Agenda and minutes

Venue: MS Teams

Contact: Felicity Foley, Acting Committees Manager 

Note: To watch, click the link on the agenda front sheet, or paste the following into your browser - https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_OGM1ZjIwYjItMmQ0ZS00YjBhLWJjOWMtYjc1NjdmYzZiNGEx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%226ddfa760-8cd5-44a8-8e48-d8ca487731c3%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2202aebd75-93bf-41ed-8a06-f0d41259aac0%22%2c%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3atrue%7d 

Items
No. Item

19.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the ‘meeting room’, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

 

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.

Minutes:

The Chair advised that the meeting was being streamed live on the Council’s website.

20.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

None.

21.

URGENT BUSINESS

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 13 & 20 below).

Minutes:

None.

22.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

None.

23.

QUESTIONS, DEPUTATIONS OR PETITIONS

To consider any questions, deputations or petitions received In accordance with Part 4, Section B29 of the Council's Constitution.

Minutes:

None.

24.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 167 KB

i.          To approve the minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 14 January 2020.

 

ii.         To approve the minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Panels held on 27 February 2020 and 17 July 2020

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that

 

i.          The minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 14 January 2020 be approved as a correct record of the meeting; and

ii.         The minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Panels held on 27 February 2020 and 17 July 2020 be approved as a correct record of the meeting.

 

 

25.

To consider any advice or comments from recent SAC/CC meetings pdf icon PDF 207 KB

Draft minutes from both the Statutory Advisory Committee and the Informal Joint Statutory Advisory Committee and Consultative Committee meetings held on 1 September 2020 will be circulated before the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board noted the draft minutes of the SAC & CC meetings held on 1 September 2020 - circulated in advance of the meeting and agreed to review the comments of the SAC & CC in relation to the car park charging proposals during the Board’s consideration of item 12.

26.

Report from the Chair of the FRRAC pdf icon PDF 114 KB

To note the feedback from the Finance, Resource, Risk and Audit Committee (FRRAC).

Minutes:

RESOLVED to note the feedback from the Finance, Resource, Risk and Audit Committee.

27.

CEO's report pdf icon PDF 323 KB

To note the general update on the Charity’s activities.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Louise Stewart, Chief Executive, introduced the report as set out.

 

Noted in response to questions from the Board:

-           ASB – it would be a last resort measure to close the road again.  Regular conversations were taking place with the Police to monitor ASB.  Powers to enforce by-laws were limited, costly and time-consuming.  However, if the Board were minded to approve the car park charging proposals, the infrastructure would be improved to manage fines for cars parked anywhere on site other than a car park.

-           Culture Recovery Fund – It was expected that a response to the Trust’s grant application would be received in October.  The Trust had been successful in raising £850k so far through public campaigning, an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (HLHF) and an emergency grant from Haringey Council but there was still a large deficit in the budget. 

-           The capacity for the Knit and Stitch exhibition would be reduced due to Covid measures, but it was still expected to be a profitable show.

-           Diversity & Inclusion work programme – this was still in draft and would likely be brought back to the Board at a workshop to develop the action plan further.

 

RESOLVED to note contents of the report.

28.

End of Year Report pdf icon PDF 245 KB

To note the report on 2019/20 outdoor event monitoring, complaints and Theatre use.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Louise Stewart, Chief Executive, introduced the report as set out.  The remit of the Board included monitoring performance against the Outdoor Events Framework and complaints and, as the Trust had made a commitment to the SAC & CC to regularly report on the usage of the Theatre it was relevant that the Board also tracked Theatre performance. 

 

Officers responded to questions from the Board:

 

Complaints

-           Any benchmarking against comparable venues would be difficult due to the unique combination of operations of Alexandra Palace.  It may be possible in the future to break down the different areas of operation and benchmark against other venues.

-           There were 34 noise complaints reported in 2018-19 compared with 32 in 2019-20.

-           Various factors affected sound travel, such as wind direction and where speakers were placed.  A noise consultant was on site at every event involving amplified music, to test sound levels at different locations. There had been some sound travel to residential properties in the initial weeks of The Terrace opening and the issues were promptly resolved following discussions with the affected residents.

 

The team were congratulated on the post-event clean up scores in the report.  Ms Stewart advised that there was always room for improvement and that it was important that the Trust was transparent with its stakeholders on its performance against the framework.

 

RESOLVED to note the end of year report

29.

Car Park Charging Proposals pdf icon PDF 264 KB

To approve the recommendations to implement a cark park charging scheme at Alexandra Palace.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Louise Stewart, Chief Executive, introduced the report as set out.

 

The Board noted:

 

The feedback from the Statutory Advisory Committee (SAC) and Consultative Committee (CC) which was included in the meeting documents pack, including: 

-           Affordability – parking fees should be kept as low as possible to not disadvantage any particular user groups.

-           Impact – of the scheme on surrounding roads should be monitored and mitigated.

 

That the advice from the SAC & CC aligned with the Board’s key priorities as outlined within the initial consultation documents and in the final proposals.

