Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Sir Michael Bear, Revd. Stephen Haines, Christopher Hayward, Hugh Morris, Tom Sleigh, John Tomlinson and Sir David Wootton.

Jeremy Mayhew declared an interest in Item no.18 as a Governor on the Board for the Museum of London. He also declared an interest in Item no. 6 as a Trustee of the Crossrail Arts Foundation. Sir Mark Boleat and Sir Michael Snyder also declared an interest in Item no. 6 as Trustees of the Foundation.

To consider minutes as follows:-

The public minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2017 were approved.

Matters Arising – Remuneration and Timing of Meetings

Reference was made to the debate on the remuneration of Members and the timing of meetings at last week’s informal meeting of Members. Members discussed the questionnaires which were to be circulated as part of a consultation exercise on the two issues.

RESOLVED - that the content of the questionnaires on the remuneration of Members and the timing of meetings be reconsidered by this Committee prior to being circulated to all Members of the Court of Common Council.

NB: Approval is required to item 2 and to the recommendations in item 7.

The draft public minutes of the Outside Bodies Sub-Committee meeting held on 11 October 2017 were considered.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.       Simon Duckworth be appointed to serve as Chairman of the Outside Bodies Sub-Committee for the ensuing year;

2.       approval be given to filling the vacancy on St Luke's Parochial Trust in the room of the late John Barker and on the Mitchell City of London Charity and Mitchell City of London Educational Foundation in the room of Deputy Joyce Nash and to those vacancies being advertised to the Court of Common Council in the usual manner;

3.       the City & Metropolitan Welfare Charity be advised that its request for the City Corporation to reduce its number of appointees on the Charity from two to one or, if willing, to relinquish appointment rights altogether was not supported at this stage. The City Corporation would however be willing to consider reducing to one representative if the other bodies with appointment rights were being asked to do the same; and

4.       the proposal for future appointments to Gresham College Council to be drawn from the wider membership of the Court of Common Council be referred back to the Gresham City Side Committee to clarify exactly what it envisaged.    

NB: Approval is required to the recommendations contained in item 4.

The draft public minutes of the meeting of the Members Privileges Sub-Committee held on 19 October 2017 were considered.

In answer to a question on whether it was necessary to change the office responsible for the management of Chairman’s Room 1 and 2, a Member advised that the rooms were being used by Members who were not chairmen and it was felt that this would be managed better through the two PAs. It was also noted that usage would be monitored and reported back to the Members Privileges Sub-Committee and in the interest of clarity, Chairmen and their Deputies would be provided with details on the use of the rooms and the on the process for booking them.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.         the two meeting rooms (Chairman’s Room 1 and 2) on the second floor of the West Wing be managed by the Town Clerk’s Office i.e. by the new Personal Assistants appointed to support Chairmen; the rooms be available on a first come first served basis and that usage of the rooms be monitored and reported back to the Members Privileges Sub-Committee after six months of operating the arrangements;

2.         the City Surveyor be requested to look into the provision of a limited number of lockers for Chairmen and their Deputies to store committee papers and small IT devices only between meetings and this should include investigating whether they could be located in the small Members IT room on the mezzanine floor space;

3.         all Members to be reminded of the rooms available for use and that it be reiterated that the rooms were not private offices and were available for use to deal, predominantly, with City Corporation business; and

4.         the Chairman’s Handbook, which was produced a number of years ago and which contained information about the services

NB: Approval is required to the recommendation contain in item 5.

The draft public minutes of the meeting of the Public Relations and Economic Development Sub-Committee held on 19 October 2017 were considered.

RESOLVED – That requests to use drones for commercial filming purposes be assessed on a case by case basis and supported where strict safety measures and guidelines were in place (NB: this would require a road closure to be in place, satisfactory advance notice to allow consultation with departments and properties affected and all the correct Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and NATS (National Air Traffic Systems) permissions obtained and relevant risk assessments and method statements provided).

The draft public minutes of the meeting of the Projects Sub-Committee held on 4 October 2017 were noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain concerning the introduction of a Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) accreditation when tendering for work with clearly identifiable health and safety (H&S) risks.

During discussion the following comments were made:-

A Member stated that he still felt that the accreditation was unnecessary and would be too onerous for small businesses. Discussion ensued during which, amongst other things, the following comments were made:-

·                It was pointed out that accreditation would be sought only where there were clearly identifiable health and safety risks;

·                Consideration should be given to making the initiative desirable and not mandatory. It should also be run for a trial period and reviewed thereafter. Several Members supported this suggestion.

