Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alderman Sir Robert Finch and Hugh Morris.

The Committee noted the following declarations:-

·           Roger Chadwick declared a personal interest in matters affecting St Lawrence Jewry as Treasurer to the Guildhall Church Council;

·           Deputy Catherine McGuinness declared a personal interest in matters affecting the Guildhall School as her daughter attended the School; and

·           Sir Michael Snyder declared a prejudicial interest in Item no. 5 as the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association was a client of his accountancy firm and withdrew from the meeting whilst the item was considered.

To consider the public minutes as follows:-

The public minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2013 were approved.

The public minutes of the Projects Sub-Committee meeting held on 12 February 2013 were noted.

The public minutes of the Public Relations and Economic Development Sub-Committee meeting held on 14 February 2013 were noted.

The public minutes of the Members’ Privileges Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 January 2013 were noted.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk proposing a number of changes to the Corporate Plan for 2013-17.

Members were advised of a minor change to KPP4 of the Plan altering the fourth bullet to now read as follows:-

“Review the City Corporation’s education contribution and devise an overarching strategy that promotes high quality education.”

A Member drew attention to the importance of ethics and responsible finance referred to in the Economic Development Office Business Plan and suggested that a similar statement be incorporated into the Corporate Plan. Members supported the suggestion.

RESOLVED – That subject to the above-mentioned suggestions being incorporated, the refreshed Corporate Plan for 2013-17 be endorsed and submitted to the Court of Common Council for approval.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

Sir Michael Snyder withdrew from the meeting whilst the following item was considered.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the future funding arrangements of the City of London Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association.

The Chairman reminded Members that in the current economic climate the City Corporation had reduced funding across the board. Therefore whilst he was supportive of the City Corporation continuing to support the Association it should not be increased. Members supported his suggestion.

RESOLVED: That:-

1.    the City Corporation continues to fund the City of London Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association for the next three years at a cost of £42,000 (plus the proceeds of the “Trophy Tax” of £4,666 per annum) to be met from the Committee’s City’s Cash Contingency; and

2.    in advance of any future further funding proposals, the Remembrancer, Private Secretary, Chamberlain and the Town Clerk give further consideration to future sources of funding for the Association and report to the Committee and any other relevant Committee.

The minutes of the meeting of the Aldermanic Eligibility Working Party held on 11 February 2013 were noted.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk, Comptroller and City Solicitor and Remembrancer submitted on behalf of the Aldermanic Eligibility Working Party. The report reviewed the criteria for eligibility to become an Alderman and proposed the introduction of an alternative pre-election qualification in addition to the magistracy based on the criteria applicable for Police and Crime Commissioners.

A revised version of the Bill for an Act of Common Council which addressed the issue of pending elections was laid round the table together with a draft resolution of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen.

The Chairman was heard in support of the proposal to introduce an alternative route in addition to preserving the magistracy. The Comptroller and City Solicitor referred to the need for the issue of pending elections to be addressed and explained the reason for amending Section 8 of the draft Bill in order to deal with this.

A Member referred to the qualifications for PCCs and the issue of convictions. He understood that the inclusion of juvenile convictions was to be reviewed by PCCs and this should therefore be borne in mind. The Chairman pointed out that any changes arising from a review of PCC qualifications would be addressed as and when they arose.

Members discussed the merits of defining the seriousness of offences and concluded that it would not be sensible to create a list of applicable offences.

RESOLVED: that:-

1.    the current pre-election qualification for Aldermanic candidates relating to the magistracy be retained and an alternative pre-election conditions similar to those imposed on candidates standing for election as Police & Crime Commissioners as proposed in Appendix C of the report be introduced, on the basis that candidates could choose to satisfy either criteria in order to qualify for election;

2.    the revised Bill for

Joint report of the Principal of the Guildhall School and the Town Clerk (copy attached).

NB: Appendices B and C should be read in conjunction with this item and can be found at Item No. 29 in the non-public papers.

The Committee considered a joint report of Principal of the Guildhall School and the Town Clerk concerning the fund raising strategy and possible naming opportunities associated with the fitting out of Milton Court.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.    the ten principles as set out in the report governing the acceptance and recognition of gifts developed on behalf of the HE sector by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), modified in the case of the fourth principle to meet the specific circumstances of the City Corporation and the Guildhall School be adopted; and

2.    the principle that the recognition of gifts in the Milton Court development be authorised as follows:

i)   Milton Court Building: Court of Common Council on the recommendation of the Board of Governors and the Policy & Resources Committee;

ii)  Concert Hall, Theatre and Studio Theatre: Policy and Resources Committee on the recommendation of the Board of Governors; and

iii)    Other donations: Board of Governors, with authority to recognise donations up to the value of £250,000 delegated to the Principal.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment concerning a revised Area Enhancement Strategy for the Fenchurch and Monument area.

Reference was made to the consideration of the other forthcoming area enhancement strategies. Whilst it was agreed that the larger, more strategic, area enhancement plans such as Bank or Smithfield should also be considered by this Committee with the smaller ones being considered solely by the service committee. A Member highlighted the importance of ensuring that the priorities for each strategic area were joined up and therefore a paper setting out an overall strategy should be produced. The Committee supported this suggestion.

