Together with the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board ensures recognition of the Cultural Governance Code. The Board and the Supervisory Board endorse the importance of this code’s application. However, Opera Zuid’s scale means this sometimes takes place less formally and explicitly than in larger organisations. Below, we indicate how the Board and the Supervisory Board comply with the code’s nine principles.

Responsibility and Application
The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board are aware of their responsibilities regarding the Code’s application. They regularly evaluate the organisation’s performance based on their performance and relationship with stakeholders.

Governance model
The Executive Board and Supervisory Board are pleased with the Supervisory Board’s management structure, in place since 2009. As of 2017, the intendant forms the Executive Board under the direction of the Supervisory Board. The Intendant is supported by a management team consisting of the executive producer, the controller and the business advisor.

Board duties and procedure
The Board’s duties and procedures are stated in the Regulations of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors dated 16 October 2009. When the new intendant took office, the procuration regulations were revised with new agreements made about the content and frequency of the management information. The regulations were revised when the intendant took office in February 2017. The information flow between the director and the Supervisory Board is adequately arranged in these regulations.

We have increasingly substantive consultations with stakeholders, such as the South Netherlands Philharmonic, theatre directors, festival directors, production houses and universities of applied sciences about realising productions. The specific collaboration with the South Netherlands Philharmonic (supervisory role) has been laid down in a covenant dated 21 May 2016.

Legal status and remuneration

The Supervisory Board’s role as the employer was meticulously applied to all aspects of the new intendant’s appointment: recruitment, selection, participation, profile, assessments and remuneration. The intendant has a fixed-term employment contract that ends on 31 December 2020, the end of the current arts policy plan. The intendant’s pay is well within limits set by the WNT.

Responsibilities and method
In 2018, The Supervisory Board met six times with the director and the management team. One of these meetings was dedicated to developments in municipal, provincial and national cultural policy and the possible consequences for Opera Zuid. During a day organised for this purpose in 2019, the Board, Supervisory Board and Management Team extensively discussed Opera Zuid’s policies to be developed this year for the 2021–24 arts policy plan.

The treasurer frequently consults the controller about financial management. The treasurer further consults and supports developing new Staff Regulations.

Expertise, diversity and independence
When replacing its members, the Supervisory Board draws up an expertise profile, focusing on complementary competencies to avoid a one-sided Board composition. The Board’s diversity is a point of attention for the coming years. Moreover, a woman has filled one of the two vacancies. The Supervisory Board devotes considerable attention to this issue.

Commitment and compensation
Opera Zuid Supervisory Board members are aware of the effort supervising the institution requires. There is nothing to criticise about their commitment and presence. The position is not remunerated.

Conflicts of interest
Article 2, paragraph 2 stipulates that the board members are independent of the aforementioned Regulations of the Supervisory Board and Board of Opera Zuid. Article 2 paragraph 13 regulates the incompatibility of (ancillary) positions.

Financial policy and risk management
During 2018, we mapped out Opera Zuid’s potential internal risks. To exclude exposure to the possible internal risks identified, we safeguarded the budget for responsible functions and the function of the controller within our organisation, independently of each other, in mid-2018.

In autumn 2019, we mapped out Opera Zuid’s external risks. Due to our mixed public funding (OCW, Provinces of Limburg and Brabant, Municipality of Maastricht) and our income, the particular circumstances of co-subsidisation shall be a priority.