Agenda and minutes

At the start of the meeting, Alderman Alison Gowman, as senior Alderman present, was moved into the Chair until the Election of Chair/Chairman. Members and those watching the live broadcast of the meeting via YouTube were welcomed, before Members were reminded of the guidance circulated for the conducting of remote meetings.

Apologies for absence were received from Henry Colthurst.

There were no declarations.

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council on 21 July 2020.

The Committee received the Order of the Court of Common Council of 16 July 2020 appointing the Committee and approving its terms of reference.

To elect a Chair/Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chair/Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.29, and Dhruv Patel, being the only Member who expressed his willingness to serve, was duly elected as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

To elect a Deputy Chair/Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 30.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chair/Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.30. As there were two Members indicating their willingness to serve, a ballot of eligible Committee Members was undertaken, and arising from the ballot, Deputy Dr Giles Shilson was duly elected as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 8 July 2020.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 8 July 2020 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk

RESOLVED – That Dhruv Patel be appointed to the Social Investment Board, for three years.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received the list of outstanding actions, noting those which were on the agenda or were scheduled for a future date or meeting.

RESOLVED – That the Outstanding Actions update be noted.

Report of the CGO

The Committee received a presentation from Renaisi and a report of the Chief Grants Officer & Director of City Bridge Trust (CGO) providing a review of progress towards implementing the Bridging Divides strategy with recommendations for the coming year. The CGO introduced the item before handing over to Renaisi to present.

Renaisi then gave the Committee some background to the review and their role in conjunction with City Bridge Trust (CBT), before outlining the work undertaken and sharing headline findings of the review. Renaisi advised that the findings had been positive, with a tangible sense of progress in CBT implementing values and developing as a learning organisation. New aspects of CBT’s funding offer and changes to the Committee had been well-received, as were the increased levels of delegation, which had also been highlighted as a positive. Reniaisi also set out areas for improvement or further consideration, such as the scale of ambition, and further work required in becoming a learning organisation. Renaisi also reported ambitions to further work on the environment and representation, and desire to share more learning externally.

The Committee was advised that the report covered the period from March 2019 to March 2020, and therefore the context had changed since due to the impact of Covid-19. Renaisi drew the Committee’s attention to the recommendations set out in the report, and advised that a further mid-year report would be drafted in October 2020. The Committee was advised that effort would be made to finalise the mid-year report in time for the November Committee meeting.

In response to a question from the Chairman, Renaisi recalled work previously done on two theories of change for CBT, which had been useful in understanding and providing shared language, and advised that this could be employed again during the process for allocating additional Bridge

Report of the Chief Grants Officer and Director of City Bridge Trust (CGO)

The Committee considered the regular progress report of the CGO and discussed the updates and recommendations provided.

CBT’s Response to Covid-19

The CGO advised that this had been a difficult period for organisations and the Committee would benefit from a shared level of understanding of officer engagement. The CGO thanked the Chairman and immediate past Chair for their engagement with officers and contributions to the focussed Covid response. The CGO then reminded the Committee of measures taken since March 2020 such as the pause on new applications and commitment to the London Community Response Fund (LCRF), plus CBT involvement in external groups.

The CGO then gave the Committee an overview of the work of the LCRF since its establishment, having now awarded over £21 million to London-based charities. LCRF had responded to changes in need and emerging needs in the spirit of partnership and collaboration, which had provided real diversity of experience and knowledge. It was hoped the opportunities presented would be capitalised upon going forward. In response to a question from a Member, the CGO advised that the best format for communicating the work of the LCRF to the wider Court was under consideration.

Referencing support for mental health issues, a Member asked how CBT could support organisations that challenged government policy where they felt it created difficulty. Another Member added that frontline organisations had shown real innovation in accelerating to online service delivery and suggested that CBT look at amplifying these innovations to inform other organisations. The CGO thanked Members for raising these points and advised that CBT supported organisations with emphasis and focus by identifying areas of concern and targeting frontline work. The CGO added that CBT were conscious of the widening gap to those without digital skills and resources and the opportunity to build on work

Report of the CGO

The Committee considered a report of the CGO assessing the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis on the work of City Bridge Trust and offering several recommendations for the work of the Trust going forward. The Committee noted the revised version of the report that had been circulated. The CGO introduced the report and drew Members’ to the key points and recommendations.

The Committee discussed the additional resource of £200 million Bridge House Estates funding agreed by the March 2020 Court of Common Council meeting, noting that drawing some of this funding into the 2020-21 grant year had been considered. Members recognised the significant impact of Covid-19, but hoped to retain opportunities for larger, longer-term strategic grant funding. The CGO responded that this was the case, and whilst it was possible there would be some call on the funds to facilitate CBT’s ongoing response to Covid-19, a significant balance would remain.

The Chairman drew the Committee’s attention to the revised recommendation to draw funding from the overall Bridging Divides budget for the time being, and suggested that the additional resource be discussed further at the Committee’s strategic away half-day. Whilst there may be unique opportunities post-Covid to use the funding, this would require further detail and discussion at that time. A Member added that they were sympathetic to the notion that the additional resources should be reserved, but noted that the unprecedented nature of Covid-19 and unknown nature of the situation going forward had to be taken into account.

