Agenda and minutes

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The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

Noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Gordon Hutchinson and Bob Kidby.

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 17 & 24 below)

NOTED that there would be an item of urgent business, which would be taken at item 24, as it was exempt.

None.

None.

i.              To approve the unrestricted minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 16^th February 2016 as an accurate record of the proceedings.

ii.            To receive and consider the draft minutes of the Joint Alexandra Park & Palace Statutory Advisory Committee and the Alexandra Palace & Park Consultative Committee held on 2^nd February 2016.

iii.           To receive the draft minutes of the Alexandra Park & Palace Statutory Advisory Committee held on 2^nd February 2016.

i.          Alexandra Palace and Park Board – 16 February 2016

RESOLVED that the unrestricted minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 16 February 2016 be approved as an accurate record of the proceedings, subject to the following amendment:

Minute ABO76

Additional sentence to follow point b:

Colin Marr objected to the submission having been made on behalf of the Trust as he felt that there hadn’t been adequate consideration by the Board, and asked for his dissent to the submission be minuted.

ii.         Joint Alexandra Park & Palace Statutory Advisory Committee and the Alexandra Palace & Park Consultative Committee – 2 February 2016

RESOLVED that the draft minutes of the Joint Alexandra Park & Palace Statutory Advisory Committee and the Alexandra Palace & Park Consultative Committee held on 2 February 2016 be noted.

iii.        Alexandra Park & Palace Statutory Advisory Committee - 2 February 2016.

RESOLVED that the draft minutes of the Alexandra Park & Palace Statutory Advisory Committee held on 2 February 2016 be noted.

To receive the report of the Chief Executive, Alexandra Park & Palace, which updates the Board on issues including:

- Strategic Vision

- Governance

- HR Audit

- Internal Audit

- Business Planning

- Wood Green Regeneration

RECEIVED the report of Louise Stewart, Chief Executive, Alexandra Park and Palace.

The following arose from discussion of the report:

a.         Governance Review

A new Company Secretary, Erica Wilkinson, had been appointed.  A draft review scope would be circulated in due course.

b.         Business Plan

This would be discussed in the exempt section of the meeting.  Once the plan had been approved by the Board, a non-exempt version would be made available for the public.

RESOLVED that

i.          The Board would be consulted electronically on the scope of the Governance Review between Board meetings; and

ii.         The timetable and special Board meeting on Wood Green regeneration be approved.

To receive the report of the Park Manager which updates the Board on the progress on the new Grounds Maintenance Contract, the Go Ape proposal, and work on replacing and repairing utilities and services in the Park.

Mark Evison, Park Manager, Alexandra Park and Palace, introduced the report as set out.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

To receive the report of the Learning Officer, which updates the Board on the Learning and Community Programme.

Emma Dagnes, Deputy Chief Executive, Alexandra Park and Palace, introduced the report as set out.

RESOLVED that

i.          The contents of the report be noted; and

ii.             The continued increase in schools using the Park and Palace and continuing development of engagement with the local community be noted.

To receive the report of the Commercial Director which reviews major activity undertaken in the 4^th quarter of the 2015/16 trading year, and provides a forward focus on the 1^st Quarter of financial trading year 2016/17.

Lucy Fenner, Commercial Director, Alexandra Park and Palace, introduced the report as set out.

RESOLVED that the commercial highlights be noted.

To receive a presentation on the new-look website.

Martin Keane, Head of Marketing and Communications, Alexandra Park and Palace, provided a presentation on the new-look website.

The following arose during discussion:

a.         The existing website was built in 2013, and required updating to suit the changes in the organisation and the increased traffic to the website.  The current website was hard to navigate and so a review of functionality was also required.

b.         The current website had an emphasis on events, and the new-look website would make it easier for visitors to view information on all areas of the Park and Palace and the Trust’s activities. 

c.         The interface would be updated to make it easier to use from a mobile device, and for people to buy tickets for events.

RESOLVED to note the presentation.

To receive the report of the Deputy Chief Executive which updates the Board on the progress on the East Wing Restoration Project.

Emma Dagnes, Deputy Chief Executive, Alexandra Park and Palace, introduced the report as set out.

The following arose from discussion of the report:

a.         The team was working with the contractor to retrieve lost time and bring completion back to the original December 2017 date.

b.         The interim Cost Plan showed an adverse variance of £411k from Stage 3 to Stage 4, and value engineering solutions would be explored in order to bring the Cost Plan back in line with Stage 3.

c.         Works carried out so far included undertaking surveys and investigations in order to de-risk the project as much as possible and removal of non-supporting walls and rubble in preparation for the main works to take place.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive the report of the Director of Finance and Resources which sets out the results for Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust for the 11 month period ending 29th February 2016.

