Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Randall Anderson, Deputy Roger Chadwick, Sophie Fernandes, Alderman Tim Hailes, Gregory Lawrence, Paul Martinelli, Alderman and Sheriff William Russell and Deputy James Thomson.

Ian Seaton declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item 25 due to being Church Warden of St Lawrence Jewry.

Deputy Jamie Ingham Clark declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of item 25 due to being a member of the Guild Church Council of St Lawrence Jewry.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 15 November 2016.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 15 November 2016 be approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

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

The Town Clerk informed the Committee that donations which are made to disaster relief appeals are reserved, by law, for the purpose of emergency appeals. The Town Clerk explained that information was being gathered to provide an analysis of the financial activities of organisations, which would help to inform future decisions regarding disaster relief donations.

The Town Clerk explained that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman had agreed to two donations being made to Disaster Relief Emergency Appeals during the last week. These were:

-       a donation of £20,000 to Save The Children’s emergency appeal to relieve the famine in North East Nigeria;

-       £25,000 to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s appeal to relieve the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which advised Members of the key discussions which had taken place during recent meetings of the Committee’s Sub-Committees.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

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

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the following Sub-Committee meetings:

-        Finance Grants Oversight and Performance Sub-Committee held on 15 November 2016; and

-        Corporate Asset Sub-Committee held on 18 November 2016;

RESOLVED – That Dominic Christian be appointed to the Efficiency and Performance Sub-Committee.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided the Committee with the opportunity to conduct the annual review of its Terms of Reference.

RESOLVED – That the Committee

a)  approves the Terms of Reference of the Finance Committee for submission to the Court, as set out in the appendix 1;

b)  agrees that the Committee continue to meet every fourth week, on Tuesdays; and

c)  notes the Forward Plan for 2017 at Appendix 2;

d)  agrees that any changes to the Terms of Reference required in the lead up to the appointment of Committees be delegated to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which highlighted the key points for the City Corporation from the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016.

The Chamberlain confirmed that, as a result of the publishing the Efficiency and Sustainability Plan, the Corporation would receive certainty in the level of the Local Government Financial Settlement which would be received from 2017/18 to 2019/20. It was expected that the amount of the Financial Settlement would be confirmed later in the current week.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which sought approval for the continuation of the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme, following national benefit upratings.

RESOLVED – That the Committee endorses the continuation of the current Council Tax Reduction Scheme, following national benefit upratings (increases/decreases) for onward approval by the Court of Common Council.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided an update on the work of the Financial Services Division over the previous quarter.

The Chamberlain explained that the revaluation of Business Rates would lead to an average increase in Business Rates of 30% for City businesses. Members commented that this was a serious issue for City businesses, especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and the Corporation should work to support these businesses on this issue.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services which sought approval for an allocation from the Finance Committee’s Contingency Fund to meet the short term costs of setting up the Corporation’s apprenticeship service in the current financial year.

RESOLVED – That the Committee approves the allocation of £61,000 from the Finance Committee’s Contingency Fund to cover the set up and initial running costs of the City of London Corporation’s Apprenticeship Service.

Report of the Chamberlain.

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

The Chamberlain explained that the IT Strategy was currently being developed and it was anticipated that this would be presented to the IT Sub-Committee and the Finance Committee in January 2017.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided information regarding the use of the Members’ Financial Loss Allowance Scheme during 2015/16.

The Chairman commented that the Scheme not being used in the previous year may indicate that the Scheme needed to be reviewed to ensure that it was appropriate. The Chairman also commented that, if the Scheme was not appropriate, it may exclude otherwise interested candidates from standing for election to the Court. The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee agreed that it may be appropriate for that Committee to review the Scheme following the 2017 Common Council elections.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

a)    notes the report;

b)    requests that the Policy and Resources Committee review the Members’ Financial Loss Allowance Scheme following the 2017 Common Council elections.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which provided Members with information regarding the current balance of the Finance Committee Contingency Funds for the current year.

The Town Clerk informed that Committee that the Chairman had noted that, as part of the Review of Grants which had been completed earlier in the year, the Finance Committee Chairman’s Discretionary Fund had been abolished. The Town Clerk explained that this Fund had typically been used to make small donations at Christmas to charities based around London, up to a total of £10,000. The Town Clerk explained that the Chairman had requested that Officers explore methods which would allow these donations to be made for Christmas 2016, with a permanent solution to be determined for future years.

The Town Clerk explained that the options were:

-       Not to make the grants for Christmas 2016, and advise the Charities, which may have hoped for funding, to make applications to the Stronger Communities Theme of the Central Grants Programme in January 2017;

-       to allocate £10,000 from the Finance Committee’s Contingency Fund for Christmas Donations; or

-       to request that the Policy and Resources Committee, as an item of urgent business at their meeting later in the week, approve that a proportion of the Disaster Relief Fund be diverted for contributions to UK appeals.

In response to a question from a Member, the Town Clerk confirmed that it was intended that any decision taken by the Finance Committee would be for the purpose of funding donations for Christmas 2016 and a permanent solution would be proposed to the relevant Committee (likely to be the Policy and Resources Committee) during 2017.

A Member commented that, as the Lord Mayor’s appeal this year sought to promote the Corporation’s work outside of the London area, the Chairman

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

19-31, 33-35                                      3

32, 36                                                 2

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2016.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2016 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 outstanding actions from previous non-public minutes of the Committee.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub-Committee noted a joint report of the Chamberlain and Town Clerk which provided information about the review, conducted by PA Consulting, of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Operating Model Review.

Joint report of the City Surveyor and the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The Committee considered and approved a joint report of the City Surveyor and the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama which sought approval for the renewal of the lease of Sundial Court, Chiswell Street EC1.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee noted a report of the Town Clerk which advised Members of the key discussions which had taken place during the non-public session at recent meetings of the Committee’s Sub-Committees.

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

The Committee noted the draft non-public minutes of the following Sub-Committee meetings:

-        Finance Grants Oversight and Performance Sub-Committee held on 15 November 2016; and

-        Corporate Asset Sub-Committee held on 18 November 2016.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee noted a report of the Chamberlain which provided an update on work in progress and challenges ahead to tackle the ‘bow wave’ of unfunded maintenance costs relating to the Corporation’s operational property assets.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered a report of the City Surveyor which sought funding from the Finance Committee’s Contingency Fund for the Guildhall Administration budget.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered and approved a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of Human Resources which sought approval for the award of a four-year contract for Managed Service Temporary Labour Resource.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chamberlain which sought approval for the recommended evaluation criteria to be used in the selection of a preferred supplier for the provision of a Corporate Managed Service for Multi-Functional Devices).

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor which sought funding from the Finance Committee Contingency Fund in relation to the recruitment of three additional staff within the Investment Property Group of the City Surveyor’s Department.

Report of the City Surveyor.

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

Report of the Commissioner of the City Police.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police which sought approval for the continued appointment of the existing provider of the Action Fraud National Fraud and Cyber Reporting Centre until the new Managed Service would go live at the end of May 2017.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Comptroller & City Solicitor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Chamberlain and Comptroller and City Solicitor which sought approval to allow Interserve Engineering Services Ltd to become an Admitted Body to the City of London Corporation’s Local Government Pension Board to allow staff pensions rights to be protected.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee noted a report of the Chamberlain which updated Members on non-urgent waivers over £50,000 which had been approved by the relevant Spending Committee, in accordance with the Waiver Approval Process set out within the Corporation’s Procurement Code.

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

There were no items of urgent business.

To approve the confidential minutes of the previous meeting.

The Committee considered and approved the confidential minutes of the last meeting.