Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alex Deane, Rev’d Stephen Haines, Hugh Morris and Giles Shilson.

There were no declarations.

To consider minutes as follows:-

The public minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2016 were approved.

The draft public minutes of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee meeting held on 15 December 2016 were noted.

The draft public minutes of the Projects Sub-Committee meeting held on 14 December 2016 were noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the Committee’s Terms of Reference.

RESOLVED - that the terms of reference of the Committee:-

1.       be amended at paragraphs (l) and (q) to reflect its responsibility for determining applications for designating land or property as an ACV and for overseeing the management of the City’s Courts including the creation of a dedicated sub-committee as follows:-

Assets of Community Value

(l)   Determining applications for designating certain buildings or land as Assets of Community Value (ACV) in accordance with Part 5, Chapter 3 of the Localism Act 2011 and the guidelines for determining nominations approved by the Committee on 15 December 2016.

City Courts

(q)  For a period of five years, from June 2016 to April 2021, to be responsible for oversight of the management of all matters relating to the City Courts.

2.       be submitted to the Court of Common Council for approval in the usual manner.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the terms of reference of the Courts Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED – that in the interest of clarity the Courts Sub-Committee’s terms of reference and constitution be amended as follows:-

1.          “N.B. the Recorder and a Sheriff who is not an Alderman or Common Councilman shall have no vote” be added at the foot of the constitution section; and

2.          “but excluding the appointment of the Secondary and Under Sheriff and matters relating to the Shrievalty” be added to the end of the terms of reference narrative.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk reviewing the effectiveness of having three Deputy Chairmen and the process for electing them.

A Member suggested that rather than having three deputies consideration should be given to appointing one Deputy Chairman and two Vice Chairmen. He felt that this would provide greater clarity in terms of who was covering the statutory role. Several Members supported his suggestion. In answer to a question the Member clarified that, similar to current practice, the role of Deputy Chairman should be rotated amongst the three members elected.

A Member sought the Chairman’s views on the appointments. He advised that it had not worked as well as anticipated. He questioned the merits of seeking to allocate portfolios as it could be perceived as a cabinet and reminded the Committee that there were some activities that the Chairman of Policy could not delegate. He concluded by stating that how it could work going forward would be a matter for the incoming Chairman.

Reference was made to the two stage process for the election of the three office holders in the final year of a Chairman’s term of office, and it was agreed that all the appointments should now be made at one meeting.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.       approval be given to the appointment of one Deputy Chairman and two Vice Chairmen and to the Chairman, in consultation with the three appointees,  deciding which of them would exercise the formal responsibilities of Deputy Chairman for the coming year;

2.       the election of the three office holders in the final year of a Chairman’s term of office now take place at one meeting (the first meeting) every  year; and

3.       Standing Orders be amended to reflect these changes.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the 2017 budget for the London Councils Grants Scheme and the City Corporation’s contribution to it.

RESOLVED – that:-

1.   approval be given to the total amount of expenditure to be incurred in 2017/18 under the Scheme (£8.668m) and to the City Corporation’s subscription for 2017/18 (£7,744) as set out in Appendices A and B of this report; and

2.   subject to the Court of Common Council’s approval (as levying body for the Scheme), the levy of £7,668,152 (as set out in Appendix B) be agreed. It being noted that the Court’s approval would be sought using the urgency procedures and was subject to at least two-thirds of the constituent councils agreeing the total expenditure to be incurred before 1 February 2017.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and Comptroller and City Solicitor, together with a resolution of the Police Committee of 3 November 2016 and a report of the Commissioner of Police.

NB: This report will have been considered by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee earlier this day.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Comptroller and City Solicitor, attaching a resolution of the Police Committee and a report of the Commission of the City of London Police concerning the provision of funding for policing the five City Bridges.

It was noted that the report had also been considered by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED – that approval be given to the provision of funding totalling £214,000 from the Bridge House Estates (BHE) revenue budget to fund the cost of policing of the City Bridges on an annual basis, subject to:-

·          the sum being kept under review; and

·          the City Corporation as sole trustee of BHE remaining satisfied that such expenditure was in the best interests of BHE.

Report of the Chamberlain.

NB: This report will have been considered by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee earlier this day. It is to be read in conjunction with the non-public Appendix at item no. 26. The non-public background papers relating to the two projects covered in the report are available on request.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain concerning the provision of funding to enable three projects, the Electronic Social Care Reporting and Case Management System replacement; Guildhall Stonework Repairs and repairs to the Dominant House Footbridge to progress to the next gateway of the projects approvals process.

It was noted that the funding had been considered by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee and was recommended for approval.

RESOLVED – that, subject to any requisite approval by other committees, approval be given to the following:-

1.       funding of up to £250k from the 2016/17 City Fund provision for new schemes to meet the cost of replacing the Electronic Social Care Reporting and Case Management System, the final amount being dependent on the project sum agreed by the Chief Officer following procurement;

2.       funding of £130k from the 2016/17 City’s Cash provision for new schemes to meet the cost of progressing the Guildhall Stonework Repairs project to the next gateway, subject to the requisite approval by the Projects Sub Committee; and

3.       a sum of £33k from the On Street Parking Reserve to meet the cost of progressing a project to repair the Dominant House Footbridge to the next gateway, subject to the requisite approval by the Projects Sub Committee.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

NB: This report will have been considered by the Establishment Committee and it is also due to be considered by the Projects and Corporate Asset Sub-Committees.

