Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Rooms, 2nd Floor, West Wing, Guildhall

Contact: Philippa Sewell
tel. no.: 020 7332 1426  Email: philippa.sewell@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies were received from the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor Alderman Alan Yarrow, Deputy Stanley Ginsburg and Ian Seaton.

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

2.

Members' declarations under the Code of Conduct in respect of items on the agenda

Minutes:

By virtue of their appointments on Open Spaces and City Gardens; Epping Forest & Commons Committee; Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen's Park Committee; or West Ham Park Committee; Wendy Mead, Karina Dostalova and Edward Lord undertook to leave the room during the discussion and decision regarding item 8b.

 

By virtue of their appointment on the Barbican Centre Board, Wendy Mead, Vivienne Littlechild and Chairman Jeremy Mayhew undertook to leave the room during the discussion and decision regarding item 8d.

 

By virtue of her appointment on Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), Deputy Chairman Alderman Alison Gowman declined to participate in the discussion or decision regarding item 7t.

 

Edward Lord declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 8k by virtue of receiving hospitality from the organisation.

 

The Principal Grants & Social Investment Officer declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 8c by virtue of being a trustee of the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF).

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

3.

Older Londoners

Minutes:

The Board received presentations from Gary Jones, CEO of Age UK Camden, and Jacqueline Ede, Dementia Services Co-Ordinator for Age Exchange, after which Members of the Committee had the opportunity to ask questions.

 

Mr Jones advised the Committee that Age UK branches had historically been run with Local Authorities, but were now funded from a variety of organisations including Clinical Commissioning Groups, the National Lottery, donations, Local Authorities and legacies. Age UK Camden ran a number of wide-ranging services which reflected the diverse range of issues faced by older Londoners (e.g. social isolation, dementia, technology skills, transport, alcohol and drug misuse, cost/quality efficiencies, pensioner poverty, employment issues, etc.). Mr Jones also advised that Age UK Camden was about to celebrate its 50th birthday with both a celebration and fundraiser, to raise awareness and resources for the work the charity undertakes.

 

Ms Ede built on Mr Jones’s presentation, sharing anonymised stories from Age Exchange, highlighting the importance of the work done in linking people in caring networks in order for them to support each other.

 

In response to Members’ queries regarding collaboration, Mr Jones advised that this was a balancing act between sharing similar services to reduce costs and ensuring local knowledge was retained. He reported that some Age UK branches had merged, while others shared back-office services and frontline specialisms. In response to a follow-up question, Mr Jones added that funders had a place in challenging organisations and encouraging collaboration, but the branches themselves knew to what degree this could be practically implemented.

 

Members discussed the objectivity and appropriateness of the financial advice being offered by Age UK Camden, and agreed that ensuring people were financially literate and able to make monetary decisions was key, particularly from an independent and objective advisory firm. Mr Jones advised this service

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

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 257 KB

To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 9 July 2015.

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

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 9 July 2015 be agreed as an accurate record.

 

Stepping Stones

Members were pleased to note that, at an event that morning, UBS had announced a £300,000 contribution to the fund.

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

5.

Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill pdf icon PDF 190 KB

Minutes:

The Board received a report of the Remembrancer regarding the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill. Members noted that the Bill proposed greater powers for the Charity Commission to address misconduct by trustees, and gave charities new power to make social investments. Members also noted that the Bill did not apply to charities established by Royal Charter or by legislation, and Bridge House Estates monies were, therefore, exempt. In terms of the City Bridge Trust, the Chief Grants Officer advised the grant application process would be reviewed in light of these changes to ensure all appropriate information was requested and being considered.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

6.

CBT Outturn report 2014/2015 pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Joint report of the Chamberlain and Chief Grants Officer.

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

Minutes:

The Committee received a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Chief Grants Officer comparing the revenue outturn in 2014/15 with the budget. Members noted that net expenditure was £20.936m as compared to the budget of £21.658m; an underspend of £0.722m.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

7.

Progress Report and Grant Applications Statistics pdf icon PDF 654 KB

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

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

Minutes:

The Committee received the regular progress report of the Chief Grants Officer and considered the allocation of the capital returned from the investment in the East London Bond and the options for supporting London’s 2nd Air Ambulance.

 

RESOLVED – That:

(a)  the allocation of the capital returned from the investment in the East London Bond be divided equally between Community Links and the Bromley by Bow Centre;

(b)  a report outlining options for a grant to  the London Air Ambulance be provided at the next meeting; and

(c)  the report and presentation of budget and statistical information be noted.

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

8.

Grants and Strategic Initiatives Recommendations and Assessments pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To consider the Chief Grants Officer’s reports on grant recommendations as follows:-

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

Minutes:

8a

Young People's Foundations - a joint initiative with the John Lyon's Charity pdf icon PDF 168 KB

Minutes:

Members discussed the report and agreed that it be explicit that there should be no expectation or guarantee at this stage for future grants.

