Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Nick Bensted-Smith, Mark Boleat, Alderman Charles Bowman, John Fletcher, Stuart Fraser, Christopher Hayward, Sir Michael Snyder, Deputy John Tomlinson and Philip Woodhouse.

Ian Seaton declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item 26 due to having a business relationship with the company involved.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 17 November 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 17 November 2015 be approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which set out actions outstanding from previous meetings of the Committee.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

To note the draft minutes of the following Sub-Committee meetings:

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the Efficiency & Performance Sub-Committee meeting held on 4 November 2015 be noted.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the Finance Grants Sub-Committee meeting held on 17 November 2015 be noted.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the Corporate Assets Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 November 2015 be noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which requested the Committee to conduct their annual review of the Committee’s Terms of Reference. The report also provided the Committee with an agenda plan for 2016.

A Member asked whether responsibility for Risk Management should be included in the Terms of Reference of the Committee. The Town Clerk explained that this question had also been asked at a recent meeting of the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee, and advised that the Town Clerk’s Department had discussed this issue and would consider that Risk Management was already implicitly enshrined within the Terms of Reference of all Service Committees by virtue of their duties in monitoring the Department.

A Member suggested that this should be an issue for the Audit and Risk Management Committee to consider and make a recommendation to Service Committees. Members agreed that this would be appropriate.

RESOLVED – That the Committee approves the changes to the Terms of Reference as set out within the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided the Committee with information of the implications of the Government’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review.

The Chamberlain advised the Committee that announcements were expected from the Government on the details of the Local Government and Police Settlements in the next couple of days. The Chairman advised that a further Members’ Breakfast regarding Police Funding had been arranged for 12 January 2016 at 8.30am.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided an update on the performance of the Information Technology Division over the previous quarter.

The Chamberlain provided Members with further information regarding the power outage which had affected IT service provision on the 23 November and the interruption to internet connectivity, caused by a fibre break, which had occurred on the 11 December. The Chamberlain advised that following on from the power outage, further planned maintenance had been required to rectify faults with both Fire Control System and the Uninterruptable Power Supply. This maintenance had successfully completed overnight on the 11/12 December. The Chamberlain noted that this highlighted the need for greater resiliency within the IT infrastructure of the Corporation.

Members expressed concern that the outages had led to significant periods of staff being unable to operate, and also expressed dissatisfaction about how Members were notified of the outages. The Assistant Town Clerk suggested that it may be beneficial for Members, in their roles on Service Committees, to ask Directors for clarification about their business continuity plans in the event of similar outages in future.

The Chamberlain advised that the number of defects within the Oracle Programme had been reduced from 15 to five, and the remaining defects were expected to be resolved by the end of December.

A Member asked whether the Superfast City work was expected to improve Broadband access for all residential properties within the City, or whether the benefit would be focused in the more concentrated residential areas. The Chamberlain explained that the increase in the number of BT Cabinets was expected to improve access to Broadband across the City, although it was anticipated that access may remain challenging for some residents. However, he explained that it was difficult to estimate the exact areas which might

Report of the Chamberlain. This report will also be considered by the Court of Common Council.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided Members with information in relation to the deficit of the City of London Pension Fund, following questions being asked on this subject at the Court of Common Council in October 2015.

The Town Clerk also highlighted that a Member Development Session on the Pension Fund had been scheduled for 11 January 2015 at 4.00pm.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided information regarding City Procurement’s Social Value Panel.

Members thanked the Chamberlain for the report and stated that this was a good news story for the Corporation.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which advised Members of a presentation made by the City of London Corporation at the Invest Northern Ireland Building London Conference, which had been warmly received.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain. This report will also be considered by the Court of Common Council on 14 January 2016.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which recommended to Members changes to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, in light of changes to national benefits in the July 2015 budget.