In response to a query about the possibility of widening Great Tower Street, the Director reminded the Committee that the purpose of this report was to give an idea of the overall position and that individual projects referred to within the strategy would be the subject of separate, more detailed, reports and Members would have the opportunity to comment more fully at that point.

RESOLVED – that the draft Fenchurch & Monument Area Enhancement Strategy be adopted and that a paper setting out an overall strategy for the City should be produced and submitted to this Committee and the service committee in due course.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment submitting the  proposed City Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) draft charging schedule and draft Regulation 123 listing.

RESOLVED – That the City CIL Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule and draft Regulation 123 List be approved for public consultation.  

The Committee considered an addendum report of the Director of the Built Environment concerning a revised draft issues and options S106 Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning document (appendix 3) in relation to the proposed City Community Infrastructure Levy. It was noted that the revisions had been made at the request of the Comptroller and City Solicitor since the matter had been considered by the Planning and Transportation Committee.

RESOLVED – that the additional information included in Appendix 3 be incorporated into the proposed draft Issues and Options S106 Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document for public consultation.

Report of the Director of Public Relations (copy attached).

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Public Relations and the Director of Economic Development concerning the continuation of additional events associated with the Chairman of Policy’s contact and topical issues programmes.

RESOLVED – That approval be given to:-

1.    the continuation of the extended contact programme for the Policy Chairman through appropriate events at a cost of £25,000 funded from the Committee’s Policy Initiatives Fund 2013/14, categorised under the “Promoting the City” section of the Fund and charged to City’s Cash and to expenditure on each individual event being delegated to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and a Deputy Chairman; and

2.    the continuation of the Topical Issues Programme, comprising both papers and events, at a cost of £30,000 funded from the Committee’s Policy Initiatives Fund 2013/14, categorised under the “Promoting the City” section of the Fund and charged to City’s Cash and to expenditure on each individual activity being delegated to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and a Deputy Chairman.

Report of the Director of Public Relations (copy attached).

The Committee considered the draft City of London Communications Strategy for 2013 -2016.

The Chairman suggested that the Strategy be circulated to all Members of the Court for information. It was also suggested that the issue of responsible financing be included in the Strategy and that the Strategy be the subject of one of the Chairman’s themed discussion breakfasts. Members supported the suggestions.

RESOLVED – That the Communications Strategy be approved subject to the inclusion of the issue of responsible financing, that a copy of the final version be circulated to all Members of the Court for information and that the Strategy also be the subject of one of the Chairman’s themed discussion breakfasts.

Report of the Director of Public Relations (copy attached).

The Committee considered the Public Relations Office Business Plan for 2013-16.

RESOLVED – that the Public Relations Office Business Plan for 2013-16 be approved and that the Director be instructed to implement it accordingly.

Report of the Director of Economic Development (copy attached).

The Committee considered the Economic Development Office Business Plan for 2013-16.

RESOLVED – that the Economic Development Office Business Plan for 2013-16 be approved and that the Director be instructed to implement it accordingly.

Report of the Director of Economic Development (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the City Corporation’s continued sponsorship of the Teach First Programme.

A Member referred to the Teach First activities and suggested that they be included as part of the overall picture of the City Corporation’s education strategy. Members supported his suggestion.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.    the City Corporation continues to support Teach First at a cost of  £54,000, earmarked to funding the enhanced Higher Education Access Programme, for a further three financial years (2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16) at an annual cost of £18,000, charged to City’s Cash and met from the Policy Initiatives Fund under the Communities heading; and

2.    Teach First activities be included as part of the overall picture of the City Corporation’s education strategy.

Report of the Director of Economic Development (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the proposed sponsorship of Digital Shoreditch 2013.

RESOLVED – That Digital Shoreditch be supported at a cost of £20,000, split into a contribution of £9,750 payable directly to Digital Shoreditch and a sum of £10,250 to cover in-kind support in the form of connected events/hospitality at Guildhall, both sums to be charged to City’s Cash, the former to be met from your Committee’s contingency for 2012/13, the latter from the Policy Initiatives Fund for 2013/14, under the Communities heading.

Report of the Director of Economic Development (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the proposed support for a Small Business Micro Loan Programme by providing funding to the London Community Foundation and the Frederick Foundation.

RESOLVED – That a sum of £77,000 be provided to the London Community Foundation from Committee’s City’s Cash contingency for 2012/13, to establish a Small Business Micro Loan Fund jointly with the Fredericks Foundation London.

Report of the Director of Economic Development (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the proposed support for Focus on Europe Day on 23 May 2013.

RESOLVED – That a sum of £30,000 be provided to enable the City Corporation to host key contacts at a Guildhall Banquet on 23 May 2013 to be met from 2013/14 Policy Initiatives Fund, charged to City’s Cash under the Promoting the City heading.

Report of the Director of Economic Development (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development updating it on various economic development activities between December 2012 and February 2013.

