Agenda and minutes

Venue: MS Teams

Contact: Felicity Foley, Committees Manager 

Items
No. Item

65.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

Please note that 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. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. 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 and using the public seating area, 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 informed all present that the meeting was being live streamed on the Council’s website.

66.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Carlin and Val Paley.

67.

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 8 & 13 below)

Minutes:

None.

68.

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.

69.

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.

70.

CEO'S REPORT pdf icon PDF 245 KB

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

Minutes:

Louise Stewart, Chief Executive Alexandra Palace, introduced the report and explained that the report was a light update as the meeting was outside of the usual meetings schedule.  The following was noted:

 

a.         The car park charging project was still on track for implementation in April 2021 although it could be later in the month.  Options for separating the scheme into several parts to enable enforcement to be implemented first would address the high volumes of car-borne anti-social behaviour (ASB) on the road, which had not reduced over the winter and was expected to increase as the weather became warmer and evenings lighter.  The relevant local authorities were engaged.

 

The Trust was committed to implementing the entire scheme this year.  The scheme would not resolve all ASB issues but would enable the Trust to manage car related ASB and illegal parking on its land.

 

The Chair highlighted that the current tap to donate scheme in the East Car Park had raised £131,000, which demonstrated the importance of car park charging as an income stream for the Charity and asked whether all car parks would be covered. Louise Stewart confirmed that all car parks would be covered by the scheme although the East Car Park was the only car park to open during the pandemic because it was the easiest to manage.  It was not cost effective to open the Grove car park at present, which was a common area for ASB but under the scheme it would be open and secure.  

 

In response to questions around sustainable travel plans and closing the road to traffic in the future, Louise Stewart explained that, as with car parks, closing the road would displace the issues.  The road was used by approximately 70,000 cars a week and closure would impact the local community.  A bus gate couldn’t be ruled out for the future but a decision had to be based on the Charity’s need. 

 

b.         Glazing & roofing repairs – the Trust was hoping to apply to at least one funding body for some of the work.

 

c.         The Sales, Events and other teams continued to work extremely hard to keep Alexandra Park and Palace on the radar, engaging with clients, the public and supply chains and finding opportunities to generate income, including filming shoots on site. 

 

d.         Board Members supported any opportunity the Trust had to celebrate its volunteers for the scale of their support for the Trust and asked for more information on the award nomination submitted by the Trust.  Louise Stewart explained that two nominations were made to The Heritage Alliance, Heritage Heroes Award for the local volunteers and also the Trust’s wider volunteers who had stayed engaged despite not being able to attend in person.  Trustees would continue to receive the regular volunteers’ newsletters curated by some of the volunteers themselves. 

 

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

71.

CREATIVE LEARNING

To receive a presentation on creative learning activities.

Minutes:

a.         Mark Civil, Head of Creative Learning, gave a presentation showing recent and current activities.  Online digital resources had been an aspiration early in 2020 but in March 2020 the small team was forced to move forward with the plan and had since produced 43 activity support packs to support various groups: teachers, schools, families using the park, residential care homes.

 

b.         In addition, the team had produced 25 films, some step by step guides to learning new films, some setting challenges and advocacy films.  The team was still delivering weekly workshops over Zoom (primarily with young people and older people) and had hosted seven youth panels as well as some face to face and dial-in workshops with young people excluded from school.

 

c.         Volunteers continued to work across the site with 10 working on the archives, inputting data into the digital collection system and other administrative support. Weekly newsletters updated the volunteers on Creative Learning and the wider organisation activities but it also provided information about opportunities and support in the locality. 

 

d.         Some face to face activities had taken place with 25 days of outdoor summer camps including street art, sustainable fashion, street dance and spoken word techniques in an outdoor environment.

 

e.         The schools programme was the hardest hit during 2020 but the team still reached 7,000 children with the Biblio Buzz project and the Big Schools programme.  Biblio Buzz 2021 had recently launched but had to be pushed back to June for various reasons that have since been resolved. 

 

f.          The Big Schools Para Dance set design & choreography programme for young people with special education needs was initially planned to enable the young people to showcase their dance work in the Theatre but was moved online as a gala event with advocacy from dance artists.

 

g.        The Young People’s Programme, Culture Bubble, was launched online, its core purpose was to create a channel for young people to have a voice through APP and to create programme but to also encourage leadership careers in the sector. The first task for the Young People’s Panel was to create a manifesto and regular panels are hosted: https://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/culture-bubble-youth-voice/ .  The Team was also working with Haringey libraries and Arts Council England to broaden the project across the borough to engage young people in programming culture in their locality.

 

h.         Residential homes were also hit hard by the lockdown with reduced visits and residents being isolated for weeks.  The Team started creating monthly resource packs for engagement officers in care homes to use with the residents and created Little Windows Therapies where visual performers create bespoke acts that create a dialogue with the residents and the outside world, through the windows.  The sessions took place for one month before Christmas and will resume this year. 

 

i.          Prior to the lockdown Rhythm Stick used the Theatre as a safe space for a club-night at least 3 times a year.  15 young people (NEETS – Not in Education, Employment or Training) learned  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

72.

ANY OTHER UNRESTRICTED BUSINESS THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT

Minutes:

None

73.

FUTURE MEETINGS

29 March 2021

Minutes:

29 March 2021

74.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS

Items 10-13 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.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of items11-13 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.

 

75.

EXEMPT - GROUNDS MAINTENANCE CONTRACT VARIATION

Report to follow

Minutes:

The recommendations in the report were approved.

76.

EXEMPT - STAFF WELLBEING SURVEY

Minutes:

The presentation was noted.

 

77.

ANY OTHER EXEMPT BUSINESS THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT

Minutes:

None.