Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy Revd Stephen Haines and John Tomlinson.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 14 November 2012.

RESOLVED: That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 14 November 2012 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub Committee considered a report which set out outstanding actions from previous meetings, welcoming the new format which included a priority rating for each of the actions.

After agreeing to close off the actions that had been completed since the last meeting, Members discussed progress in relation to improved coordination (“joining up”) between Mansion House, Guildhall complex and the Central Criminal Court.

The following issues were raised:

·         reviewing the current stakeholders database and ensuring it includes current key leaders and influencers

·         ways of ensuring the right people are invited to the right events

·         working with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to ensure that visiting delegations are invited to any relevant events

·         making it clear to those who often decline invitations to events that the City Corporation is non-political and events are for networking rather than fund-raising purposes

·         ways of measuring and reporting success

·         some clashes between events were still occurring although there had been some progress in coordinating events

It was noted that some of the above issues sit with the Hospitality Working Party of the Policy & Resources Committee. Officers agreed to review the issues raised and report back to the next Sub Committee meeting. 

Members suggested that the Remembrancer send an email to all Members inviting them to provide key stakeholder contact details for possible addition to the City Corporation’s stakeholder database. It was noted that Members should make clear the reason behind any suggestions so that the Remembrancer could use this information when adding them to the database and when reviewing at a later date.

On a separate matter, one Member suggested that the Public Relations and Economic Development Sub (Policy and Resources) Committee should review what printed leaflets and brochures are produced to ensure that the right information was being made available.

RESOLVED: That –

      i.        the

Joint report of the Deputy Town Clerk and Chamberlain.

The Chamberlain gave a brief overview of four reports that the Efficiency Board had identified for consideration by the Sub Committee due to hitting various triggers.

He then invited the Sub Committee to identify any areas they feel specific work should be undertaken.

Members were keen for Officers to review and report back on Item 50 (“Ask your staff for more sensible savings ideas”) of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s recent publication ‘50 Ways to Save’ (Appendix E of the report). In particular, Members requested that Officers review and report back on the incentives offered to staff who suggest good ideas through the City Corporation’s staff suggestion scheme and also the level of uptake.

RESOLVED: That –

      i.        the report be received; and

     ii.        further work should be undertaken in relation to the City Corporation’s staff suggestion scheme and reported back to the Sub Committee.

Joint report of the Deputy Town Clerk and the Chamberlain.

The Sub Committee received an update on the work of the Transformation and Efficiency Boards since its last meeting as follows:

Transformation Board

The Deputy Town Clerk outlined on going work of the Transformation Board, highlighting the ‘New Strategic Opportunities’ (as detailed at paragraph 4 of the report) and advising Members that a report on a recent visit to Northamptonshire County Council to learn from their work in “business intelligence” would be reported back to both Boards and the Sub Committee.

With regards to the Procurement and Procure to Pay (PP2P) programme, Members noted that the new CLPS (City of London Procurement Service) was now in place and the Finance Committee would be reviewing the programme’s success to date at its next meeting as it was 2 years since it had been implemented.

Efficiency Board

The Chamberlain advised Members that a report on third party payments would be brought to the next Sub Committee meeting.

The Chairman was keen to ensure that Members have a clear understanding of all grants made by the City Corporation and requested that an overview report of all payments be submitted to the Finance Grants Sub (Finance) Committee.

RECEIVED

Report of the Director of Community & Children's Services.

Members considered an update report on the progress of the Department of Community and Children’s Services in implementing the ‘Commissioning Strategy’ which was approved by the Efficiency and Performance Sub Committee in September 2011.

In particular, Members were advised that two reviews had now been completed, saving a total of £400k per annum from April 2013.

A new review on ‘Public Health Commissioning’ was about to be undertaken which would evaluate all existing public health contracts with a view to identifying further savings.

The Chairman thanked Neal Hounsell and the Department of Community & Children's Services for their excellent work and it was noted that the department should be held up as an example of good practice to the rest of the City Corporation.

RECEIVED

There were no questions.

There was no other business.

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 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.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2012.

RESOLVED: That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2012 be agreed as an accurate record.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.