Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Alderman and Sherriff Charles Bowman, Simon Duckworth, Clare James, Tom Hoffman, Greg Lawrence and David Thompson.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 15 December 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 15 December 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 public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 15 December 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the Information Systems Sub-Committee meeting held on 15 December 2015 be noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided information of the provisional settlements for Local Government and Police for 2016/17 and provided the Mayoral Precept for 2016/17. The report indicated that the provisional level of Local Government and Police funding were better than had been previously expected.

A Member asked for further information regarding the Government’s proposal that authorities could receive certainty on their settlement for a period of four years (to 2019-20) if they published an efficiency plan. The Chamberlain explained that this only applied to the Revenue Support Grant aspect of the settlement, but beyond that no further information of the requirements of the efficiency plan were known.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain. This report will also be considered by the Policy and Resources Committee on 21 January 2015.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided the provisional revenue budget for 2016/17 in relation to operational services directly overseen by the Finance Committee. The proposed budget totalled £55.688m, an increase of 5.0% compared to the 2015/16 budget.

The Chamberlain explained that, if approved, the budget uplift of £505,000 to cover the growth in server usage and storage, which the report proposed be requested from Policy and Resources Committee, would be ring-fenced for solely that purpose, and would not be drawn upon until a mitigation plan had been approved by the Finance Committee (or its Information Technology Sub-Committee).

The Committee discussed the proposal to request that Policy and Resources Committee approve a budget uplift for this issue. The Committee noted that it was important to demonstrate that the Finance Committee supported financial prudence across the Corporation, particularly in light of the challenges faced by all Committees in the Service Based Review. The Committee also agreed that, while this issue had been discussed at IT Sub-Committee meetings over the previous year, there had not previously been an indication of additional budget requirements to address this. The Committee suggested that it may have been possible to provide an indication of this requirement earlier in the budget setting process.

The Committee agreed that a sufficiently strong case had not been presented to the Committee for the Committee to recommend the proposal to the Policy and Resources Committee. The Committee agreed that it should be presented with the mitigation plan to reduce or remove the requirements for additional IT storage. Only following the mitigation plan demonstrating that all other possible actions had been taken and that additional funding was required and unavoidable would the Committee consider requesting additional funding from the Policy and Resources Committee.

The Committee also commented that information

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided Members with an update regarding the Chamberlain’s Departmental Business Plan.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided a quarterly update on the Chamberlain’s Departmental Risk Register.

The Chamberlain provided Members with an update regarding the IT risks set out within the report. The Town Clerk highlighted that a Member Development session on Information Security had been arranged for 8 February 2016 at 2.00pm.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided a quarterly update on the work of City Procurement.

A Member asked for clarification regarding how the savings achieved by City Procurement were calculated, and whether this included savings from reducing the scope of procurements or no longer proceeding with some projects. The Chamberlain explained that the saving was calculated based on a like-for-like basis and therefore provided an indication of the savings achieved from the procurement process alone, rather than any other external factors.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Chief Grants Officer which provided proposed revised Terms of Reference for the Finance Grants Sub-Committee following the Review of Grants as part of the Service Based Review.

The Committee discussed whether the Sub-Committee should also request that grants made through the City Bridge Trust were subject to the Sub-Committee’s monitoring. The Committee agreed that this was not necessary.

RESOLVED – That the Committee approves the proposed amended Terms of Reference of the Finance Grants Sub-Committee, as set out at Appendix 1.

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.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided information of the action taken by the Town Clerk since the last meeting of the Committee, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, in accordance with Standing Orders 41(a) and 41(b).

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

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.

Item No.                                                         Paragraphs in Schedule 12A

17-22, 24-25                                                  3

23, 26                                                             1 and 3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2015.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2015 were approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

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

To note the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2015.

The non-public minutes of the Information Systems Sub-Committee meeting held on 15 December 2015 were noted.

Report of the City Surveyor. This report will also be considered by the Property Investment Board on 13 January 2016, Investment Committee on 20 January 2016 and Policy and Resources Committee on 21 January 2016.

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 Bridge House Estates.

Report of the City Surveyor. This report will also be considered by the Property Investment Board on 13 January 2016, Investment Committee on 20 January 2016 and Policy and Resources Committee on 21 January 2016.

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 Fund Estate.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chamberlain which provided information regarding the Procurement Evaluation Criteria which would be used for the Joint Network Refresh of the Wide Area Network Project.

Joint report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor and the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a joint report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor which provided information of the ruling made by the High Court regarding the land dispute with the Greater London Authority regarding the ownership of strategic roads within the City.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor which provided information about urgent repairs which were required to the West Wing Staircase of Guildhall.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chamberlain which provided an application for discretionary rent relief under Section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Town Clerk detailing a non-public decision taken under delegated authority since the last meeting.

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

There were no items of urgent business.