Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the Deputy Chairman Jeremy Mayhew.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 22 January 2014.

RESOLVED - That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 22 January 2014 be agreed as an accurate record.

To note the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 23 January 2014.

RESOLVED - That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 23 January 2014 be agreed as an accurate record, subject to an amendment to list the Sub Committee Members under ‘Members’ rather than ‘In Attendance’.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub Committee received an updated schedule of outstanding actions, which now included actions identified at the previous meeting. Members noted that Triggers would be discussed later in the meeting, point 8.2 concerning the City of London Procurement Service would move from medium to high priority as a report on the Accounts Payable process was due to be submitted to the Finance Committee, and point 9.1 concerning Staff Costs Charged to Projects was medium priority as a report on the updated methodology and charging policy would be reported at the next meeting.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Joint report of the Deputy Town Clerk and the Chamberlain.

The Sub Committee received an update on the above boards, noting that they had each met once since the previous Sub Committee meeting.

Transformation Board
The Deputy Town Clerk advised Members that with regards to Demand Management, a Professional Service protocol had been developed and received at the Board meeting. This would ensure legal resources were deployed in the most efficient and cost-effective way and would support wider demand management. In response to a Member’s question it was noted that this protocol had focussed on internal demand as opposed to the Department of Community and Children’s Services which had implemented a Commissioning Strategy to address issues including external demand.

In response to a Member’s question, officers reported that PP2P had been nominated for an award, the results of which would be announced next week. Members were also informed that the Procurement Team had been nominated for Team of the Year, which would be announced later in the month.

Efficiency Board

The Chamberlain reported that a trigger concerning transport provision in open spaces had been reported; currently there was no corporate strategy on vehicular provision, which was a potential area for value for money savings. Members discussed the maintenance of corporate vehicles noting that those used by the Police were maintained separately. Members discussed the opportunities for shared services with the Police, in particular the review of the firearms range and the possibility to share the facilities of the Metropolitan Police or British Transport Police.

Members discussed the performance dashboards, particularly performance related to Planning, and agreed that the uniqueness of the City Corporation made it very difficult to draw meaningful comparisons in some instances. Members also noted the new format of the savings schedule.

RESOLVED – That the update be noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members received a report concerning the Sub Committee’s Terms of Reference and discussed the proposed amendments, including the following points:

·         Star Chamber interviews had begun and were identifying many cross-departmental opportunities for efficiencies.

·         There was a clear need to strengthen and support the Sub Committee’s remit and have clear direction for future work generated by the Service Based Review.

·         The remit of the Sub Committee should be widened beyond specific programmes and projects such as the Service Based Reviews, Combined Heat and Power system and PP2P, being broad enough to encompass future projects.

·         A process should be developed that brings issues to the Sub Committee for consideration, similar to that for Projects Sub Committee.

·         The existing provision to interview chief officers and scrutinise planned expenditure should be retained.

·         The trigger mechanism should be investigated in order to assess whether they are still relevant moving forwards.

RESOLVED – That:

a)    The terms of reference be amended to read:

                  i.        To consider and advise the Grand Committee on matters relating to value for money in all aspects of the City of London Corporation’s activities

                 ii.        In accordance with Standing Orders to consider, with the Resource Allocation Sub Committee the resource allocation plans for subsequent financial years prior to their approval by the Policy and Resources Committee

               iii.        To review periodically the performance of each Chief Officer in order to promote efficiency and value for money and to ensure, over a period of time, full Member level scrutiny of all expenditure planned.

               iv.        To be responsible for overseeing and monitoring the agreed programme of work arising from the Service Based Review programme and other saving and efficiency programmes ensuring the achievement of savings, and suggesting further areas for examination as appropriate.

                 v.        To review and to monitor performance against the Chamberlain’s Departmental Business

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 22 January 2014.

RESOLVED - That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2014 be agreed as an accurate record.

To note the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2014.

RESOLVED - That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2014 be agreed as an accurate record.  

There were no questions.

There was no other business.