Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Roger Chadwick, Hugh Morris, Tom Sleigh, Sir Michael Snyder and The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor, Alderman Alan Yarrow.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 28 May 2015.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 May 2015 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Sub Committee received an update and forward look report of the Director of Economic Development regarding the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG). Members made the following comments:

·         Cybersecurity and resilience should feature in the IRSG work plan.

·         The Corporation should be clear that the IRSG’s role was advisory and that it did not speak ‘for’ the City Corporation, to which the Chairman replied that the output of the IRSG reflected the views of the City financial and therefore the City Corporation should respect those views.  The Chairman agreed that the terminology of the IRSG being “an advisory body to the City of London and TheCityUK” did not adequately reflect the reality of the position,

·         The expertise and skills of the IRSG membership, its qualitative output and the figures it attracted from the financial services presented a net benefit for the Corporation.

·         The Director of Economic Development agreed that future papers could provide more iterative detail on the work of the IRSG as well as examples of its output.

·         The Chairman noted that the Corporation would shortly be reviewing its service level agreement with The CityUK.  The recent appointment of the City’s Special Representative would have an effect on the relationship.  This would provide the opportunity to review the status of the IRSG

RECEIVED 

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Director of Economic Development on engagement with EU policy makers.

In response to comments from Members, the Director agreed to review the format and content of future engagement reports to maximise their value for Members.

RECEIVED

The Director of Public Relations to be heard.

The Director of Public Relations was heard on current issues relevant to the City of London Corporation.

Heathrow

The Chairman noted that City of London Corporation’s support for a third runway at Heathrow arose from the fact it had endorsed the Airports Commission since its inception. The key issue was capacity and given that the Commission’s recommendation for Heathrow was so emphatic is logically followed that the Corporation would endorse the Commission’s conclusion.

Devolution

The Chairman noted that greater devolution to London was an emerging issue and that a paper would be submitted to a future meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee. He noted that at present ‘devolution’ was interpreted by central government as devolution to the Mayor rather than to the London boroughs.

Mayoral Candidates

The Director of Public Relations noted that Zac Goldsmith (Conservative) and Tessa Jowell (Labour) were the likely candidates.

Party Conferences 2015

The Director of Public Relations noted that a strong programme of party conference fringe events had been drawn up, including an event at the SNP Conference in Aberdeen in October 2015.

Tim Farron

Members noted that Tim Farron had been elected as the new Liberal Democrat Party Leader.

Report of the Director of Public Relations.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Director of Public Relations on the City Corporation’s political and business contact programme events. The Chairman noted that it did not feature TheCityUK events which could be incorporated into future versions.

RECEIVED

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

To agree the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 28 May 2015.

The Town Clerk noted that the formerly confidential minutes of the meeting held on 28 May 2015 were now non-public given the reason for their confidentiality had now passed.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 28 May 2015 were approved.