·                The proposal had been considered and approved by the relevant internal officer groups. A number of options had been considered in detail before settling on an accreditation process. At £75.00, the cost of the process was affordable and it was also transferrable.

RESOLVED - that SSIP accreditation be introduced on a non-mandatory basis.

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Cultural Hub Director.

The Committee considered a report of the Assistant Town Clerk and Culture Mile Director concerning the City of London Cultural Strategy for 2018-22.

A Member referred to the importance of City Corporation’s existing cultural assets and suggested that they be referred to in the Executive Summary. During further discussion a number of points were made. Amongst other things this included the following:-

·           In answer to questions on how the Cultural Strategy and other City Corporation strategies linked to the Corporate Plan, Members were advised that the Cultural Strategy was referenced in the Plan. The other strategies were there to underpin and provide more detail to it and one or two were statutory and therefore needed to sit alongside the Corporate Plan.

·           Members were reminded that the Cultural Strategy, as set out, was intended for internal use and that it would be reproduced and finessed for external audiences once approved. It was suggested that consideration could be given to seeking the help of co-optee Members to condense and translate the document for an external audience.

·           Reference was made to the need for expenditure on the City Corporation’s cultural activities to be managed carefully and discussion took place on the expenditure associated with various areas of the City Corporation’s work (culture, economic development, open spaces etc.,) and the merits of this being examined in the long term.

RESOLVED – that, subject to the approval of the Court of Common Council, the draft City of London Cultural Strategy 2018-22 be approved. 

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the Crossrail Art Programme and the use of its remaining funding.

RESOLVED – That approval be given to the following:-

1.   the City Corporation varying the terms of its existing commitments to the Crossrail Art Programme to allow the remainder of its £3.5m commitment (£478,000) to be used to deliver artworks across the seven central London Elizabeth Line stations without requiring the City’s contribution to be match funded by another donor;

2.   the City Corporation taking ownership and responsibility for the artworks situated in the public realm at the Broadgate and Moorgate exits of the new Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line station (subject to highway authority approval and other land owner consents) in principle;

3.   the approval of the commuted sum the City Corporation would receive upon taking ownership and responsibility for the artworks at Broadgate and Moorgate Delegate be delegated to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman;

4.   the Town Clerk be authorised to instruct the City Solicitor to enter into an Artworks Agreement in respect of both artworks accepting ownership and responsibility for the artworks and agreeing implementation arrangements, subject to receipt of the commuted sum;

5.   any further decisions required including the approval of the variation of any existing commitments made by the City necessary to facilitate the successful delivery of the Crossrail Art Programme be delegated authority to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman; and

6.   it be note that no additional financial resources were required.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning activities to mark a decade the City Corporation having direct presence in Asia (offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Mumbai) by running a high-impact campaign that seeks to maintain London’s role as leading global financial centre through engagement with Asia.

The Chairman reminded Members that only £30,000 was being sought at this stage.

RESOLVED – that approval be given to the following:-

1.     the provision of £30,000 to support the Asia Next Decade campaign to deliver the first stage of the campaign; and

the cost being met from the Committee’s Policy Initiatives’ Fund for 2017/18, categorised under the ‘Promoting the City’ heading and charged to City’s Cash.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the City Corporation by the Lord Mayor.

A Member suggested that the words City of London Corporation be inserted beneath the Lord Mayor’s signature, so that it was clear that the MoU was between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the City Corporation. Members supported the suggestion.

RESOLVED – That, subject to the words City of London Corporation being inserted beneath the Lord Mayor’s signature, the Lord Mayor be authorised to sign the MoU with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as set out in the report.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a statement of the Chamberlain on the use of the Policy Initiatives Fund (PIF) and Committee Contingency for 2017/18.

RESOLVED – That the statement be noted.  

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk reporting action taken since its last meeting.

Reference was made to the visit to India and it was noted that as a result of a Royal visit the dates of the trip to India had been rearranged and would result in a slightly higher cost than anticipated.

