During the past year, as the rebuilding of the ROH progressed, so the foundations on which the whole process have been based have been exposed to be like quicksand. Two chief executives have been sacked: Ginesta Macintosh, whose feelings of responsibility to the wider public were considered anathema to the ROH board, and then Mary Allen, erstwhile Secretary General of the Arts Council. The chairmanship changed twice: firstly Peter Gummer (Lord Chaddlington) replaced Jeremy Isaacs, only to be deposed by Colin Southgate. Prior to the removal of Mary Allen, the Director of Finance Richard Hall was asked to leave, having been in place less than nine months, as were the ex-director of Public Affairs Keith Cooper and most surprisingly the Technical Director John Harrison. Harrison's removal by Mary Allen was quickly rescinded by Southgate in the same week, as soon as Ms Allen had departed.

As this mad game of musical chairs at the public expense continued, so the finances of the ROH finally all but expired. So much so that the ROH is now to all intents and purposes technically insolvent. Pelham Allen of Coopers and Lybrand's Corporate Recovery and Insolvency Department has now been appointed as the Executive Director of the ROH.

So the mess that the CGCA has been reporting for over a decade has come home to roost with quite a bang; it was a shame that no one listened to the CGCA in the past. What is quite extraordinary is that the financial largess does not stop. Mary Allen received over £250,000 redundancy which, added to her £60,000+ payoff from the Arts Council, is not half bad for less than a years work. To this should be added the redundancy pay given to Keith Cooper, Richard Hall, Ginesta Macintosh, Jeremy Isaacs, Nicholas Payne.... it goes on and on and apparently accounts for well over £1.5M. Where the money is coming from has not been divulged, but probably from three possible sources:

• the Lottery under the euphemistic title 'Costs during closure',
• private donations,
• or from the sale of ROH property, which is in fact property owned by the public.

It is probably a combination of all three. The disposal of these assets is to the detriment of the future well-being of the ROH and the area as a whole.

On October 30th the CGCA were requested to attend Parliament's Culture Media and Sport Select Committee chaired by Gerald Kaufman MP. John Moulton and Jim Monahan were the CGCA's witnesses to the Parliamentary Committee, having previously submitted detailed evidence. The CGCA made four recommendations:

1. That the grant of any further funding to the ROH should be dependent on the resignation of the (current) ROH board;
2. No sponsors may be represented on any of the ROH's boards;
3. A new selection process for board members be instigated;
4. The ROH Board publish annually the Terms and Conditions of all their senior management.

Our experience of the way the ROH Board and their agents have behaved over the past twelve years is second to none; our damning evidence was never questioned nor refuted by the ROH when they were cross examined. Our recommendations were in part adopted when the Select Committee, with huge publicity, called on the ROH Board to resign and for Mary Allen to be replaced. The board resigned almost immediately, Mary Allen hung on for a further four months.

The selection of the new ROH Board has not been changed; indeed the same thing appears to be happening all over again as old Board members stealthily return. Vivien Duffield, one of the prime movers at the ROH for the past 12 years and who clearly must be responsible in part for the chaotic way the institution has been run, has returned; so too has Colin Nears who has been on the ROH board for 8 years prior to his reappointment and Mrs Newbigging has also been reappointed. Newcomers to the ROH Board include Stuart Lipton, whose company Stanhope is apparently receiving over £2M in fees for the work his company is doing as Project Managers of the current development. When this apparent conflict of interest was remarked upon, the ROH director of Public Affairs Judy Graham assured the local consultative committee that Mr Lipton would naturally leave Board meetings during items that relate to his firm's commission.

There is no evidence of any fundamental change of attitude at Board level, with regard to how they perceive their responsibilities to the general public; rather it is as though nothing much has happened in that the ROH continues to be run by a small coterie whose membership changes depending upon which political party is in Government. It is all rather like Lewis Carol's Lobster Quadrille.

Meanwhile we await Richard Eyre's report on the future of the ROH and English National Opera and whether he will make any recommendations about how the ROH is run and by whom. It is vital to the future well-being of the institution that these questions be asked and answered, for only then might the physical damage inflicted on the area by the overblown development produce some good in the long term, to the ROH, Covent Garden and for the benefit of Londoners.

The next year will not just see the completion of the development but also how the ROH propose to use the land in Floral Street through to Long Acre, which they hold in trust and which is surplus to their requirements. Currently the ROH are having confidential discussions with private developers and Westminster City Council's planners over how the block can be developed. We are fearful that local needs and desires will not be too high on that agenda.

 

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