Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3 - 2nd Floor West Wing, Guildhall

Contact: Emma Cunnington  Email: emma.cunnington@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor and Sophie Fernandes.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

MEMBERS' DECLARATIONS UNDER THE CODE OF CONDUCT IN RESPECT OF ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 93 KB

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 9 October 2018.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the amended public minutes and summary of the meeting held on Tuesday 9 October 2018 be approved as a correct record.

 

Matters arising

·         The Sub-Committee heard how the Sports paper was on track to be submitted to this Sub-Committee at its December meeting.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Outstanding Actions pdf icon PDF 55 KB

Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

Members received an outstanding actions report of the Town Clerk and asked for the deadline of action 2 regarding the voting system for electing co-opted Members be brought forward.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         The report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

EDO Monthly Update pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Economic Development providing highlights of the key activity undertaken by the Economic Development Office in late September and October.

 

The Director of Economic Development updated Members that the period had been incredibly busy and productive for the both the Chair of Policy & Resources and the Lord Mayor, and gave a summary of the appendices which had been separately circulated and remained available electronically.

 

The Policy Chair gave an update on the “cliff edge” issues that might arise in the event of a “no deal” Brexit, which the City Corporation had been highlighting in political meetings.

 

A Member conveyed his view that no deal was worse than the Prime Minister’s deal and that could be made clearer in the City Corporation’s messaging.

 

Another Member requested that issues around clearing derivatives and contract continuity be communicated with smaller, international trade associations.

 

Members agreed that this was a historic moment. It was made clear that there were two separate issues concerning the issue of the particular deal and the date that the UK would leave the EU on the 29 March 2019 unless an emergency Bill was submitted.

 

Members were updated on the event that was due to take place on 20 November to launch a report proposing a new immigration/visa system undertaken jointly between the City Corporation and EY, and were encouraged to pass on the invitation to their business contacts.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         The report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Corporate Affairs Update pdf icon PDF 52 KB

Report of the Director of Communications.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Communications updating Members on key elements of the Corporate Affairs team’s activity in support of the City Corporation’s external political engagement and corporate communications.

 

The Director of Communications underlined the close working of the Communications Team, the Economic Development Office and the Remembrancer’s Office.

 

A Member highlighted a few grammatical errors in the paper and another Member asked for future meetings to have these items mirrored in non-public to allow Members to have a more in-depth discussion. A Member also suggested that more up-to-date information could be tabled at the meeting of our corporate activity and consideration be given to the Policy Chair to give oral updates.

 

The Policy Chair asked the Director of Economic Development to see if TheCityUK could come to a future meeting of the Public Relations and Economic Development Sub Committee meeting.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         The report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Parliamentary Team Update pdf icon PDF 55 KB

Report of the Remembrancer.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Remembrancer updating Members on the main elements of the Parliamentary Team’s activity in support of the City Corporation’s political and parliamentary engagement.

 

The Remembrancer updated Members that the Brexit-related ambulatory references issues were still on-going.

 

Members were interested in the work that the City Corporation was undertaking on legal initiatives in partnership with other organisations, such as the Brexit Law Committee, and asked for an overview of this work to be submitted to the Sub-Committee in due course.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         The report be noted.

·         The Remembrancer and Director of Economic Development to update Members on an overview of legal initiatives that the City Corporation is involved in.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Review of the Lord Mayor's Dragon Awards pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Joint report of the Director of Economic Development and the Chief Grants Officer.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 8.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a joint report of the Director of Economic Development and the Chief Grants Officer, City Bridge Trust, concerning the recent consultation exercise to refresh the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards in 2020 and the Awards’ website.

 

Following a question, the Director of Economic Development committed to finding out who owned the rights to the Awards.

 

A Member spoke, from his own experience, of concerns relating to how the Awards required organisations to be able to devote considerable effort in putting together their entries, which might mitigate against those without the same resources even if they have the best projects. Other Members reported that, in the last year, this had improved, and smaller organisations had been included.

 

A Member also highlighted the need to draw together the City Corporation’s work on the Dragon Awards with that of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and Heart of the City.

 

Members, then, began to discuss the dress code for the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards Dinner and whether black tie is appropriate, and the format fit for business. Others felt that this was a celebratory event and so the dress code should remain black tie.

 

A Member also felt that beneficiaries of the projects ran by these organisations should also be invited to the dinner, and reported that this balance had been better than in previous years.