RESOLVED – That it be noted that approval had been given:-

1.       to Sir Michael Snyder representing the City Corporation as part of the main programme of events being organised to mark the 10^th Anniversary of the Mumbai representative office in India in February 2018; and

2.       the provision of £10,000 in seed funding from the 2017/18 Policy Initiatives Fund to sponsor the London Councils Guide to Development Book

 Increasing the Supply of Homes

The Deputy Chairman referred to the commitment the City Corporation made in 2015 to build 3,700 housing units i.e. 700 on its existing estates and 3,000 on other land it owned. He advised that since that time the magnitude of the housing crisis in London had become more acute and was now high on the political agenda.  He asked how many units had been completed since 2015 and questioned the timetable for the delivery of the remainder of the programme. The Deputy Chairman also questioned whether the City Corporation had been approached by more imaginative developers who were able to deliver housing quickly even on small sights.

The Chairman advised that in terms of providing700 new homes on existing social housing estates by 2025, 62 new units had been delivered so far - 43 at Horace Jones House, one at Dron House and 18 at Twelve Acres House. There were a further seven schemes which were at various stages of the Gateway process and which were expected to deliver a further 270 new units. Of those seven schemes, four had been approved by planning and would deliver a further 43 new units over the next three years.

A planning application for the City of London Primary Academy Islington scheme was expected to be determined in December this year and, if approved, would deliver 66 new units by 2020. A pre-planning application for 158 new units at Sydenham Hill had been submitted to Lewisham and grant funding of over £14m had been secured from the GLA for the projects. The majority of the remaining 420 new units would be built, primarily, from development opportunities on the Avondale and York Way Estates. 

Consideration was also being given to a number of opportunities to work with

The following item of urgent business was considered:-

Business Rate Devolution Pilot Scheme

The Chamberlain updated the Committee on the progress of the Business Rate Devolution pilot scheme. For 2018/19 it was anticipated that this would result in £240m of additional revenues for London. He pointed out that under the revised proposals agreed by London Councils with Treasury, the City Corporation would receive a lower share of these revenues but it would still be higher than those received by other authorities.   He also advised that a report, seeking Member approval to participation in the pilot and to the City Corporation being the lead authority for the London pool, would be presented to the next meeting of the Committee.

A Member expressed concern about the City Corporation receiving the largest share from the Scheme and how this might be perceived externally. He suggested that consideration be given to the City Corporation agreeing to accept a lesser sum.

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 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item Nos.                                                           Paragraph(s) in Schedule 12A

14 - 21                                                                                     3

Part 2 – Non-Public Agenda

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

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

NB: Approval is required to the recommendations in item 11.

The draft non-public minutes of the Outside Bodies Sub-Committee meeting held on 11 October 2017 were considered and a recommendation relating to the Spitalfields Market Community Trust approved.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting of the Public Relations and  Economic Development Sub-Committee held on 19 October 2017 were noted.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting of the Projects Sub-Committee held on 4 October 2017 were noted.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting of the Culture Mile Working Party held on 18 October 2017 were noted.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting of the Hospitality Working Party held on 10 October 2017 were noted.

Report of the Director of Communications.

The Committee considered and agreed a report of the Director of Communications concerning the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation.

Joint report of the City Surveyor, the Chamberlain and the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee considered and agreed a Joint report of the City Surveyor, Chamberlain and the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning the refurbishment of Bishopsgate Police Station as part of the Police Accommodation Strategy.

Report of the Headmaster of City of London Freemen’s School.

The Committee considered and endorsed a report of the Headmaster of the City of London Freemen’s School concerning the School’s 2016 Master Plan.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and the City Surveyor (TO FOLLOW).

The Committee considered and agreed a report of the Town Clerk concerning the Museum of London Relocation Project.

During consideration of this item the Chairman withdrew from the Committee and the Deputy Chairman took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

Business of Trust

A Member referred to the The Business of Trust, a publication which was due to be launch at the Mansion House later this day and the merits of themes such as this being considered at committee level. It was agreed that in future the details of Mayoralty themes, including the Lord Mayors’ Appeal should be considered by the Public Relations and Economic Development Sub-Committee or this Committee.

At this point the Committee also agreed to Standing Order No.40 being waived to enable the meeting time to be extended and rest of the Committee’s business to be considered.

Central London Work and Health Programme

The Committee considered and agreed a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of Central London Forward concerning the Work and Health Programme contract.

London Councils - 59½ Southwark Street

Edward Lord declared an interest in this item as Chairman of Capital Ambition an organisation administered an overseen by London Councils.

The City Surveyor was heard regarding property occupied by London Councils at 59½ Southwark Street. It was agreed that the approval of the terms of a new lease be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

To agree the confidential minutes of the meetings held on 21 September and 19 October 2017.

The confidential non-public minutes of the meetings held on 21 September and 19 October 2017 were approved.