Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 19th August, it had considered correspondence which had been received from the Ulster Orchestra Society Limited which had indicated that the status of the Council representation on the Board had been changed from that of a “representative” to that of an “observer”.  The Committee had agreed that, in the first instance, the Chairman and the Council’s current representative on the Board meet with representatives of the Ulster Orchestra Board to discuss that change of status.

            The Democratic Services Manager reported that the Council’s representative on the Board (Councillor Maskey) had since had a discussion with Mr. Declan McGovern, the Chief Executive of the Ulster Orchestra, and had raised with him the concerns which had been expressed by the Members at the meeting of the Committee.  The Town Solicitor/Assistant Chief Executive had also had a subsequent discussion with Mr. McGovern for the purpose of clarifying some of the background issues. 

            Mr. McGovern had explained that, following the appointment of a new Chairman to the Ulster Orchestra, a major review had been carried out in relation to its governance.  That included the appointment of a consultant to carry out a good governance review.  Out of that review, a number of recommendations had been made, one of which was that there were too many directors and that the Board should be reduced from fourteen to seven members.  The review had concluded also that there needed to be a reduction in the number of Board meetings and that there was a need for the members of the Board to receive full training. 

            The Democratic Services Manager explained that a key recommendation arising out of the review was that any member of the Board who represented a funding organisation should not be a formal director, but rather should have status as an “observer”.  However, as an observer, that individual would still receive all Board papers and have the right to participate in discussions at the Board meetings, but would not have any formal right of voting.  Mr. McGovern had explained that that recommendation had been made in order that there could be a Board of Directors which was deemed to be completely independent in terms of its formal decision making.  The Chief Executive of the Ulster Orchestra had been keen to reiterate that those individuals with observer

status would have access to the same information as other Board members.  He had also pointed out that the governance proposals had been fully supported by the Arts Council, which was a primary stakeholder, and that the reality was that almost all decisions of the Board were taken by consensus and it was rare that a vote was required.

            The Democratic Services Manager pointed out that the Council itself would be looking at its own governance issues over the next few months and that the Town Solicitor/Assistant Chief Executive would be leading on the matter with a report being submitted to the Committee in relation to the creation of a constitution for the Council, which would include a review of issues such as relationships with Outside Bodies and the role of Members who were appointed or nominated to those Bodies.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided.