Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Alderman Sir Peter Estlin, Alderman Vincent Keaveny, Alderman Robert Howard, Alderwoman Jennette Newman and Alderman Sir Andrew Parmley.

There were no declarations.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6^th December 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6 December 2022.

RESOLVED: - That the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6 December 2022 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

Chairman’s Congratulatory Remarks

The Chairman wished to place on record his congratulations to Alderman Prem Goyal. He reminded the Committee that the London Chamber of Commerce had launched the City of London Chamber in January and reported that Alderman Goyal had now been appointed as its Chairman. The Chairman also referred to Alderman Goyal’s recent appointment as an Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors.

The Chairman went on congratulate Alderwoman Susan Langley who had recently been appointed as a trustee of the Mansion House Scholarship Scheme and as a Freeman of the Goldsmiths.

The Chairman encouraged all to continue to keep him informed of any new positions or accolades for noting at future meetings.

The Chairman welcomed Charlotte Crosswell OBE of Open Banking and the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT).

Ms Crosswell spoke of her work with Innovate Finance and meeting with the Court of Aldermen at this time to try and bridge the gap between industry bodies and the Corporation as an investor. She underlined that she was keen to re-establish these relationships under CFIT which had been incorporated as of 10 days ago and had appointed a CEO who would join the company in April 2023. 

Ms Crosswell went on to talk of how CFIT came into being and how this would work alongside the City Corporation. It was reported that CFIT had been born from the Independent Kalifa Review of UK FinTech. Innovate Finance and the Corporation had acted as co-secretariat for this. Whilst the start of the review had been delayed by approximately 6 months as a result of the General Election and then the outbreak of COVID, it had lasted for a total of 9 months and included over 300 stakeholders across a wide range of the ecosystem – financial institutions, FinTechs, academics, regulators, Government Departments and others. The Review had bridged different chapters – Skills and Talent, Investment, Regulation and Policy, National Connectivity and International Connectivity. The Committee were informed that there are 27 associations/bodies representing FinTech across the UK. However, three of the Chapters of the Review had concluded that another body was needed to serve as a means by which Government, regulators and industry could meet to solve issues such as the skills and talent gap. This was therefore the genesis for CFIT.

Ms Crosswell explained that CFIT was a virtual centre, working across key hubs across the country as opposed to being another London quango. It was reported that CFIT had gone

The Head of Programmes & Relationships, Mansion House spoke to the Committee on the Mayoral Visits Advisory Committee (MVAC), explaining that MVAC supported the Lord Mayor in their role as the Ambassador for the City by deliberating, debating and agreeing forthcoming mayoral international travel. This was based on the opportunities for UK FPS trade and investment in UK PLC provided to them and for the wider diplomatic and civic engagement that would underpin this. MVAC also considered engagement with UK nations and regions which was very much based around the City Corporation’s partnership strategy with Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.

It was reported that the Committee had existed for a number of decades and had evolved over time to sharpen its focus in terms of the Lord Mayor’s role and what outcomes they were hoping to achieve on behalf of UK PLC when visiting foreign markets. Its schedule was not set in stone and normally covered a period of between 6-9 months in the run-up to a new Mayoralty and hold 2-3 formal meetings. The MVAC membership was relatively small, consisting of the Chair of this Committee as its Chair, a number of senior Aldermen, former Lord Mayors, the Policy Chair, the Vice Policy Chair, Chair of Finance and Chief Commoner. It was highlighted that MVACA also considered the Policy Chair’s programme of international engagement, particularly in terms of where the two programmes could support and compliment one another. Those Officers supporting the work of MVAC were drawn from Mansion House in the Programme Team, from IG (particularly Trade and Investment) and Governance and Member Services.

In terms of the evidence considered by MVAC with regard to which markets to suggest, it very much looked at the Innovation and Growth Market Prioritisation Strategy, the Competitiveness Strategy and the advice

Report of the Chief Strategy Officer.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Strategy Officer providing them with a brief overview of the Resources and Priorities Refresh (RPR) programme, outlining the RPR central purpose to align resources to priorities, and the four RPR workstreams (Commercial, including income generation; Operational Property; Productivity; and the Corporate Plan Annex). It also provided the Committee with an update on the Corporate Plan.

