Agenda and minutes

The Chairman, on behalf of the Committee, wished to formally thank Vicky Carroll for all of her hard work and success at the Guildhall Art Gallery ahead of her return to Keats House where she would resume her role of Principal Curator.

Apologies for absence were received from Mark Boleat, Alderman Sir Roger Gifford, Tom Hoffman, Barbara Newman and Mark Wheatley.

There were no declarations.

To approve the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 5^th December 2016.

The public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 5 December 2016 were considered and approved as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Great Fire 350: Monitoring and Evaluation (page 4) – A Member clarified that she was seeking information as to how many permanent jobs had been created as a result of this project as opposed to full time jobs. The Committee were informed that, as per the update sent via the Town Clerk to all Members after their last meeting, the project had resulted in 55 part time and 2 full time jobs – all of these were temporary lasting from 6 weeks to a year.

Artizan Street Library and Community Centre (page 6) – Members requested an update on the unpleasant odour from the lavatories at this site which was discussed at the last meeting. The Chairman reported that this was, regrettably, yet to be resolved. The Committee were informed that the results of a survey conducted by United House were due tomorrow and that this was therefore still a work in progress. The Chairman stated that she had made her concerns around this and the need to address the matter as quickly as possible very clear. She had asked that she and the Deputy Chairman be provided with a full update on progress by the end of the week.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding their Terms of Reference and Frequency of Meetings.

The Deputy Chairman questioned whether this Committee should also now be represented in the appointment of both the Director of Open Spaces and the Director of Community and Children’s Services. He also sought Members’ views as to whether matters relating to the City’s benefices were still best overseen by this Committee.

A Member suggested that paragraph (e) of the existing terms of reference should be amended to refer to the Roman Villa and Baths as opposed to simply the Roman Baths as this was an inaccurate description. He also suggested that the newly proposed paragraph (j) of the Terms of Reference should refer to ‘a’ festival rather than ‘the’ festival.

The Committee were of the view that they should have some future involvement in the appointment of the Directors of Open Spaces and Community and Children’s Services going forward. They were also of the view that the responsibility for overseeing matters relating to the City’s benefices should be retained by this Committee.

RESOLVED – That:

i)                 paragraph (j) of the Committee’s existing terms of reference be amended as set out in the report.

ii)                the Committee’s desire to have future involvement in the appointment of both the Director of Open Spaces and the Director of Community and Children’s Services be factored in further discussions with Human Resources and the Establishment and Policy and Resources Committees.

A Resolution from the Policy and Resources Committee.

The Committee considered a resolution of the Policy and Resources Committee regarding the appointment of Chairmen of Sub-Committees.

A number of Members stated that they strongly opposed the recommendation and felt that it was important for Sub-Committees to retain the right to elect their own Chairmen.

It was also agreed that the wording of the resolution was not particularly clear and that the matter should therefore be referred back to the Policy and Resources Committee with the Committee awaiting further clarification before taking a firm view on this.

RESOLVED – That, the resolution be referred back to the Policy and Resources Committee for further clarification.   

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk briefing Members on progress made on the project since the City Corporation pledged its funding in September 2015.

A Member wanted to stress that it was important that this project did not, in any way, detract from the iconic vision of Tower Bridge. Officers confirmed that lighting on Tower Bridge was factored into the project and that the Illuminated River Foundation would work closely with the City Corporation to ensure the bridge retains its position as London’s most famous landmark.  

RESOLVED – That Members note the report.  

A presentation by Sarah Gaventa, Director – Illuminated River

Sarah Gaventa, Director of the Illuminated River Foundation, gave a presentation on the Illuminated River project.

Ms Gaventa explained that the project involved a concept design for lighting for the 17 (15 existing and 2 potential) main road, rail and pedestrian bridges between Albert and Tower Bridge along the River Thames. She reported that six teams were shortlisted following an international design competition run by The Illuminated River Foundation and the Mayor of London.

The Committee were informed of the details of the winning design from a team including American light artist Leo Villareal and renowned British architects and urban planners, Liftschutz Davidson Sandilands.

The Committee were informed that the project would be tackled in phases in order to reduce costs and disruption. It was hoped that London Bridge would be the first City bridge to showcase the design.

The Committee were informed that it was estimated that funds of £20m would be needed to realise the project and that, to date, pledges totalling £10 million had been made (£5 million had been pledged by Peter Baldwin and Lisbet Rausing through the Arcadia Fund and a further £5 million was being donated by the Rothschild Foundation). The Illuminated River Foundation would now be looking to raise the remaining £10m and were currently exploring a number of fundraising opportunities.

