Minute 5 2016/17
Exemptions
FOI Exemptions:
Section 7 – Page 4, Section 7.4 – Commercial Interests
UNCONFIRMED
Minutes of the meeting of the Board of the Arts Council Held at The Sidings, Lisburn on Wednesday 27 July 2016 at 5pm
1. ATTENDANCE
PRESENT Bob Collins (Chair), Katy Radford, Cian Smyth, Conor Shields, Leon Litvack, Anna Carragher, Jarlath Kearney , Roisin Erskine.
IN ATTENDANCE Roisin McDonough (Chief Executive) Lorraine McDowell (Director of Operations) Nick Livingston (Director of Strategic Development) Geoffrey Troughton (Director of Finance and Corporate Services) Karen Murphy Board and Committee Support/Minute Taker
APOLOGIES Nisha Tandon, Paul Mullan, Siun Hanrahan, Noelle McAlinden, Katherine McCloskey, David Alderdice, Noirin McKinney.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To be noted as they arose during the meeting.
3. PREVIOUS MEETING
3.1 Minutes of the previous meetings* The minutes of the meetings held on 27 June and 29 June 2016 were approved by the Board and signed by the Chair.
3.2 Matters Arising None.
4. CHAIR’S REPORT The Chair informed the Board that he had written to the Minister in advance of their meeting along with the Chief Executive, scheduled for 7 September 2016, to raise a number of issues/concerns, and to highlight key projects, such as the Arts and Older People programme.
The Minister's availability to launch the Local Government Challenge Fund on 21st September 2016 would be limited to 45 minutes. As this is not enough time to meet the wider arts sector, a separate “meet and greet” with the sector will be pursued in the near future.
The Chair noted that the position of Chair of the Arts Council seemed unlikely to be advertised before the end of August.
5. CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT
The Chief Executive spoke to her report.
Camelot had provided several reasons to explain the reduction in Lottery income in April and May of 2016. Camelot and the Gambling commission are exploring ways to increase returns. However it is likely that income will be less than 2015/16 and the Council will monitor the situation closely.
The Chief Executive informed the Board that she had recently met with her counterparts from England, Scotland, and Wales when they had discussed “Brexit” and its potential impact on European funding for the arts.
Arts Council England is due to undertake a survey of its funded organisations, examining the impact of “Brexit”, and associated EU funding on their work. ACNI will assess if it is feasible to deploy the survey in Northern Ireland. The Board will be updated accordingly.
The Chief Executive informed the Board that an initial assessment of EU funding over the past two years had been extracted from the AFP survey. This initial survey suggested the financial impact of Brexit was less than expected. However the assessment did not take into account factors such as partnership projects or mobility of artists.
The Chief Executive advised the Board of the consultation response submitted to the on the draft Programme for Government Framework and highlighted key issues raised.
The recent re-instatement of £200,000 of funding for musical instruments by the Minister on 11 July 2016 was discussed. BBC reporting at that time had incorrectly given the impression that there had been further in-year cuts. The reported cuts had given rise to queries and concerns from the sector.
The Chairman suggested that the funding of tuition for musical instruments should be raised at his and the Chief Executive’s meeting with the Minister on September 7th 2016.
Presentations to the Board: The Board discussed a proposed list of clients and strategic partners for presentations for 2016/17. It was noted that Theatre NI and Terra Nova have also requested an opportunity to present to the Board and these organisations will be added to the list.
6. FINANCIAL UPDATE
6.1 Lottery Accounts 2016/17* The Director of Finance and Corporate Services advised that draft Lottery Accounts for 2015/16 had been sent to Northern Ireland Audit Office on 18 July 2016 in advance of the audit which had commenced on 25 July 2016. Following audit these accounts will return to the Audit and Risk Committee in September before approval by the Board in October 2016.
The Director of Finance and Corporate Services stressed that these were a draft set of accounts and the Board was invited to suggest amendments. He outlined some of the key points arising from the accounts.
6.2 RTTCWG – Exchequer 15/16 FINAL Version* The Board noted the final version of the Report to those Charged with Governance which had been sent to the Northern Ireland Audit Office on 1 July 2016.
6.3 Lottery Profile Budget* The Director of Finance and Corporate Services reminded the Board that the requirement to produce a variance analysis report arose from a 2013/14 Lottery RTTCWG. A profiled budget was a pre-requisite to the production of a variance analysis report.
Minor adjustments had been made to the budget which were approved by the Board with the profiled 2016/17 Lottery budget.
6.4 Financial Report* The Director of Finance and Corporate Services restated that the budget cut had been 5.7%. He highlighted budget uncertainties and risk. These uncertainties included premises cost and the budgetary implications of relocation. Budget was required to relocate and new premises will have an unique and unknown cost profile (rent, rates etc.). This cost uncertainty was a risk. There was also uncertainty around some costs surrounding the migration of IT services from in-house provision to a shared service with ITAssist. This included a possible requirement to adopt the TRIM Document and Records Management System.
6.5 Exchequer Budget 2016/17 Final* The Board approved a revised 2016/17 Exchequer budget. The budget had been amended following the AFP round and confirmed opening budget cut of 5.7%. Savings had been made to reconcile the budget .