The Committee considered a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor concerning the progress of the accommodation and ways of working project.

RESOLVED – That subject to the approval of the Projects Sub-Committee:-

1.          Approval be given to option 2 (delaying proposals for the pilot office to enable supporting technology programmes to progress sufficiently and enable greater alignment of organisational strategies) with additional project costs not to exceed £10,000 and that it be noted that no additional funding was being sought at this stage; and

2.          It be noted that a further report would be submitted to the Project Sub-Committee in September 2017 advising on how it was intended to progress the programme.

Report of the Director Economic Development.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the City Corporation’s future membership of TheCityUK.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.          the City Corporation continues to be a member TheCityUK for another two years and that this be in accordance with the terms of the new agreement (set out in the appendix to the report);

2.          approval be given to the allocation of the funding to meet the terms of the renewed membership agreement and the rental contribution for the financial years 2016/17 – 2018/19 as follows:-

·             £400,000 in 2017/18 and in 2018/19 to be allocated from Your Committee’s base budget; and

·             £25,000 in 2016/17 and £100,000 per annum in 2017/18 and in 2018/19 in respect of the City Corporation’s ring fenced contribution towards TheCityUK’s rental costs. This cost would be met from the Policy Initiatives Fund, categorised under Promoting the City section of the Fund and charged to City’s Cash.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development proposing the sponsorship of a series of high calibre network events on cyber technology and related technology in financial services being organised by the Chemistry Club, City.

RESOLVED – the approval be given to the provision of £40,000 to support four events organised by the Chemistry Club, City to be met from the 2017/18 Policy Initiatives Fund charged to City’s Cash and categorised under “Promoting the City”.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning a review and reclassification of grant payments which were no longer classified as grants.

RESOLVED – That approval be given to:-

1.       the following on-going payments as recommended by service committees and Chief Officers:-

·       City of London Corporation Staff Sports and Activities Club (Establishment Committee) - £11,225

·       Annual Londoners Pensioners Association Lunch (Establishment Committee) - £27,000

·       Staff Annual Lunch (Establishment Committee) - £53,400

·       Marathon Team (Establishment Committee) – £3,500

·       Thames Fishery research event (Port Health and Environmental Services Committee) - £5,332

·       Almshouses (Acting Director of Community and Children’s Services) - £5,000

2.       each payment be incorporated into the responsible department’s budget rather than being treated as a grant;

3.       the cessation of two payments as recommended by the Acting Director of Community and Children’s Services - Social Needs Payments (£2,000) and Housing Payments (£2,200); and

4.       future reviews be undertaken regularly and submitted to the responsible Committee.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered a report of the City Surveyor updating it on the progress of the activities of the Cheapside Business Alliance.

RESOLVED – that the report be noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a monitoring report of the Town Clerk concerning the City Corporation’s activities in relation to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

It was noted that no requests had been received in relation to the Act.

RESOLVED – that the report be noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a statement of the Chamberlain on the use of the Policy Initiatives Fund and Committee Contingency for 2016/17.

RESOLVED – That the statement be noted.

A Member referred to the progress of the Promoting the City review and sought an update in relation to the development of a strategic relationship management system. The Chairman advised that officers were currently drafting a paper that would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.

There were no urgent items.

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 I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act. In addition, for one item which fell under paragraph 100A (2) of the Act relating to confidential information that would be disclosed in breach of an obligation of confidence.

Item Nos.                                                Paragraph(s) in Schedule 12A

20 - 27                                                                      3

To consider non-public minutes of meetings as follows:-

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2016 were approved.

The draft non-public minutes of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee meeting held on 15 December 2016 were noted.

The draft non-public minutes of the Projects Sub-Committee meeting held on 14 December 2016 were noted.

The draft non-public minutes of the Hospitality Working Party meeting held on 6 December 2016 were noted.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee considered and agreed a joint report of the City Surveyor and the Comptroller and City Solicitor concerning the City Corporation’s freehold title registration project.

Report of the Chamberlain.

NB: This report will have been considered by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee earlier this day.

The Committee considered and agreed a report of the Chamberlain concerning the funding of the Cyclical Works Programme for 2017/18.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Committee considered and agreed a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the City Corporation’s involvement with London Work and Health Programme.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and City Surveyor.

NB: This report is due to be considered by the Markets Committee and the Property Investment Board.

The received a joint report of the Town Clerk and City Surveyor updating it on the project for the relocation of the Museum of London.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk reporting action taken since its last meeting in relation to the Police Accommodation Strategy.

To be read in conjunction with item no. 9.

The non-public appendix relating to the project funding update was noted.

A Member referred to the process and approvals for the recent demonstrations by taxi drivers in the City. Officers were requested to look at the legal requirements for demonstrations such as this. In addition, following the unacceptable abuse directed at a Member, the Town Clerk was requested to examine the inclusion of a note on the City Corporation’s website conveying a message that the verbal or physical abuse of the City Corporation’s Members or its staff would not be tolerated and could result in prosecution.

There were no urgent items.

To agree the confidential minutes of the Committee meeting held on 15 December 2016.

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2016 were approved.