Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy Doug Barrow, Keith Bottomley, Alderman Peter Estlin, Wendy Hyde, Tom Sleigh, Sir Michael Snyder and Alderman Sir David Wootton.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 6 June 2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 June 2016 were approved as a correct record.

The Chairman to be heard.

This item was deferred until a future meeting.

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman was heard regarding the outcome of the referendum on UK membership of the European Union.

·         He noted that he had attended various meetings with trade associations, the London Mayor, and TheCityUK to discuss and review the result. Many businesses recognise that at present there were few options to pursue in the short term: there would be a substantive political debate around balancing access to the single market, with EU rules on freedom of movement.

·         The Chairman would be travelling to Paris for the City’s Anglo-French Dialogue on 12 July.

·         The City has established a Brexit Taskforce composed of relevant Committee Chairmen and Aldermen. The taskforce had no powers of decision and would function as a sounding board.

·         The Economic Development Office would increase the City’s ambassadorial engagement.

·         The Director of Economic Development noted that the London Mayor’s Chief of Staff had convened a meeting of borough leader’s in the last week to discuss Brexit and its impact on London local government. One issue in particular that had been raised was the status of EU nationals currently resident in London and the UK.

·         A member noted that The City Bridge Trust could have a role in fostering projects that promoted community cohesion.

·         A member noted that the City had a stake in Brexit negotiations, and had a role to play in providing high level examples of what the financial services sector needed in a post-Brexit scenario.  

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

Members considered an update report of the Director of Economic Development on the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG). The following comments were made.

·         The Chairman noted that, in the wake of Brexit, the existing workstreams were now largely irrelevant and it was evident that the UK had lost influence in Brussels.

·         The IRSG should now focus on influencing the post-Brexit regulatory environment.

·         The IRSG should adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach given that UK exit from the EU would take a number of years.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

An EU engagement update report of the Director of Economic Development was received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk on ward newsletters. It was noted that the newsletters fell between straightforward definitions of external and internal communications and therefore Members agreed to hold a workshop to review the purpose of newsletters in April 2017.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

Members received a report of the Director of Economic Development regarding the Policy Chairman’s Visit to Shanghai between 10-13 June 2016.

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 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.

Non-public appendix to accompany Item 6 (EU Engagement).

A non-public appendix relating to Item 7 (EU Engagement Update) was received.