Museum Trustees. The Natural History Museum is governed by a Board of Trustees, which establishes Museum policy, reviews performance and confirms appointments to key management positions. Minutes of the Board's meetings can be found on our website at www.nhm.ac.uk/info/ corporate/minutes/index.html. Trustees attend the annual Public Open Meeting where members of the public have the opportunity to hear about the Museum's plans and ask questions.

Of the twelve Trustees, eight are appointed by the Prime Minister, one by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the recommendation of the President of the Royal Society, and three by the Board of Trustees themselves. The appointments are part-time, unpaid and normally last for five years with the option of a second five-year appointment.

We welcomed two new Trustees during the year, Sir William Castell, President and CEO of GE Healthcare, and Professor Georgina Mace, Director of Science at the Zoological Society of London. They replaced Ms Jana Bennett and Professor Anne McLaren, who stepped down from the Board at the end of 2003.

The 2004 Trustees are:
Professor Sir Keith O'Nions FRS (Chairman)
Sir William Castell LVO
Professor Dianne Edwards CBE FRS
Professor Michael Hassell CBE FRS
Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas DBE
Professor Christopher Leaver CBE FRS
Professor Jacquie McGlade
Professor Georgina Mace OBE FRS
Lord Palumbo
Professor Linda Partridge CBE FRS FRSE
Mr Oliver Stocken
Sir Richard Sykes FRS

Audit and assurance. Our Audit and Assurance team has a key role as a provider of risk management advice and internal audits, a service that it also supplies to the National Museum of Science and Industry. The team's work prompted a series of improvements during the year in the way that we identify, assess and manage corporate risks.

Several reviews were completed into specific aspects of the Museum's operations, including procurement, publishing, the Darwin Centre project, payroll and cash handling. In February 2004 the team was appointed to act as auditors of the SYNTHESYS project which the Museum is coordinating.