The Chief Strategy Officer focused firstly on the RPR where the Corporate Plan Annex was one of the workstreams. She clarified that the RPR programme was essentially a wrap-around programme which encapsulated a number of projects encapsulating the City’s immediate, short, medium and long-term finances, balancing books to create some headroom and flexibility. It also looks at projects around income generation and tapping into some opportunities that may not have been fully explored previously. The RPR programme also covered strategic priorities which was where the Corporate Plan Annex linked in. The Committee were informed that a crucial part of this programme was about ways of working looking at things such as continuous improvement and productivity but also culture.

The Chief Strategy Officer went on to speak specifically about the Corporate Plan Annex and its relation to the Corporate Plan. The Annex was described as an opportunity to take stock with the existing Corporate Plan concluding in 2023. Given that the existing Plan began in 2018 – pre-Brexit and pre-COVID  - it was recognised that this was now a very different world and that the adding of the Annex in 2024 would be helpful in terms of giving both the organisation time to embed things such as the Target Operating Model but also to provide a narrative as to how the world had changed. A number of programmes had also now been put into place such as Destination

To note the outstanding actions in respect of the General Purposes Committee of Alderman’s work programme.

The Committee considered the Outstanding Actions List which had been updated since the last meeting on 6 December 2022.

Aldermanic Allowances

An Alderman questioned the genesis of this item. He stressed that it was important to remember that these two schemes were entirely separate and that the Aldermanic Clothing Allowance was intended to cover those items of clothing and accoutrements that could only be used when undertaking Aldermanic duties.

The Chairman undertook to discuss any specific queries around this with relevant Officers offline and the Committee therefore agreed that this item now be removed from the list of outstanding items.

RESOLVED: - That –

(i)      the Outstanding Actions List be noted; and

(ii)     that completed items be removed from the list.

There were no questions.

There were no additional, urgent item of business for consideration.

MOTION - That, in accordance with the Court of Aldermen’s Disclosure Arrangement (Standing Order 25), the public shall be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen have determined, having had due regard to the Disclosure Arrangement, that disclosure should not be permitted.

RESOLVED - That, in accordance with the Court of Aldermen’s Disclosure Arrangement (Standing Order 25), the public shall be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen have determined, having had due regard to the Disclosure Arrangement, that disclosure should not be permitted.

To approve the non-public minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6 December 2022.

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6th December 2022.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Town Clerk relative to revisions now proposed to the constitution and terms of reference of the Emanuel Hospital Management Sub-Committee (EHMSC) to reflect current practice in terms of the City Corporation governance process under which the EHMSC operates in administering the Emanuel Hospital charity, it being recommended as being in the best interests of the charity to do.

Report of the Town Clerk and Chairman of the Magistracy and Livery Sub-Committee to be heard.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Town Clerk relative to the proposed role of Aldermen in the Livery Committee’s Livery Liaison Scheme.

Report of the Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor seeking to codify the approach taken to invites and seating arrangements for both elected Members and Officers of the City of London Corporation to Set Piece Events held at the Mansion House, hosted by The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor on behalf of the City of London.

Joint report of the Chamberlain, the Deputy Town Clerk and the Remembrancer.

The Aldermen considered and approved a joint report of the Chamberlain, the Deputy Town Clerk and the Remembrancer presenting the annual submission of the revenue budgets overseen by this Committee and asking them to note the 2022/23 latest revenue budget and approve the proposed revenue budget for 2023/24 for subsequent submission to the Finance Committee.

Alderman Sir William Russell to be heard.

The Chairman of Strategy Group One, with a primary focus on External Priorities, updated the Committee on their recent work.

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

The Remembrancer, with the permission of the Chairman, raised a number of items of business for consideration in the non-public session.