Ms Gaventa reported that the project would be environmentally as well as culturally driven with a focus on energy performance and sustainability.

A Member questioned whether the Port of London Health Authority had been involved in or consulted on the project to date. Ms Gaventa reported that she had been working with Officers from the Port of London Authority who were very supportive of the project and see it as a positive move for the River. She confirmed that she would

Joint report of the Directors of Open Spaces and Community and Children’s Services and the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee received a joint report of the Director of Open Spaces, the Director of Community & Children’s Services and the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director presenting draft summary business plans for 2017/18.

In response to questions, the Open Spaces Business Manager stated that, in future, she could look to clearly highlight those elements of the Departmental business plan that directly related to this Committee.

A Member commented on the need to focus efforts across Departments in certain areas. He referred, for example, to the fact that only one of the draft business plans referred to a fundraising strategy – an area that would clearly benefit from a more strategic ‘push’ across the City Corporation.

The Assistant Town Clerk highlighted that it was envisaged, following changes made to the services overseen by this Committee, there would be better opportunities to work collaboratively with other areas of the Corporation concerned with culture such as the Museum of London and the Barbican in future.

RESOLVED – That, Members note the draft business plans from the Director of Open Spaces, Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director and ask that their initial feedback on these be noted.  

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee received a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director summarising progress made since January 2016 in the digital transformation of LMA’s services to improve public access to the 100 kilometres of archival collections that it manages.

The Committee congratulated staff at the LMA on their efforts in this area this year. The Deputy Chairman highlighted that this work was a key part of the digital transformation agenda.

RESOLVED – That, Members note the report.

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee received a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director summarising the key events that will take place during 2017 to celebrate 950 years of London’s extraordinary archive collections.

The Director of the LMA reported that he would be happy to arrange a future Committee visit to ‘The Londoners: Portraits of a Working City, 1447 to 1980’ exhibition. He added that BBC London and BBC World Service had also covered the exhibition in the past few days.

RESOLVED – That, Members note the report.

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

The Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding Barbican and Community Libraries services for children and families.

A Member commented on the excellent expansion of outreach from the libraries to young children and their families. She commented particularly favourably on the Dad’s Saturday morning Rhymetime session offered by the Barbican Children’s Library each month. The Chairman highlighted that there were now a total of 2892 Children’s Library members – something which she felt was a fantastic achievement.

A Member questioned whether staff kept any information on attendees of various events run by the libraries in terms of demographics and where attendees resided so that they were able to demonstrate an outreach beyond immediate residents.

The Head of Barbican and Community Libraries highlighted that the statutory provision for the libraries was for those who lived, worked or studied in the immediate surrounding area. She added that the majority of users were, however, City workers and so the outreach here was therefore well beyond City residents. The Committee were informed that demographic data was kept on library users and those attending events and that this data had previously been used by Ofsted where it had been very positively received. The Head of Barbican and Community Libraries concluded by stating that staff at the libraries were already working to do more around collecting and collating this data.

A Member referred to a library in a London Borough that had recently offered members of the community the opportunity to select material only to discover that some of this contained Islamic extremist views. She therefore questioned whether staff were confident with regard to all of the material available at the City’s libraries. The Head of Barbican and Community Libraries reported that staff were very aware of these kind of

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment outlining the major events planned for 2017.

A Member questioned whether the Director was aware of concerns expressed by the City of London Police regarding disorder at a public house situated towards the end of the London marathon route. The Assistant Highways Director reported that he had not previously been made aware of these concerns but would now look to follow the matter up with the City of London Police.

RESOLVED – That, Members:

·        Agree to support the events outlined in the report and detailed in Appendix 1; and

·        Note that a root and branch review is planned for Standard Chartered Great City Race and the City of London Mile Run Fast events for 2018.

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director regarding the Guildhall Library Centenary Fund.

The Chairman stated that she felt it was clear from the report and also from previous discussions that this Committee had had around the Fund that it ought to be retained.

The Comptroller and City Solicitor reported that, as the Fund was a charity, due process would need to be followed if Members were minded to discharge this. This would involve a case being put to the Charity Commission clearly setting out the reasons why the Fund should no longer continue. A report would then also need to be considered by the Court of Common Council recommending the closure of the Fund if Members decided to pursue this.

The Comptroller and City Solicitor went on to remind the Committee that a report on the future of the Fund had previously been considered in 2010. At this time, the Committee’s decision was that the Fund should continue with re-focused effort on its future development.

The Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director reported that the Head of Guildhall & City Business Libraries was of the view that she would like more time to look at how the Fund was managed and how it might be used more productively going forward. The Chairman reported that she had already had some initial discussions with the Head of Guildhall & City Business Libraries around this and had suggested that she might look to engage a ‘Friends’ group or something similar going forward.

RESOLVED – That Members agree that the Fund be retained for the time being and request that they be provided with a further update as to how its potential benefits could be capitalised upon for the future conservation and care of the heritage collections

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director presenting recommendations of the City Arts Initiative (CAI) which met on 12 January 2017.

The Chairman reported that the Head of Cultural and Visitor Development now chaired the CAI.

A Member questioned why the first part of the new commission for artist Gunes Terkol recommended for approval would be displayed for one night only as part of Art Night (a one day event) the lead in to this, which would include participation from residents of Middlesex Street Estate, would be longer.

RESOLVED – That Members ratify the City Arts Initiative’s recommendations in relation to proposals as follows:

o      Sculpture in the City: approve all shortlisted sculptures, noting final selection will be made subject to logistics and availability and ratified by the Sculpture in the City Board on which your Committee Chairman sits;

o      Unlimited Productions / Art Night: approve the Do Ho Suh installation as part of Sculpture in the City, and the temporarymusical instruments and banners in the windows of The Cass; but reject the permanent mural request until further information regarding consultation with the City’s Housing Team and a more detailed proposal for mural content have been received and considered by the CAI;

o      The 100 Bishopsgate Partnership: agree with the recommendation that the proposed axis for the statue is reviewed but without changes being a condition of approval; and

o      Reignwood International UK: approve the in-principle proposal for the subject of the statue on condition that a detailed application is made to the CAI for their consideration once the artist has been selected and the design progressed.

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director concerning recommendations for applications received under the Inspiring London through Culture funding stream, a part of the City Corporation’s Central Grants Programme.

A Member noted that this was a by-product of the City’s Grants Review and suggested it would therefore be useful to have, in due course, some feedback as to whether this was working well and was an improvement on what had previously existed.

The Head of Cultural and Visitor Development reported that he had been very enthused by the interest shown in this theme and informed the Committee that a total of 16 applications had been received. He went on to report that, although it was anticipated that individual grants would not normally exceed £7,500, up to £10,000 may be considered for exceptional cases – many of the applications received had requested the £10,000 figure.

In response to questions regarding those applications that had been rejected by the Central Grants Unit before recommendations were presented to this Committee for approval, the Head of Cultural and Visitor Development clarified that all of the applications received were considered following the same protocol as that followed by the City Bridge Trust. The Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director highlighted that those applications which had been rejected were also summarised within the report put to this Committee. Members recognised that they would therefore have the opportunity to question this and would also have the ability to set objectives and priorities going forward against which any future recommendations could be tested.

RESOLVED – That Members approve the recommendations for applications received under the Inspiring London through Culture funding stream, a part of the City Corporation’s Central Grants Programme.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk advising Members of action taken by the Town Clerk since the last meeting of the Committee, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, and in accordance with Standing Order No. 41.

RESOLVED – That Members note the decisions taken under delegated authority since the last meeting.

Committee Dinner Guest Speaker

In response to a question, the Chairman reported that neither she nor the Town Clerk had received a copy of the guest speaker’s speech ahead of the recent Committee Dinner.

The Head of Cultural and Visitor Development stated that he believed that the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries had been consulted on the speech ahead of the Committee Dinner.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

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 the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100A(4) 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 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To approve the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5^th December 2016.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2016 were considered and approved as a correct record.

Report of the City Surveyor.

This report was approved by the Projects Sub Committee on 14^th December 2016.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor regarding the Conservation and Repair of the Lord Mayor’s Coach.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor seeking delegated authority for the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Projects Sub Committee and the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee to approve a Gateway 5 report in March 2017 regarding works required on the Lord Mayor’s State Coach.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor regarding the renewal of a licence to Keats Community Library at Ten Keats Grove, Hampstead.

Report of the Director of Open Spaces.

The Committee considered and approved a joint report of the Head of Tower Bridge and the Director of Open Spaces presenting the outcome of a request by Members to engage a third-party consultant to undertake a feasibility study for developing the heritage and retail offering to visitors at the Monument.

Report of the Director of Open Spaces.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Director of Open Spaces considering the successful retail element of the tourism business at Tower Bridge and presenting a proposal for effective resourcing in order to minimise the risks faced currently and also allow for future growth and development.

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration in the non-public session.

To approve the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 5^th December 2016.

The separately circulated, confidential minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2016 were considered and approved as a correct record.