 

That during the Covid-19 pandemic the Trust introduced the ‘donate to park’ scheme to support the daily operational costs of its car parks, which had not resulted in displacement of visitor parking on to surrounding streets.  Income from the car park charging scheme would cover the costs of operation, and contribute to the furtherance of the charity’s objectives. The infrastructure such as ANPR and potential increase of CCTV coverage will have secondary benefits such as improved site-safety and reduced ASB, which may help to reduce the costs of managing the site. 

 

That the Council had advised prior to the meeting that they were satisfied with the Equality Impact Assessment conducted by the Trust (included at appendix G) the Trust will continue to monitor the impact once the scheme was implemented.

 

The following was noted in response to the Board’s questions:

-           Feedback from the Charity Commission had not yet been received.

-           Analysis demonstrated that a disproportionate number of survey responses were from people who lived in surrounding streets.  Some responses received did not accept that the Charity should charge a fee for parking and that the Charity should seek additional income elsewhere.

-           The SAC & CC, however, had recognised the Charity’s need to raise funds and that the general public were used to paying for parking and supported the proposals. 

-           In response to the suggestion that parking should be free on Bank Holidays, LS explained that the Trust will have the ability to decide charge free days if it chooses

but advised the Board against stipulating this as part of any resolution this evening as detailed thinking was required around managing free parking on Bank Holidays, which are often times of increased demand, increased ASB and therefore costs to the Trust.

-           Dialogue had taken place specifically with Hornsey and Alexandra Ward Cllrs.

-           Hornsey ward councillors had been particularly supportive about the information published by the Trust and, whilst they were not overly concerned with the impact on surrounding roads they recognised that some local people were concerned about this.

-           A board member emphasised that commuters caused more problems in the surrounding roads than Park and Palace visitors and that the recommendations before the Board would bring in much needed funds and also assist with managing antisocial behaviour.

-           User groups would not be further consulted but, if the scheme was implemented, their feedback would be taken into account, as part of an annual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

30.

Friends of the Theatre pdf icon PDF 234 KB

To approve the recommendations in the report on the future relationship.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Louise Stewart, Chief Executive, introduced the report as set out.  The Board had discussed the future of the Friends of Alexandra Palace Theatre (FOAPT) in workshops, but this was now discussed as part of a formal Board meeting.  The purpose of the FOAPT was largely complete in that the theatre had been refurbished and reopened..

 

The board welcomed the continuation of the group and a close working relationship, but felt that its constitution should be updated to reflect a revised purpose, the changed relationship with the Trust due to the progress made with the theatre, the development in capability of the Trust itself and the increased regulation on charity’s and fundraising.

 

It was important to place on record the value of the FOAPT, and Ms Stewart passed on the Executive Team’s particular thanks to Nigel Willmott and Pat Breary.  The report recommended that a Trust Board Member as a member of the FOAPT Committee be removed to bring the FOAPT in line with other stakeholder and special interest groups such as the Friends of Alexandra Park.

 

Nigel Willmott (Chair of FOAPT) explained the position of the FOAPT:

-           The Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre committee did not think that this change was necessary and it believed that there was still a role for an active group linked to the Alexandra Palace Trust to promote and support the theatre, especially in recent difficult times when the theatre has had to close again.

-           Making the change would create administrative and constitutional difficulties, as the Friends group would not be able to hold an AGM in the current circumstances.

-           The FOAPT would continue to do all it could to promote and support the successful use and development of the theatre and hoped to work closely with the Trust in the future.

 

RESOLVED

i.        To agree that is supported the continuation of FoAPT as a special interest group undertaking activities such as those identified in paragraph 3.7 and on the same basis as other special interest groups associated with the Park and Palace.

ii.      To agree to request that, if FoAPT themselves wish to continue as a special interest group, that they revise their constitution to that effect, so that the transition can happen smoothly in a timescale to suit FOAPT and with limited bureaucracy.

iii.     To agree to support FoAPT in making the changes, if FoAPT requests support to do so.

31.

ANY OTHER UNRESTRICTED BUSINESS THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT

Minutes:

None.

32.

FUTURE MEETINGS

Saturday 21 November (Board Strategy Day)

 

14 December 2020

29 March 2021

Minutes:

·                14 December 2020

·                29 March 2021

33.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS

Items 16-21 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 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.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of items 16-21 as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972; 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.

 

 

34.

EXEMPT MINUTES

i.          To approve the exempt minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Board held on 14 January 2020.

 

ii.         To approve the exempt minutes of the Alexandra Palace and Park Panels held on 27 February 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the exempt minutes of the meetings held on 14 January & 27 February 2020 be approved as a correct record.

35.

Exempt Audit Findings Report

Minutes:

The recommendations in the report were approved.

36.

Exempt FRRAC Chair's report

Minutes:

The recommendations in the report were approved.

 

37.

Exempt APTL Chair's feedback report

To follow

Minutes:

The recommendations in the report were approved.

 

38.

ANY OTHER EXEMPT BUSINESS THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT

Minutes:

None.