked to consider using this Framework for the regeneration works contract procurement.  The Framework, advertised through the OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) pathway - the same procurement process which would have been used for the HLF project, would present enough contractors with relevant heritage experience and would speed up the process of procurement.

NOTED that

i.          the North London Framework was effective from May 2015-2019.  Structured into three categories of contractors, it was a cost and time effective way of procuring from a good selection of contractors.  It was likely that the same as contractors in the Framework would tender through any independent HLF procurement process;

ii.         concerns were raised about the abilities of the contractors on the Council’s Framework to deliver the regeneration project.  In response, the Board was assured that the Trust would consider the group of contractors with experience of working on projects with a value of more than £5m and with a record of delivering heritage projects;

iii.        the Board raised further concerns about risks through the use of sub contractors.  It was highlighted that all contractors would be required to employ sub contractors (whether through the Council’s Framework or an independent framework) due to the specialist work required within the project.  Once appointed the successful contractor would be responsible for their sub contractors, health and safety aspects and any risks;

iv.        the project contract would remain the same; in two phases and the Trust would maintain control of the budget, with the two stage contract providing greater cost certainty in the second and more significant stage;

v.         Board Members were assured that the project would be closely monitored to ensure targets and project design were followed, and, that the HLF Chief Executive had agreed the use of the Framework in principle (formal approval was expected to be given at a meeting with HLF the following day);

vi.        The Board would have an opportunity to scrutinise the award of contract at its meeting in November.

b.         Project Aims (Paragraph 10)

NOTED the concerns expressed by a Board Member that “delivering in budget and on time” (paragraph 10.4) was not included in the six main aims describing the primary objectives for the project.  Ms Brill agreed that delivery of the project on time and within budget were priorities of the project but the purpose of the six primary objectives was to provide the reasons for undertaking the project (and to be used as final goals at the end of the project) and would not be used as a benchmark for monitoring the progress of the project.  The Project Execution Plan set out in detail how progress would be measured and was a technical document to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To consider the Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust Financial Results for the 11 month period to 28 February 2015.

TO FOLLOW

RECEIVED the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust Financial Results report (pages1-3 of the supplementary agenda pack), introduced by the Director of Finance and Resources, Alexandra Palace, Dorota Dominiczac.

The Board congratulated Alexandra Palace and Park staff in closing the year with £27,000 less deficit than forecast and acknowledged the good performance by the events team in increasing sales, which had been better than forecast. 

RESOLVED to note the performance of the Trust for the period ended 28/02/2015.

To receive the final budget report for the Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust.

TO FOLLOW

RECEIVED the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust Final Budget report (pages3-8 of the supplementary agenda pack), introduced by the Director of Finance and Resources, Alexandra Palace, Dorota Dominiczac.

NOTED that a Board Member questioned why the budget separated ‘Regeneration staff used in-house costs with project’ (Table 1, page 6) from the ‘Total before Regeneration’.  It was explained that this related to some of the Regeneration Team’s time spent on the HLF project which could not be included in the hours recharged to the HLF fund.

RESOLVED that the final budgets for the Trust be approved.

TO FOLLOW

NOTED the following dates:

To receive the report updating the Board on recruitment and succession plans for senior staff.

RECEIVED the Recruitment of Senior Posts report (pages 45-49 of the agenda pack), introduced by Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive, Alexandra Palace, as laid out.

NOTED that

a.         clarification was sought on various aspects of the post HLF structure on page 47 and it was explained that:

·         the Head of Events position was under the Director of Operations rather than within the Commercial Directorship because the Head of Events would be responsible for the delivery of events, rather than the marketing of events;

·         the Head of Catering was a commercial role, rather than a day to day retail role;

·         the reference to the Chief Executive’s role lasting for 3 Years had been removed from the updated version of the structure, however, this role along with the Managing Director’s role, was likely to change as the organisation evolved;

b.         the recruitment of a new Chief Executive of Alexandra Palace was the Council’s role but it was recognised that the Board should be heavily involved and it was proposed that the Chair of the Board and 1 Labour and 1 Liberal Democrat Board Member sit on the recruitment panel;

c.         stakeholders would be invited to meet candidates during a presentation event as part of the recruitment process.

RESOLVED that the report be noted and that the Chief Executive Recruitment Panel include the Chair of the Board and one additional Labour Board Member and 1 Liberal Democrat Board Member.

Thanks to Duncan Wilson

On behalf of the staff at Alexandra Palace and Park Emma Dagnes, Interim Chief Executive, Alexandra Palace, expressed thanks to Duncan Wilson, for his leadership over the past three years.  The Board also expressed their thanks to Mr Wilson.

23 June 2015

15 July 2015

17 November 2015

16 February 2016

NOTED the following dates for future meetings:

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Tuesday 17 November 2015

Tuesday 16 February 2016

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of Items 19 - 24 as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 1 & 2; namely information relating to any individual, and information likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

RESOLVED to exclude the press and public for the meeting for items 18-24 , as they were likely to contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972; Paragraph 2 – information which is likely to reveal the identity of any individual and Paragraph 3 – information relating to the business or financial affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

To agree the new lease for the Campsbourne Centre.

Appendix 1,  Valuation Report, Strutt and Parker TO FOLLOW

RESOLVED to approve the recommendations in the report.

To receive the report of the Interim Regeneration Director, Alexandra Palace.

RESOLVED to approve the recommendations in the report.

To receive the exempt report on the Alexandra Palace Trading Company Financial Results for the 11 month period to 28 February 2015.

RESOLVED to note the results for Alexandra Palace Trading Limited for the 11 month period ended 28 February 2015.

To receive the Alexandra Palace Trading Company final budget for 2015-16.

TO FOLLOW

RESOLVED that the final budget for the Trading Company be approved.

To approve the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2015.

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2015 were confirmed as a correct record.

None.