Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from the Chairman, Deputy Elizabeth Rogula and Ruby Sayed.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 19 June 2017.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 19 June 2017 be approved as an accurate record subject to the inclusion of apologies for absence from Deputy Richard Regan.

Matters Arising

In response to a question concerning the £16,000 allocation for the Diversity float, the Deputy Chairman advised that other committees were adopting a similar approach.

In response to a question concerning sponsorship, the Director of HR advised that there had been some expressions of interest and officers were currently working on progressing these.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided details of outstanding actions from previous meetings.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and updated as appropriate.

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk

This item was originally item 24 in the Confidential agenda pack, but was moved up the agenda and considered in public session.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk concerning the provision of dedicated PA/executive support for Committee Chairman.

The Committee heard that currently, only the Chief Commoner and the Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee were in receipt of dedicated administrative (PA) and executive support which was provided centrally by the Town Clerk’s Department. However there had been some informal discussion at a recent meeting of Members of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee and a Chairman’s briefing session regarding whether this should be extended to include the Chairmen of other Committees, in particular the Chairmen of the Planning and Transportation, Police, Establishment and Finance Committees.

The Town Clerk reported that additionally, whilst the Mayoralty and Shrievalty received a dedicated speechwriting service, no such facility was available to the Chairman of Policy & Resources or the Chief Commoner, and there was a clear need for specialist full-time support in this area.

The Deputy Chairman expressed his support for the proposals and suggested that some support might also be made available to the Chairmen of other major committees such as Port Heath & Environmental Services and Community and Children’s Services, as well as the Deputy Chairmen of key Committees. He further suggested that occasional access to a speechwriter should be made available to those Chairmen who had to make set-piece external speeches.

The Town Clerk advised that a further report on the more substantive elements of the proposals, together with the review of Committee and Members Services would be submitted to a future meeting.

RESOLVED - That

a)    A dedicated PA/executive support should be provided centrally to City of London Corporation Committee Chairmen, principally for the Chairmen of the Planning and Transportation,

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Human Resources updating on changes to the Employee Data Protection Policy. The policy reinforced the City of London Corporation’s commitment to protect personal data and implement that commitment with regards to the collection and use of data both fairly and lawfully, which ensured compliance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998.

The policy had been updated to advise employees of their roles and responsibilities in relation to data protection, data processing, accessing personal data and responding to Subject Access Requests on behalf of the City Corporation. The revised policy provided a good foundation for the incorporation of further changes that might arise in the lead up to the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018.

RESOLVED – That delegated authority approval be given to the Town Clerk in Consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman to approve the final version of the Employee Data Protection Policy.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Human Resources which provided information on redundancies, early retirements and ill health retirements in the reporting period April 2017 – June 2017.

RESOLVED – That the Committee note the report.

Report of the Town Clerk, the Chamberlain, the Comptroller and the City Solicitor

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk, Chamberlain and Controller and City Solicitor comparing the revenue outturn for the services overseen by the Committee in 2016/17 with the final budget for the year. 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Town Clerk and Deputy Chairman to be heard.

The Deputy Chairman reported that he had asked the Director of HR to review the procedures for Chief Officer appraisals/half yearly reviews and bring a report to the October meeting.

A member expressed concern that while members should clearly not be crossing the reporting line, the views of Members should still be considered by way of feedback and it was agreed that at least the Chairman and Deputy Chairman should be involved in this process.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Human Resources concerning the use of recruitment by Chief Officers, including the average time from a vacancy to the post being filled, detailed by month and by department, together with information about the use of consultants and whether or not any employees were paid in any other ways other than payroll.

In response to a question asking how Value for Money was guaranteed, the Director of Human Resources advised that all posts were evaluated and the rate applicable to the grade. Any higher payments would need her approval or be subject to a procurement process.

In response to a question concerning cover for staff taking maternity leave, the Director of Human Resources advised that based on business need, work would either be redistributed or temporary staff appointed.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

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 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 19 June 2017.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2017 were approved.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee noted a report of the Town Clerk which provided details of non-public outstanding actions from previous meetings.

There were no non-public questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

To agree the Confidential minutes of the last meeting held on 19 June 2017.

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2017 were approved.

Report of the Managing Director of the Barbican.

The Committee received a report of the Managing Director of the Barbican

concerning a market forces supplement request.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor in relation to the extension of Honoraria for Assistant Directors.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee received a summary of the Staff Appeals Committee held on 4 July 2017.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk in relation to the proposed reorganisation of the Mansion House and Central Criminal Court.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Economic Development in relation to the CoL Corporation representation in Brussels.

Director of HR to be heard.

The Committee noted arrangements put in place by the Town Clerk under his delegated authority to cover the roles respectively of Town Clerk and Chief Executive in his absence or in any vacancy in the Office. A further report would be forthcoming in the autumn.