Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor Alderman Peter Estlin, Alderman Ian Luder, Wendy Mead,  Deputy Joyce Nash, Sir Michael Snyder, and Deputy Tom Hoffman.

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 25 April 2019, appointing the Committee and setting its Terms of Reference (TO FOLLOW).

Members noted the Order of the Court of Common Council of 25 April 2019 appointing the Committee and setting its terms of reference for the ensuing year.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.  A list of Members eligible to stand was read and Catherine McGuinness being the only Member expressing willingness to serve was duly elected for the ensuing year and took the Chair.

The Chair welcomed Karina Dostalova, Anne Fairweather and Shravan Joshi  to their first meetings of the Committee. She also thanked outgoing Members Deputy John Tomlinson, and Henry Colthurst for their contribution to the work of the Committee.

To elect three Deputy Chairmen in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

NB: Following consultation one will assume the role of Deputy Chairman and

the other two the role of Vice Chairmen.

The Committee proceeded to elect its Deputy Chairmen in accordance with Standing Order No. 30. Simon Duckworth, Christopher Hayward, Andrew McMurtrie, and Deputy Tom Sleigh all expressed a willingness to serve.

A ballot was therefore conducted and the results were as follows:

Simon Duckworth, Christopher Hayward, and Deputy Tom Sleigh were therefore declared Deputy Chairmen for the ensuing year.

To consider minutes as follows:-

The public minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 11 April 2019 were approved.

The public minutes of the meeting of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee held on 8 April 2019 were noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the appointment of the Committee’s sub-committees, working parties and representatives on other committees.

For the Public Relations and Economic Development Sub-Committee, with there being six expressions of interest for five places it was agreed that the size of that body should be increased by one for the forthcoming year, to obviate the requirement for a ballot.

It was noted that the terms of reference of the Housing Delivery Programme Working Group had been amended the previous year and the words “700 on the City Corporation’s Housing Revenue Account estates and 3,000 on other sites owned by the City Corporation” should be added to the final sentence. It was also noted that a vacancy remained on that Working Group, following Sir Mark Boleat’s resignation from the Court. This place was in the gift of the Chair, to serve or appoint a representative as appropriate.

RESOLVED: That the following be approved:-

1.       the appointment, composition and terms of reference of the sub-committees and working parties for the ensuing year as follows:-

(A)     Courts Sub-Committee

·      Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee (Chairman)

·      Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee;

·      Two Aldermen nominated by the Court of Aldermen;

·      Four Members appointed by the Court of Common Council;

·      One Member appointed by the Policy and Resources Committee (Deputy Edward Lord)

·      One Member appointed by the Finance Committee;

·      the Recorder and Sheriffs at the Central Criminal Court (Ex-officio), with the Recorder and any Sheriff who was not a Member of the Court of Common Council, having no voting rights

(B)     Members’ Privileges Sub-Committee

·      Chief Commoner (Chairman)

·      Immediate past Chief Commoner *

·      Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the House Committee of Guildhall Club (Ex-officio)

·      Chairman and a Deputy or Vice Chairman of the Grand Committee

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which presented a policy on gender identity, together with the findings from independent analysis of an online survey conducted in 2018.

It was noted that the Establishment Committee had agreed that the Policy should be subject to a review in five years’ time. A minor edit had also been made at paragraph 14, which was tabled; this was to remove two instances of superfluous wording. The Policy and Resources Committee endorsed these changes and the proposed review period.

RESOLVED: That the Gender Identity Policy be approved as set out at Appendix 1 and amended, with it to be subject to a five-year review.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment which sought approval for a City of London Transport Strategy, setting out the City of London Corporation’s approach to investing in and managing the City's streets over the next 25-years and aspirations for improved transport connections.

RESOLVED: That the Transport Strategy be approved, as set out at Appendix 4, for onward submission to the Court of Common Council.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment proposing a mechanism for the allocation of the Neighbourhood Fund element of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) monies.

The Director advised that a request had been received to give greater consideration as to how increased Member involvement might be facilitated, particularly in relation to the distribution of smaller sums of money (which were currently to be delegated to officers for consideration). Accordingly, she asked that the current proposals be approved for the present time, with an undertaking to bring back a report outlining proposals for increased Member involvement.

