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The Eyre Report: a Summary - Part IVGovernance; accountability and ACE; management and structuresBoard appointments to arts organisations have historically been made on too haphazard a basis. I recommend that all Board members of national arts bodies are appointed in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Arts Council, the Chair, and the artistic director of the organisation. No Board should be able to appoint its own members or Chair independent of external consultation ...... Turning specifically to the ROH, Eyre says that, except in fund raising, the Board has failed, particularly in exercising control over the executive. He also doubts the usefulness of the Opera and Ballet Advisory Boards and advises that the main Board should be separated from the Royal Opera House Trust. Accountability and ACE Eyre calls upon all those who have any accountability for the companies, from the Secretary of State through to the companies themselves, to re-evaluate their approach, but he also says that the Secretary of State should, once he has drawn up the guidelines for the Arts Council, withdraw to "arm's length". The Arts Council must respond to its new mandate and ensure that it has the expertise - particularly in the areas of financial and project management - to deliver it. The Arts Council must ensure that it can deal with clients from a position of authority ...... He recognises the conflict between ACE's various roles: to be an advocate for the arts, to mentor its clients, to administer (limited) funds, and police the use of these funds. If these cannot be reconciled, he suggests, there may be need for another standard-setting/regulatory body. In pursuit of improved rigour and transparency in its relationship with clients, I recommend the introduction of fixed term funding agreements between the Arts Council and its client organisations at fixed prices, index linked to inflation and assessed on quality of outputs, with the option of withdrawal of funding at the end of the agreement if standards are not met. I also recommend that the Arts Council explores the scope for splitting funding into separate streams for funding the art and the buildings ...... Eyre states that, in the past, ACE has been undermined by direct contact between large organisations and Ministers. This, he says, should stop. Both organisations and Ministers must accept the necessity for the arm's length relationship, to prevent any subversion of the relationship between the Arts Council and its clients. He is particularly insistent on this in the case of the ROH ..... Management and Structures It is, he says, "imperative" that the ROH appoints an artistic director as soon as possible to creat an organisation which is artistically-led, with support from a "well-rounded and balanced" management team. The ROH, too, has had too much faith in consultants: this mist stop and the resources should be used to create strong leadership within the House. Regarding the relationship between the ROH and the Royal Ballet, he believes that autonomous status for the latter is not desirable, but there is no doubt that the Ballet company is in an inequitable position and this must be resolved. Until the Board and management recognise the tension between the two art forms, there will be no improvement. The Royal Opera House’s planning procedures are deeply flawed. It is essential that productions are planned in a more structured and logical way, and with regard for budget built in at every stage. Much greater consultation and communication between all interested parties must commence at the earliest stage in planning a production. Everyone involved must feel ownership for the production. He then goes on to make specific proposals for an artistic and management structure for the ROH. Index
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