Dorota Dominiczak, Director of Finance and Resources, Alexandra Park and Palace introduced the report as set out.

The following arose from discussion of the report:

a.         Due to the success of the Trading Company, the Gift Aid contribution had increased by £615k to £1,712k. 

b.         The £108k spend on the fire alarm system should be the final spend on this area to meet current fire regulations.

c.         With regards to the damage caused by the gas mains works, contact had been made with the company and they will be working with the Park Manager to carry out remedial works.

RESOLVED that

i)          The performance of the Trust and the attached timetable for submitting the annual accounts be noted; and

ii)         A salary increase of 2% for all Trust employees effective from 1^st April 2016 be approved.

To receive the report of the Director of Finance and Corporate Resources, which explains the requirement to publish and adopt a reserves policy by Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust and proposes a draft reserve policy for adoption.

Dorota Dominiczak, Director of Finance and Resources, Alexandra Park and Palace introduced the report as set out.

The following arose from discussion of the report:

a.         The Trust was required by law to have a draft reserves policy, which should be reviewed annually.  Appendix one contained a first draft of the policy, of which a more comprehensive version would be produced at a later date.

b.         In terms of the level of reserves required to cover six months running costs, further work needed to be carried out to establish what this amount is and to identify how the Trust can build this level of reserve.

RESOLVED that

i)          The draft Reserves Policy attached at Appendix 1 be approved; and

ii)         A more comprehensive Reserves Policy shall be presented to the Board at a later stage.

To receive the report of the Deputy Chief Executive, which provides the Trust Board with details of a proposed new project – West Yard Storage Project outlining the principles behind the project, the work completed so far and the developing business case and design solutions.

Note – the comments of the Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committees will be made available following the Joint Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committee meeting on 5 April 2016.

Russell Eacott, Interim Project Director for the East Wing Restoration Project, presented the proposals for a new storage building in the West Yard.

The following arose from discussion of the report:

a.         If the Board approved the proposal, the team would work with the Council to approve funding through the Capital Programme Board.  The Business Plan showed how revenue could be made from the space, and it was noted that if the space was not utilised in some way then the project would need to be financed from other areas within the Palace.

b.         There were time pressures on the project, which would need to be completed by February 2017 to allow the East Wing Restoration Project to continue into Area 7, and to avoid costs of offsite storage.

c.         The scaffold bracing supporting the North Wall was reasonably stable, but it would need replacing at some point in the future.

d.         The function space would have a separate entrance to the main building and so would be available to use alongside functions in the main building.

e.         Louise Stewart agreed that to share the findings of work undertaken by the team demonstrating that no temporary solutions were possible due to the capacity and volume of space required to house and move such major infrastructure, and reiterated to members that the project was time sensitive in relation to the East Wing Restoration Project.

f.          The primary purpose of the building was for storage, however the function room would be multi-functional and would ensure that there was flexibility for event space at the Palace in the future.

RESOLVED that

i)          The contents of the report and the SAC-CC comments regarding the seeking of Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent as considered at their meeting on the 5 April 2016 be noted;

ii)         The Chief Executive be permitted to work with Haringey Council through its project approvals and business case procedure to seek a £2.5m loan to finance the West Yard Storage Project;

iii)       Authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Trust Chair, to finalise details of the Business Case for the project; which the Chair undertook to share with the Board for comment;

iv)       The same governance arrangements to oversee and monitor the project as approved by the Trustees at their meeting of the 18 April 2015 be utilised;

v)        An updated report at a specially convened meeting be received in due course to appoint the contractor to complete the design and build contract for the West Yard Storage Project;

vi)       Clear deadlines and project information be provided to the Trustees; and

vii)      A report of the options appraisal showing that there was no other location for the storage unit including any suitable temporary solutions be circulated to the Board.

To receive and note the work programme for 2016/17.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.

Tuesday 19 July 2016

Tuesday 6 December 2016

Tuesday 14 February 2017

Items 20 through to 23 are likely to be subject of a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972; Para 1 – information relating to any individual, Para 2 – Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual,  Para 3 - information relating to the business or financial affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information), and Para 5 – Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

To approve the exempt minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 16 February 2016.