Agenda item

With the Chair’s consent, the following items of urgent business were considered by the Cub-Committee.

6(a)      2020/21 Revenue Budget Setting Process

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain relative to the proposed high-level approach to setting the 2021/22 revenue budgets.

With reference to the report and when the decision had been made that a 12% reduction across the services be implemented, the Chamberlin confirmed, through the Chair, that Members had considered the matter at the Resource Allocation Away-Day and it was thereafter subsequently agreed by the Sub-Committee ahead of the recess.

A query was raised regarding how the views of institutions and bodies such as the Museum of London and COLAT, where their legal responsibilities were an important timetabling factor, would be taken into account. The Chamberlin responded that all institutions would be considered through the relevant governance forums and lead service committees as appropriate.

With reference to the potential release of funding across the medium term for Build Back Better/ Climate Action Strategy purposes, it was noted that cash floes across the funds had been looked at closely and it was now clear that, in relation the delivering the Climate Action Strategy, it would not be possible to achieve this until 2027 rather than 2025. It was felt that this target date was now affordable and achievable.

RESOLVED, that:-

(i)            Members Note the extremely challenging financial context for 21/22 budget setting, as discussed at recent Resource Allocation Sub Committees and the transition period to a new target operating model (TOM);

(ii)           Approve the proposed approach to set financial envelopes for each Service Committee to prioritise their own service delivery through the business planning process later in the year; and

(iii)         Approve the proposed approach using bilateral meetings with service committee chairmen to inform the reduced budgetary envelopes in 21/22, together with a report back to the December meeting of RASC on proposed allocations.

6(b)      GOVERNANCE REVIEW

[This item was previously marked on the agenda as a non-public item of business at Item 12 but moved into public session ahead of the meeting.]

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk relative to Lord Lisvane’s Governance Review which was conducted at the request of the Court of Common Council as of autumn 2019.

The Chair reminded Members that the purpose of the Town Clerk’s report was for the Sub-Committee to agree how, given the number of recommendations put forward by Lord Lisvane, this next phase of the Review could best be conducted in a structured, clear and methodical manner.  Members agreed the proposal set out in the report, with a series of meetings scheduled between October and December to allow for detailed exploration of the recommendations and widespread Member consultation. Whilst noting that there may be some recommendations that could be implemented in a timely manner, such as the standards arrangements whereby there was widespread agreement across the Court that action on this matter should be a priority, the Sub-Committee did not wish this next phase of the Review to be unnecessarily rushed. Some Members stressed the importance of wider consultation on the recommendations with the Court’s co-opted members and external representatives who served across a broad range of committees and sub-committees and whose expertise and understanding of specific areas could usefully inform any next steps.

In terms of timings and implementation of any recommendations, following extensive face-face consultation (as opposed to via further written feedback), it was agreed that implementation as of April 2021 was not viable but, where possible, recommendations would be implemented before April 2022. To ensure that all Members were clear about the next phase of the Review and how Members, co-optees and external representatives would be engaged in that process, it was agreed that the Town Clerk would liaise with Sheriff Christopher Hayward (Deputy Chair, Policy & Resources Committee) to work up a clear road map of meetings and the issues that would be considered at each meeting. He suggested that, where necessary, additional virtual meetings be scheduled to allow for smaller groups of individuals to discuss the issues.

A view was expressed that Lord Lisvane’s report was the culmination of Member consultation and, given the recommendations therein, the Court should look to be radical and implement significant changes to its operation and overall governance framework. Whilst there was agreement that the next phase of the Review should not be drawn out, given the complexity and diversity of the organisation, and its breadth of activities in different contexts, it was clear that some of the recommendations would not work and thus a careful exploration of each recommendation was required.

The Chair, in closing, thanked Lord Lisvane for the detailed work undertaken in respect of the Governance Review and the recommendations before Members.

RESOLVED, that:-

(i)         Lord Lisvane’s Governance Review report be received;

(ii)        the next phase of the process be finalised by the Town Clerk in consultation with Sheriff Christopher Hayward (Deputy Chair, Policy and resources Committee) on the basis of the proposed approach as set out in paragraphs 8-18 of the report; with a clear timetable for consultation and widespread engagement and consultation with all Members of the Court and the Court’s co-opted and external members between October and December 2020;

(iii)     the Sub-Committee’s thanks to Lord Lisvane, for his efforts in conducting the Review, be placed on record.

6(C)   FRASER REVIEW- UPDATE

The Chair advised Members that following an initial joint meeting of the Policy and Resources and Establishment Committees, which had resulted in a good discussion, a further meeting had been expected to take place in September. Members were advised that the date for that next meeting would be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.