The Chairman referred to the success of a recent event at which the former Vice-President Al Gore was a speaker. He advised that Mr Gore had been very complimentary about the work of the City Corporation to an audience of representatives from a number of influential organisations.

Members were also advised that as part of the Budget, Government had announced the introduction of tax relief for social investment. He pointed out that the Economic Development Office had worked closely with the Treasury for its introduction and that this was extremely good news. Government had also announced recently the creation of a new Trade and Investment Board which would comprise senior representatives from various financial institutions including TheCityUK and that the City Corporation would be fully involved through TheCityUK.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its content noted.

Report of the Chamberlain (copy attached).

The Committee received a statement of the Chamberlain on the use of the Policy Initiatives Fund and the Committee’s contingency for 2012/13.

The Director of Economic Development drew attention to a sum of £25,000 which had been approved by the Committee previously to assist with the cost of venue hire for a Business in the Community event at which the Lord Mayor was speaking in April. He advised that whilst the actual cost would be approximately £17,000, one of the sponsors of the event had pulled out for financial reasons and he was therefore seeking approval for the balance to be used to fill the gap in the organiser’s funding.

RESOLVED – that the content of the statement be noted and that the balance of the .

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk advising of the action taken by the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman since the last meeting of the Committee in accordance with Standing Orders 41(a) and 41(b).

RESOLVED – That it be noted that approval was given to the following:-

1.    the final wording of the City Corporation’s Pay Policy Statement;

2.    expenditure of £9,160 for four events (a lecture entitled “deregulation for Growth”, a Dinner associated with social investment, support for a conference at which the President of the European Council delivered a keynote speech and one concerning Economic Crime) organised as part of the Chairman’s extended political and business contact programme; and

3.    £30,000 being spent on the production of an updated version of a research paper on attitudes in the EU towards the future of the City of London as Europe’s financial centre and its position in relation to the development of EU financial regulation.

There were no questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee.

The following items of urgent business were discussed:-

2013 Ward Elections

Reference was made to the outcome of the arrangements for the recent Ward elections. Members thanked the electoral staff for all their hard work and for the professional manner in which the arrangements had been undertaken including the speed at which the results had been advertised. The Chairman referred to comments made about the business vote needing to be more representative of the workforce. He reminded the Committee that this was not a legal requirement on businesses and that the City Corporation could only encourage them to ensure that this was taken into account when selecting their voters. The City Corporation therefore needed to consider how businesses could be persuaded to make their voters more representative.

In response to questions the Town Clerk advised that there were 21 contested elections compared to 13 in 2009. 150 candidates stood in total, 10 Members lost their seats and 25 new Members were elected to the Court. For the 2013 elections 25% of votes were cast compared to the local average of 31% and 15% for Police and Crime Commissioners. He acknowledged that there had been an error with instructions given to voters in the Ward of Cripplegate regarding their polling station and advised that the printers had come forward to acknowledge that this was their fault. Nevertheless the elections team made every effort to correct the error made by the printer by hand delivering correction slips in the Ward.

During further discussion it was suggested that officers consider the following to enhance the arrangements for future elections:-

·           whether the venue for wardmotes or polls was appropriate, for example, one venue, St Catherine Creek Church, clashed with a church service;

·           whether more could be done to ensure that postal voters receive the

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.

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 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item Nos.                                                           Paragraph(s) in Schedule 12A 

24-30                                                                  3

Part 2 – Non-Public Agenda

To consider the non-public minutes as follows:-

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2013 were approved.

The non-public minutes of the Project Sub-Committee meeting held on 12 February 2013 were noted.

The non-public minutes of the Hospitality Working Party meeting held on 13 February 2013 were noted.

Report of the Chamberlain (copy attached).

The Committee considered and agreed a report of the Chamberlain concerning the procurement of the Wide Area Network element of the City Corporation’s network and telephony maintenance and services contracts.

Report of the Director of Public Relations (copy attached).

The Committee considered and agreed a report of the Director of Public Relations concerning the future contract for advertising the City Corporation’s activities.

Joint report of the Remembrancer and the Chamberlain (copy attached).

The Committee considered and agreed a joint report of the Remembrancer and the Chamberlain concerning the charging policy for the use of Guildhall accommodation and the proposed charges from 1 April 2013.

Report of the City Surveyor (copy attached).

The Committee considered and agreed a joint report of the Town Clerk and City Surveyor concerning the refurbishment of St Lawrence Jewry Church.

Appendices B and C to be read in conjunction with Item No. 7.

The Committee noted the non-public appendices relating to the fund raising strategy and possible naming opportunities associated with the fitting out of Milton Court.

Reports of the City Surveyor as follows:-

The Committee considered and noted a report of the City Surveyor updating it on the progress made with the Strategic Property Estate.

The Committee considered and noted a report of the City Surveyor updating it on the progress made over the last three years with the City Fund Property Investment Strategy.

The Committee considered and noted a report of the City Surveyor updating it on the progress made over the last three years with the City’s Cash Investment portfolio.

The Committee considered and noted a report of the City Surveyor updating it on the progress made over the last three years with the Bridge House Estates Investment portfolio.

There were no questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee.

There were no items of urgent business for consideration.