 

Following a discussion, Members gave the steer to the Director of Economic Development that there was no need to change the format of the Awards for 2019 but to review this in more detail for 2020.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         The approach of building on the recent consultation exercise to consider how best to refresh the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards in 2020, and a planned refresh of the Awards website for 2019 to improve its functionality, be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

New Corporate Risk - Brexit pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Report of the Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chamberlain detailing information on the new corporate risk focused on minimising the impact of disruption to key City Corporation services following the departure of the UK from the EU on 29 March 2019 (Brexit).

 

The Town Clerk assured Members that he had requested that there be an item on every committee agenda on Brexit risks, and that the Establishment Committee would be considering any issues around staffing and dependencies, particularly non-UK EU staff who needed support to settle their legal status in the UK.

 

Members made the following comments:

·         The City Corporation had been slow to undertake this work, compared to other organisations;

·         SMEs needed to be reminded of support they could access when planning for Brexit scenarios;

·         It was vital that non-UK EU citizens receive reassurance, education and support to settle their legal status in the UK before the UK leaves the EU, and that the City Corporation should ensure that they were doing this for staff;

·         The impact of Brexit on the City Corporation’s property portfolio was not clear in terms of yield and returns;

·         A Finance Fund was available for certain functions such as Port Health Authority, but government guidance for public bodies was still being developed.

 

The Chair of the Establishment Committee informed Members that there were over 100 staff that were non-UK EU nationals currently employed by the City Corporation and that a paper would be coming to the Establishment Committee looking at options to ensure that these staff feel safe, secure and supported.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         The inclusion of a new corporate risk (CR26) in relation to Brexit be noted;

·         The eight subsidiary Brexit related risks be maintained by Chief Officers on departmental risk registers.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

QUESTIONS ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE WORK OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE

Minutes:

Questions were raised as follows -

 

Publicity of HRH The Duke of Cambridge Declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade

 

A Member asserted that there had not been any media surrounding the ‘Mansion House Declaration’ from when HRH The Duke of Cambridge had come to Mansion House to sign a declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade. The Head of Media committed to circulating details of coverage of this matter.

 

Business Canvass and Vote

 

A Member asked a question regarding the statistics of the business canvass and voter registration, as he had learnt that the City Corporation had 50% less uptake on voter registration than in previous years. There were some concerns expressed regarding up-to-date information that the Electoral Services team used to contact businesses and potential new voters. The Town Clerk committed to circulating a note outlining to Members the statistics on voter registration uptake.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS URGENT

Minutes:

The following items of urgent business were raised –

 

Communications to residents and electors

 

The Policy Chair questioned whether all corporate communications (including to residents) had appropriate oversight from the Director of Communications and it was agreed that there should be a centralised approach. The Policy Chair also suggested that there had been some confusion about how Members could now communicate with residents and businesses in light of the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). It was recommended that training sessions be set up for Members to assist them.

 

There was discussion of the issues around data protection and one Member advised that there were exemptions to make political engagement possible.

 

The Chair of the Members Diversity Working Party updated the Sub-Committee on some of the preliminary discussions that had been had in that Working Party regarding attracting candidates to stand for Common Council from a diverse range of backgrounds.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         Member briefing sessions be set up covering communication to residents and electors.

 

Lord Mayor’s Banquet

 

The Policy Chair requested Members to give feedback on the Lord Mayor’s banquet. The following points were made:

 

·         The omission of the late Lord Mayor’s speech was sensible;

·         Discussion ensued around how to make the Banquet more business focused;

·         The Lord Mayor and Prime Minister’s speeches were well aligned with the Prime Minister referencing the City Corporation’s digital strategy.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Exclusion of the Public

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.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

Minutes:

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.

 

Item

Paragraph

13, 14

3, 2

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

Non-Public Minutes

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2018.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

Minutes:

The non-public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 9 October 2018 were approved.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

Brexit Related Risks for the City of London Corporation

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning Brexit related risk for the City Corporation.

 

RESOLVED, that:

·         The report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

NON-PUBLIC QUESTIONS ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE WORK OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 

At this point, the fire alarm sounded and the meeting was adjourned between 12:12 and 12:26 as the building was evacuated.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS URGENT AND WHICH THE SUB COMMITTEE AGREES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHILST THE PUBLIC ARE EXCLUDED

Minutes:

The following items of urgent business were raised:

1.    Managing Director of the Brussels Office;

2.    Recent media interest.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.