RESOLVED – That the City Bridge Trust Committee:

a)    Approve an extension to the pause on funding for new grantee projects until the last quarter of 2020-21, asking officers to present plans for funding programmes at your Committee on 28^th January 2021;

b)    Approve a further £15M allocation from

Report of the CGO

The Committee received a report of the CGO and the Chamberlain providing a financial update of CBT’s activities for the first four months of the 2020/21 financial year to 31st July 2020.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the CGO

The Committee received a report of the CGO summarising grant applications recommended for decision at the meeting, and those that had been considered since the last meeting under schemes of delegation.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider the CGO’s reports on grant recommendations as follows:-

Report of the CGO

The Committee considered a report of the CGO advising Members of funds recommended for approval for amounts of £250,000 or above. The CGO introduced the applications to Members and outlined the proposals.

The CGO advised that the applications for Inclusion London and Consortium LGBT+ had similarities in that they targeted a similar level of work, within the disability and LGBT+ sectors respectively. Organisations within these sectors were generally small, with low income thresholds and both projects proposed to develop those sectors by providing hands-on support to organisations within their memberships and undertaking important analysis of the sectors particularly with regards to the impact of Covid-19. Learning from their connection with organisations would also be used to try and influence policy.

In response to a question from a Member, the CGO advised the Committee that safeguarding against overreliance on one funder formed part of the application assessment process, with it being CBT policy that any grant funding could not represent more than 50% of an organisation’s income. Officers also worked closely with organisations and maintained a hands-on ongoing relationship with mutual support and benefit. This connection helped to address and alleviate any possible concerns.

The CGO then introduced the Change, Grow, Live application, which had been received prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. The current restrictions had affected the project and the organisation had adapted to provide remote provision. The organisation supported women in prison and their families. The proposal had been fine-tuned to focus on short-term custodial sentences both in prison and in the community setting after release, and to work with volunteers to ensure ongoing community links become embedded.

In response to a question from a Member, the CGO explained the rationale behind focussing on short-term sentences as opposed to longer-term in this particular application as CBT criteria better suited

Report of the CGO

The Committee considered a report of the CGO advising Members of funds to be approved that would usually be approved under delegated but are presented instead to the Committee in order to be able to confirm the total grants awarded this financial year.

A Member advised that some organisations had reported difficulties in their relationships with Ethical Property Foundation, and asked whether this had come up during the assessment process. The Member also noted the conditions attached to the grant to London Wildlife Trust and asked whether this was due to any particular concern. Another Member asked whether current Covid-19 restrictions would impact the proposals in respect of the Deafinitely Theatre application.

The CGO responded that officers could look into any issues relating to grantees, but were not aware of any feedback from organisations regarding Ethical Property Foundation and undertook to discuss this with the Member. The CGO then advised that the condition attached to the London Wildlife Trust grant recommendation was unusual but had been included due to the change of circumstances arising from Covid-19 in this context. However, officers were confident that the workplan would be fine and did not want to delay the application further.

With regards to Deafinitely Theatre, the CGO advised that the project had been postponed until April 2021 due to Covid-19, and approval of the grant would allow the organisation to start planning how the project could be delivered. Noting the ongoing challenges for live theatre and other creative industries, the CGO added that the security of a five-year grant would be important.

The Deputy Chairman asked whether officers knew how many currently-funded schemes were on pause due to Covid-19, noting that CBT had also offered grantees the ability to reroute funding from specific projects to core costs. The CGO responded that

The Committee received a report of the CGO advising Members of funds awarded through the London Community Response Fund (LCRF) under delegated authority for wave 3. The CGO advised that over a thousand grants had now been awarded through the LCRF. The Chairman commented that the report demonstrated the breadth and range of responses to Covid-19 and thanked officers for their work on this.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Committee considered a report of the CGO outlining a total of 7 grant applications that were recommended for rejection.

RESOLVED – That the Committee reject the grant applications listed in the accompanying schedule.

The Committee received a report of the CGO which advised Members of thirty-two expenditure items, totalling £2,689,477, which had been presented for approval under delegated authority to the CGO in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Committee received a report of the CGO which provided details of five applications which had been withdrawn or had lapsed.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Committee received a report of the CGO providing Members with an update on the communications work of City Bridge Trust.

RESOLVED – That the repot be noted.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk advising Members of actions taken by the Town Clerk since the last meeting of the Committee, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chair, in accordance with Standing Order Nos. 41(a).

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

In response to a question from a Member regarding the strategic away half-day, the CGO advised that a hybrid format for the meeting was an option if possible, with possible venues under consideration.

Report of the CGO

The CGO advised the Committee that the recently released report arising from Lord Lisvane’s governance review contained references to CBT and set out possible future arrangements for the Committee’s functions. However, it was noted that all the recommendations within the report had yet to be discussed and debated by Members, and this would precede any agreement or action.

MOTION – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business 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 of business 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.

Item No.                                              Exempt Paragraphs

20 - 22                                                             3

23 - 24                                                             -

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2020.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2020 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the CGO

The Committee received a report of the CGO.

Report of the CGO

The Committee received a report of the CGO.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.