Register of Trustees' Interests

The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery is required to follow the principles established by the Nolan Committee in the conduct of public bodies. This includes the declaration of individual Trustee's interests. A Register of Interests is kept to identify any potential conflicts of interest between Trustees' private, professional, political and business activities (including those of close family and household members) and those of Tate. The declared interests of all our Trustees can be found listed under their individual profiles in the Current Trustees section. If you would like to view a copy of the Register in full please email us.

Handling Conflicts of Interest on the Board

From time to time, conflicts of interests may occur, and in such a situation, the conflict must be managed appropriately, to avoid any danger of Board members being influenced, or appearing to be influenced, by their private interests in the exercise of their public duty. To achieve transparency, and to follow guidance from the Nolan Committee in the conduct of public bodies we ask Trustees to:

• Declare their individual interests.
  The Register of Interests is used to identify any potential conflicts of interests between Trustees’ private, professional, political and business activities (including those of close family and household members) and those of Tate.
• List any transactions between the Board of Trustees and Related Parties.
  The publication of Related Third Party Transactions is a requirement of the Accounting Guidelines issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
• Complete these annually, and notify the Corporate Governance Manager with changes as soon as possible.
  The Register is held by the Corporate Governance Manager, and is publicly accessible. The information it holds is published online, and the full document is available on request
• Declare any interest in a Board meeting as soon as it is practicable.
  This will be recorded in the minutes.
• Remove themselves from discussions in which they have a direct pecuniary interest, or where bias might be inferred.
• Follow guidelines when debating the acquisition or major monographic exhibition of work by an artist whose work they own themselves.
  Trustees should notify staff of new purchases of works of art, and declare in meetings if an artist under consideration is represented in their personal collection.
• Declare if a close family member or persons living in the household has an interest in a topic to be discussed, pecuniary or otherwise.
  The Board can then decide whether it is appropriate for the Trustee to withdraw.

If in doubt, we recommend that our Trustees declare an interest in a matter under consideration and withdraw from the discussion rather than risk subsequent challenge. We have an Ethics Committee, a sub-committee of the Board, whose membership includes both Trustees and a non trustee co-opted member. The Committee which has a remit consider conflicts of interest, in an advisory capacity, when considered necessary.

Background on works acquired by Tate from serving Trustees.

In 2006, Tate was criticised by the Charity Commission over its policies and procedures in relation to managing conflicts of interests, particularly in relation to the acquisitions of works by serving Artist Trustees. Tate accepted these findings and has made some significant modifications to its procedures. We have introduced new guidelines on Conflicts of Interest and Trustee Benefit, which includes policies to cover:

• the loan from any Trustee of works of art;
• the acquisition from any Trustee of works of art, by purchase or gift;
• other collaboration with Artist Trustees; and
• sponsorship of Tate activity by individual Trustees or by corporate bodies with which Trustees are involved.

We have also set up The Ethics Committee, whose membership includes both Trustees and a non trustee co-opted member. The Committee has terms of reference to review any ethical issue raised by a Director of Tate, or any member of the Board of Trustees, and provide guidance on conflict of interest management.

The Charity Commission has recently acknowledged that Tate has undertaken a significant review of its policies, and has in place an appropriate and successful working policy to manage potential conflicts.

• View background information on works acquired from serving artist trustees.