RESOLVED – That the Committee endorses the adoption of a revised Council Tax Reduction Scheme, following national benefit upratings (increases) and applying option 1 (set out within the report) for onward approval by the Court of Common Council, which would introduce revised applicable amounts, personal allowances, backdating and non-dependant deductions in line with Housing Benefit.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided the Committee with information regarding the operation of the Members’ Financial Allowance Loss Scheme over the last year.

A Member asked whether information could be provided regarding the number of Members who had made claims. The Town Clerk advised that claims made under the Scheme were handled confidentially, so it was not possible to advise the Committee of this.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided updates regarding the top risks within the Departmental Risk Register.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Town Clerk. This report was approved by the Police Committee on 1 December 2015 and will be considered by the Policy and Resources Committee on 10 December 2015.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which advised Members of a request for £50,000 funding from the Finance Committee City’s Cash Contingency for the first year of the Corporation’s contribution to the Police Arboretum Memorial Trust’s project to create a new national memorial to pay tribute to the UK’s Police Service and honour those Officers who have died in service.

The Town Clerk advised the Committee that the Policy and Resources Committee agreed to support a total contribution of £250,000 to the project over five years, with years two to five being funded through a base budget uplift of the Policy and Resources Committee budget.

RESOLVED – That the Committee agrees that funding for Year 1 of the Corporation’s contribution to the Police Arboretum Memorial Trust’s arboretum memorial project of £50,000 be met from the Finance Committee’s City’s Cash Contingency.

Report of the Chamberlain.

Consideration was given to a report of the Chamberlain which provided the Committee with information regarding the current balance of the Finance Committee Contingency Funds for the current year.

The report also informed the Committee of a request from the City Surveyor for £80,000 funding from the City’s Cash Contingency to meet the cost of the Assistant Property Facilities Manager posts for the period January to March 2016, pending completion of the Facilities Management Review. The Committee was advised that the Property Investment Board had been consulted on this request and had supported it.

A Member commented that the request for funding from the Committee’s Contingency should be supported, but only on the basis that the outcomes of the Facilities Management Review would be completed by the end of March 2015.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

a)    notes the report; and

b)    agrees to allocate £80,000 to the City Surveyor's budget from the Finance Committee's City's Cash contingency to meet the cost of the Assistant Property Facilities Manager posts for the period January to March 2016 pending completion of the Facilities Management review.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION - 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 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 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

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To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2015.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2015 were approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered and noted a report of the Town Clerk which set out actions outstanding from previous non-public minutes of the Committee.

To note the draft non-public minutes of the following Sub-Committee meetings:

The non-public minutes of the Efficiency & Performance Sub-Committee meeting held on 4 November 2015 were noted.

The non-public minutes of the Finance Grants Sub-Committee meeting held on 17 November 2015 were noted.

The non-public minutes of the Corporate Asset Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 November 2015 were noted.

Report of the City Surveyor. This report will also be considered by the Property Investment Board on 9 December 2015, Investment Committee on 20 January 2016 and Policy and Resources Committee on 21 January 2016.

As agreed by the Committee in February 2015, the summary report is included within the agenda and the full report has been circulated to Members electronically.

The Committee noted a report of the City Surveyor which provided an annual update of the progress made over the previous year in respect of the City’s Estate.

Report of the City Surveyor. This report will also be considered by the Property Investment Board on 9 December 2015, Investment Committee on 20 January 2016 and Policy and Resources Committee on 21 January 2016.

As agreed by the Committee in February 2015, the summary report is included within the agenda and the full report has been circulated to Members electronically.

The Committee noted a report of the City Surveyor which provided an annual update of the progress made over the previous year in respect of the Strategic Property Estate.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chamberlain which requested approval of a waiver for the contract for the provision of telephone lines and telephone call services.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chamberlain which requested approval for the variation and extension of an existing contract necessary for continuity in the leadership and effective performance of the internal audit function over the remainder of the 2015/16 financial year.

There were no non-public questions relating to the work of the Committee.

There was no other non-public business.