RESOLVED: That Members:-

1.    Note the response to the consultation on the City CIL Neighbourhood Fund, set

       out in Appendix 1;

2.    Approve the proposed approach to the City CIL Neighbourhood Fund, set out

       in Appendix 2, and

3.    Delegate the approval of funding applications above £50,000 from the CIL Neighbourhood Fund to the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Human Resources proposing revisions to the Code of Conduct for senior managers and the introduction of a Conflicts of Interest Policy.

It was noted that the Establishment Committee had approved the proposals subject to the deletion of Paragraph 41 in the Conflicts of Interest Policy, owing to an unresolved query which was to be the subject of further review.

RESOLVED: That the proposed revisions to the Code of Conduct and the introduction of a new Conflicts of Interest Policy be approved as set out in the report, subject to the deletion of paragraph 41.

Joint report of the City Surveyor and the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a joint report of the City Surveyor and the Director of the Built Environment concerning the development of a formal Business Improvement District (BID) for the Aldgate area.

RESOLVED: That approval be granted to work with The Aldgate Partnership to develop a BID proposal for further consideration in September / October 2019.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning City of London Corporation representation at the International Bar Association (IBA) conference in Seoul, South Korea.

RESOLVED: That approval be granted for Alderman Sir David Wootton attend the annual IBA conference in Seoul on behalf of the City Corporation from 22 – 25 September 2019.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain updating on projects and activities that had received Policy Initiatives Funding and funding from the Committee’s contingency or Brexit contingency funds.

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

Report of the Chamberlain (TO FOLLOW).

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain, together with a resolution from the Streets & Walkways Sub-Committee.

It was noted that this item had been discussed at length by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee earlier that day, with particular reference to the All Change at Bank project. It had been agreed that there should be a wider review of the On-Street Parking Reserve and the prioritisation of projects therein, with a view to identifying prospective funding for this project to proceed. The Policy and Resources Committee endorsed the recommendation that delegated authority be granted to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chairman of Resource Allocation Sub Committee and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Streets and Walkways Sub-Committee, to consider the status of the All Change at Bank project and associated funding following this process.

RESOLVED: That:-

1.     The following schemes be allowed to progress:

a.     Repairs to Holborn Viaduct and Snow Hill Pipe Subways over Thameslink

b.     All Change at Bank

c.      Wanstead Park Ponds

d.     City of London Girls’ School Expansion – Loan facility

2.     Consideration of the release of £660k, to be drawn from the balances currently available in the On-Street Parking Reserve, be delegated to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chairman of the Resource Allocation Sub Committee and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Streets & Walkways Sub-Committee.

3.     The release of the £15.45m be approved to be drawn-down from the general reserves of City’s Cash, subject to the approval of the relevant gateway reports.

4.     It be recommended to the Finance Committee and Court of Common Council to approve the allocation of up to £15.45m from the general reserves of City’s Cash to provide loan funding for the Girls’ School expansion project and fees to commence the

There were no questions.

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.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100A(4) 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.

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

The non-public minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee

held on 11 April 2019 were approved.

The non-public minutes of the meeting of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee

held on 8 April 2019 were received.

The non-public minutes of the meeting of the Hospitality Working Party meeting

held on 26 March 2019 were received.

Joint report of the Director of Economic Development and the Chief Grants Officer & Director of The City Bridge Trust.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the City Corporation’s support for Environmental Social Governance Investment.

Report of the Chamberlain (TO FOLLOW).

The Committee noted the non-public appendices associated with item 15.

Report of the Commissioner (TO FOLLOW).

The Committee considered and approved a joint report of the Town Clerk, Chamberlain and Commissioner concerning the allocation of resources to the City of London Police.

Report of the City Surveyor (TO FOLLOW).

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor concerning the Museum of London Relocation programme and associated enabling works.

There were two questions, one concerning the business case for the Centre for Music and one in relation to the policing of the City Bridges.

There was one urgent item, concerning the Green Finance Institute.