Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 6 November 2013.

RESOLVED: That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 6 November 2013 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the Head of Corporate Performance and Development.

The Sub Committee received an updated schedule of outstanding actions and agreed that subsequent schedules should include the actions identified at the previous meeting for the sake of clarity.

In response to Members questions officers reported that the Barbican Centre position for month 9 in 2013/14 was a year-to-date overspend of £549k, although with stronger performance expected in the next three months the forecast year-end overspend reduced to £275k. With regards to the Inter-Departmental Co-ordination, the Deputy Town Clerk advised that diary management had taken place and the joining up of facilities departments was now being investigated. It was confirmed that a report by the Remembrancer was still expected at the Sub Committee meeting scheduled for July 2014.

As agreed at the previous meeting, savings identified as part of the service based reviews and the resulting programme would be monitored by this Sub Committee, in addition to further scrutiny of special interest areas. Members discussed the need to review their terms of reference and make recommendations for changes to Finance Committee at their meeting in April 2014; it was agreed that all Finance Sub Committees should also review their terms of reference for the sake of good governance.

RESOLVED – that, the terms of reference for the Sub Committee be reviewed at their next meeting, and any recommendations for changes be made to Finance Committee in April 2014.

Joint report of the Deputy Town Clerk and the Chamberlain.

The Sub Committee received an update on the above boards, noting that the Transformation Board and the Efficiency Board had each met twice. An update regarding the City of London Procurement Service (CLPS) was noted, but had been discussed in detail at Finance Committee at their last meeting.

In response to a Member’s query, Members noted that the Corporate Re-use System was an internal exchange of furniture to prevent unnecessary procurement of new equipment. It was also reported that this did not involve IT equipment, which was securely disposed of via alternative means. In response to another query concerning the figures included in the appendix, it was agreed that the format was unclear and no longer fit for purpose. These figures would change at the next meeting to reflect the savings for 2013/14 and 2014/15 identified from the Service Review, and a suitable format could be agreed at that point.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Chamberlain which reviewed the City of London Procurement Service (CLPS), which had been in existence for approximately 9 months.

Members discussed the report, in particular the support given to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In response to a Member’s question the Chamberlain reported that over 80% of SMEs were paid within 15 days and that no business would be penalised when late payments were the fault of the City Corporation. With regards to the Accounts Payable process, the Chamberlain advised that a report would be to the Finance Committee which could be subsequently referred to this Sub Committee. The Head of the CLPS advised that the performance management procedure to resolve personnel issues would be completed by the middle of the year, though a review of staffing structure could take place before the summer recess.

In response to a Member’s question, the Head of CLPS reported that the integration of Purchasing Card data was not included in the original specifications for Oracle, although work was ongoing to investigate this option. The Chamberlain advised that the CLPS were now trying to aggregate contracts whenever reasonable to do so for reasons of efficiency and to leverage buying power.  

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain which detailed a number of external triggers in place. Members noted that no issues had been identified and agreed that adjustment of the triggers was necessary. Members discussed the likelihood of issues being triggered after the Service Based Review, and the observations made concerning collection of Business Rates.

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 6 November 2013.

RESOLVED: That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2013 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Sub Committee considered a report of the City Surveyor which outlined significant developments and system performance for the Combined Heat and Power System over the financial year 2013/14.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.