Venue: Committee Room - 2nd Floor West Wing, Guildhall. View directions
Contact: John Cater
tel. no.: 020 7332 1426
Email: john.cater@cityoflondon.gov.uk
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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. |
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Members' Declarations under the Code of Conduct in respect of items on the agenda Minutes: There were no declarations of interest.
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Minutes of the previous meeting PDF 280 KB To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 12th December 2017. Minutes: RESOLVED – That the public minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 12 December 2017, be approved as an accurate record.
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Outstanding actions from previous meetings PDF 122 KB Report of The Town Clerk. 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. |
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Bridge House Estates - Strategic Review Fund PDF 95 KB Report of The Chamberlain and The Chief Grants Officer. 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. |
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City Bridge Trust - Proposed Revenue Budget 2018/19 PDF 185 KB Report of The Chamberlain and The Town Clerk. 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.
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Benefits in Kind Reporting PDF 99 KB Report of The Chief Grants Officer. 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. |
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Revised Financial Regulations PDF 95 KB Report of The Chamberlain. 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. |
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Risk Management - Top Risks PDF 162 KB Report of The Chamberlain. 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 |
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Central Contingencies PDF 87 KB Report of The Chamberlain. Additional documents: Minutes: Members received a report of the Chamberlain, updating Members on Central Contingencies.
RESOLVED – That Members noted the report. |
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Questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee Minutes: There were no questions.
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Any Other Business that the Chairman considers urgent Minutes: There were no urgent items.
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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. 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.
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Non-public minutes of the previous meeting To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 12th December 2017. Minutes: The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 12 December were approved as an accurate record. |
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Outstanding actions from non-public minutes of previous meetings Report of The Town Clerk. Minutes: Members noted a report of the Town Clerk which set out outstanding actions from previous non-public minutes of the Committee.
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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. Minutes: Members considered a Report of The Chamberlain, The Commissioner of the City of London Police and The City Surveyor.
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Provision of a Uniform Managed Service for City of London Police Report of The Chamberlain and the Corporate Services Category Board. Minutes: Members considered a Report of the Chamberlain. |
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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. Minutes: Members considered a Report of The Chamberlain and the Principal of the Guildhall School for Music and Drama. |
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Annual Review of Corporate Purchase Card Holders and Credit Limits Report of The Chamberlain. Minutes: Members received a Report of The Chamberlain. |
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City's Estate - Annual Strategy Update Report of The City Surveyor. Minutes: Members received a Report of The City Surveyor. |
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Bridge House Estates - Annual Strategy Update Report of The City Surveyor. Minutes: Members received a Report of The City Surveyor. |
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Strategic Property Estate - Annual Update Report of The City Surveyor. Minutes: Members received a Report of The City Surveyor. |
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Non-public decisions taken under delegated authority and urgency procedures Report of The Town Clerk. Minutes: The Committee noted a report of the Town Clerk detailing a non-public decision taken under delegated authority procedures since the last meeting. |
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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. |
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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.
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