Julian Lloyd Webber sounds note of discord on music charity grants
Cellist accuses funding body of conflict of interests as four royal schools with seats on board gain payouts
JULIAN LLOYD WEBBER has accused a music education charity of a conflict of interests after it denied his conservatoire funding while others with members on its board receive regular grants.
The cellist and principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC) complained that the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) gave millions of pounds to four royal schools – each of whose head sits on its governing body – while informing the RBC, another royal school, “that any discussion of joining the board was off the table” and refusing its bid for scholarship funding for disadvantaged children.
Prof Lloyd Webber told The Sunday Telegraph he had “serious concerns in relation to ABRSM’s charitable status”. He said: “It is obvious that the majority of ABRSM’s governing body is conflicted and is distributing its wherewithals accordingly.”
ABRSM’s governing body includes the principals of the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music, both in London, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.
Last year, it awarded each of them £1.7million, as well as a share of £980,000 in scholarships. The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama received £24,000 for scholarships. The RBC’s scholarship proposal would have cost ABRSM “less than £20,000 in the first year, and we’d offered to match-fund it”, Prof Lloyd Webber noted.
The Charity Commission said yesterday: “The [ABRSM] charity has declared related party transactions in its accounts as required under the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice. We would expect the charity to have and adhere to a robust conflicts of interests policy in order to manage this arrangement appropriately. As you have brought this to our attention, we will be contacting the charity to ensure that this is the case. This is not a formal investigation or regulatory action at this time. We have not made a finding of wrongdoing. We have not received any complaints about this matter.”
Asked about the conflict of interests, Tony Hales, ABRSM’s chairman, said: “It is not unusual for trustees to be officers of beneficiary organisations… We maintain a register of interests and have a conflicts of interest policy.”
But he admitted that principals do not step out of the room when their school’s grant is discussed: “They will do in future.” He has commissioned a governance review to “ensure best practice”: “At the moment, the management make a recommendation as to what we support. That comes to the board. I think that is one of the things we will continue to increasingly separate.”