Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room - 2nd Floor West Wing, Guildhall. View directions

Contact: John Cater
tel. no.: 020 7332 1426  Email: john.cater@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Dominic Christian, Simon Duckworth, Deputy Clare James, Tim Levene, Oliver Lodge, Deputy Henry Pollard, James de Sausmarez, Sir Michael Snyder, Deputy Philip Woodhouse and Sir Mark Boleat.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

Members' Declarations under the Code of Conduct in respect of items on the agenda

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 280 KB

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 12th December 2017.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 12 December 2017, be approved as an accurate record.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Outstanding actions from previous meetings pdf icon PDF 122 KB

Report of The Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

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

 

Item 1: Departments being charged for their use of the Comptroller’s Department’s services

The Chairman expressed his dismay at the length of time it was taking officers to return to the Committee with a Report on proposals for an internal charging mechanism for legal services. Officers reassured Members that a Report would be submitted to the Finance Committee February meeting (20th).

 

Item 2: Risk Management

The Chairman and Deputy Chairman proposed that the discussion around risk management (concerning the level of security Microsoft Outlook offered, with regards to distribution of the agenda packs), would be better explored via the Information Technology Sub Committee. The Sub Committee next meets on 9th February.

 

Item 3: Committee’s Terms of Reference

The Town Clerk and the Chairman confirmed that action was being taken, and it was anticipated that a revised version of the Terms of Reference document for Finance Committee, would be submitted in good time to Policy & Resources Committee in March, and thence to Court of Common Council for final approval.

 

Item 4: Draft Departmental Business Plans 2018/19 – full alignment with draft outcomes of the Corporate Plan

Officers confirmed that this had been communicated to departments and it will be emphasised going forward.

 

RESOLVED – That Members noted the report.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Bridge House Estates - Strategic Review Fund pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Report of The Chamberlain and The Chief Grants Officer.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

Minutes:

Members considered a Report of the Chamberlain and the Chief Grants Officer, concerning the establishment of a Bridge House Estates Strategic Review Fund.

 

RESOLVED – that Members approved the following:

 

·         Agreed the creation of the BHE Strategic Review Fund, totalling up to £1m;

 

·         Agreed the governance arrangements for the approval of bids against the above Fund, whereby delegation is given to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Committee Chairman of Policy & Resources, Finance and City Bridge Trust, in consultation with the Chief Grants Officer and Deputy Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

City Bridge Trust - Proposed Revenue Budget 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 185 KB

Report of The Chamberlain and The Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

Minutes:

Members considered a Report of The Chamberlain and The Town Clerk, concerning City Bridge Trust’s Proposed Revenue Budget for 2018/19.

 

RESOLVED – That Members approved the following:

 

·         authorised the Chamberlain to revise these budgets to allow for any necessary realignment of funds resulting from corporate projects.

 

 

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Benefits in Kind Reporting pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Report of The Chief Grants Officer.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Minutes:

Members considered a Report of the Chief Grants Officer, concerning benefits in kind (BIK), that are provided to external organisations.

 

The Chairman expressed his concerns that the Corporation had historically been complacent when reviewing its benefits in kind with external parties – too often, once an agreement was established, it remained in perpetuity with little oversight or review. The Chief Grants Officer suggested that the Proposed Corporate Policy (proposed in the Report) would address the Chairman’s concerns.

 

RESOLVED – That Members approved the following:

 

·         To agree the revised BIK definition;

·         To agree the proposed BIK policy to guide decisions approving BIK be adopted by the CoLC with effect from 1st April 2018.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Revised Financial Regulations pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Report of The Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 8.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a Report of The Chamberlain, concerning the revised Financial Regulations.

 

RESOLVED – That Members approved the following:

 

·         Approved the updated Financial Regulations.

 

·         Noted the development of Financial Regulations Part 2 into the Finance Manual.

 

·         Delegated to the Chamberlain the updating of future amendments to the Financial Regulations where they relate to changes in officer responsibilities because of restructuring or a job title change and to update links to new document locations where appropriate.

 

·         Delegated authority to the Comptroller and City Solicitor to agree new standard clauses for indemnities and update the Financial Regulations appropriately.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Risk Management - Top Risks pdf icon PDF 162 KB

Report of The Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Chamberlain which provided updates regarding the top risks within the Departmental Risk Register.

 

The Deputy Chairman (who also serves as Chairman of the Information Technology Sub Committee) said that he anticipated CR19 (IT Security Provision) was on course to be reduced from amber to green by the end of 2018. A reduction to amber for CR16 was dependent on the full introduction of The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was anticipated to happen at the end of April. A further reduction to green could be achieved by July.

 

Members were concerned that despite the efforts of the Chairman of Finance, and senior Officers, the direction of travel for CR23 (City of London Police Funding) was red. One Member queried whether the Deloitte Review was another case of “simply re-adjusting the deck chairs”, whilst another questioned whether the level of efficiencies proposed were realistic. In response, the Chairman stressed that considerable progress had been made, however there remained a great deal of work to do, “the essence of the message was that COLP was being given a year to implement the Deloitte findings and, the obligation on the Police to achieve the 2% efficiency target, was no different to any other department across the Corporation”.

 

The Chairman and the Chamberlain reassured Members that City officers were working closely with the Police to close the gap, and the Police had committed to the Transformation Programme and would collaborate fully with the Chamberlain and others to realise those changes. However, the current outlook was unsustainable in the long run; the variances dwarfed those of other departments across the Corporation, indeed, the longer-term risk was classified as red. (CR23 is classified as amber but it is limited to 2018/19 Financial Year only). The Chairman emphasised that a

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Central Contingencies pdf icon PDF 87 KB

Report of The Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Chamberlain, updating Members on Central Contingencies.

 

RESOLVED – That Members noted the report.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Any Other Business that the Chairman considers urgent

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

Exclusion of the Public

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.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

Minutes:

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.

 

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

Non-public minutes of the previous meeting

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 12th December 2017.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.

Minutes:

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 12 December were approved as an accurate record.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

Outstanding actions from non-public minutes of previous meetings

Report of The Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 15.

Minutes:

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

 

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

21 New Street for City of London Police

Joint Report of The Chamberlain, The Commissioner of the City of London Police and The City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 16.

Minutes:

Members considered a Report of The Chamberlain, The Commissioner of the City of London Police and The City Surveyor.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Provision of a Uniform Managed Service for City of London Police

Report of The Chamberlain and the Corporate Services Category Board.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 17.

Minutes:

Members considered a Report of the Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Formation of a Reserve for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Report of The Chamberlain and the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 18.

Minutes:

Members considered a Report of The Chamberlain and the Principal of the Guildhall School for Music and Drama.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

Annual Review of Corporate Purchase Card Holders and Credit Limits

Report of The Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 19.

Minutes:

Members received a Report of The Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

City's Estate - Annual Strategy Update

Report of The City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 20.

Minutes:

Members received a Report of The City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

21.

Bridge House Estates - Annual Strategy Update

Report of The City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 21.

Minutes:

Members received a Report of The City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

22.

Strategic Property Estate - Annual Update

Report of The City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 22.

Minutes:

Members received a Report of The City Surveyor.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

Non-public decisions taken under delegated authority and urgency procedures

Report of The Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 23.

Minutes:

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

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

Non-public questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee

Minutes:

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

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

25.

Any Other Business that the Chairman considers urgent and which the Committee agree should be considered whilst the public are excluded

Minutes:

Members considered an item of urgent business relating to a Head of Security at the Guildhall Complex.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.