 

APPROVED - a grant of £300,000 to the John Lyon’s Charity to co-fund the salary and running costs of a Young People’s Foundation in each of the boroughs of Brent, Harrow and Barnet, for one year.

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

8b

Strategic Initiative: Hampstead Heath pdf icon PDF 178 KB

Minutes:

Wendy Mead, Karina Dostalova and Edward Lord left the room for the consideration of this item.

 

The Committee discussed the application, but agreed further clarification was required regarding the basis upon which the City Bridge Trust can fund Corporation activity. Members noted that the projects described in the report were non-statutory, and any funding given by the Committee should not be relieving the Corporation of the cost of work that they were doing already, but should be funding new work. Members queried whether there was a clear enough framework for assessment and prioritisation of strategic grants, particularly when considering grant applications from City departments, and agreed to discuss this and the issue of substituting funding of previous non-statutory funding at their upcoming away-day.

 

AGREED – That the application be deferred until:

(a)  further information could be provided on the history of grants given by the City Bridge Trust to all Corporation projects in the past;

(b)  further information could be provided on the history of what the City Bridge Trust has given to the Open Spaces Department;

(c)  further information could be provided on why the income had gone up from 2013/14 and 2014/15; and

(d)  and more clarity on the suggested ‘tapering’ of the grant.

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

8c

Strategic Initiative: 'City Philanthropy - a wealth of opportunity' pdf icon PDF 271 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received two reports of the Chief Grants Officer.

 

APPROVED - Agrant of £204,000 over1 year tocontinue yourCity Philanthropy– a wealth of opportunity initiative, hostedby the Association ofCharitable Foundations (ACF).

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

8d

Strategic Initiative: Barbican Centre Trust pdf icon PDF 251 KB

Minutes:

Wendy Mead, Vivienne Littlechild and Chairman Jeremy Mayhew left the room for the consideration of this item. Deputy Chairman Alderman Alison Gowman took the Chair.

 

AGREED – That the application be deferred until:

(a)  further information could be provided on the history of grants by the City Bridge Trust given to all Corporation projects in the past; and

(b)  further information could be provided on the history of what the City Bridge Trust has given to the Barbican.

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

8e

Forest Young Men's Christian Association of East London pdf icon PDF 133 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £80,400 (£34,400; £22,400; £23,600) towards the cost of a full-time Farm Education Officer and project running costs.

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

8f

Hackney City Farm pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £117,300 over 3 years (£37,300, £40,000, £40,000) towards the costs of a full-time equivalent Volunteer Co-ordinator post (job share) and associated running costs.

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

8g

Sustain - the alliance for better food and farming pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £144,800 over three years (£49,980; £54,900; £39,920) for 2 days per week of the Project Officer's salary; 2 days per week of the Project Support Officer's salary (2 days per week); plus related costs of the ‘London Grows’ Project.

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

8h

Africans Unite Against Child Abuse pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £134,200 over three years (£39,800, £46,820, £47,580) for the costs of a part-­time Mental Health Worker/Therapist (21 hours per week), project costs and overheads for work benefitting young Londoners.

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

8i

Project for Advocacy Counselling & Education pdf icon PDF 120 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £113,860 over 3 years (£35,530; £37,160; £41,170) towards a full-time Advocacy Worker and associated running costs for an advocacy service for LGBT Londoners with mental health problems.

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

8j

Survivors UK pdf icon PDF 111 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £180,000 over three years (3 x £60,000) towards the full-time salary of the Director of Clinical Services; therapeutic programme and other costs to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse. Beneficiaries of the grant must be Londoners.

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

8k

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £96,250 over three years (£33,500; £32,250; £30,500) for a part-time coach (three days per week) and running costs for Brentford FC Community Sports Trust's deaf project.

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

8l

Bush Theatre pdf icon PDF 93 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £54,600 towards the cost of installing a lift as part of Phase 2 of the capital project.

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

8m

Children's Discovery Centre pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £100,000 for access and improvement works at Discover's Stratford site.

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

8n

Children's Trust pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £120,000 over two years (2 x £60,000) for the salary of a full-time Brain Injury Specialist and related running costs of a brain injury service in London.

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

8o

Royal Academy of Dance pdf icon PDF 105 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £146,900 over three years (£50,650; £45,000; £51,250) towards tutors' fees; RADiate delivery costs; and production costs for two films about the RADiate project - one for promotional and one for training purposes.

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

8p

Embrace CVOC pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £68,000 over three years (£22,650; £22,650; £22,700), towards the salary cost of a London Counselling Service lead (one day per week) and 500 counselling sessions per annum.

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

8q

Family Action pdf icon PDF 117 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £91,500 over three years (£29,500; £30,500; £31,500) towards the salary and associated running costs of a part-time (22.2 hours per week) London Domestic Abuse Service Development Co-ordinator.

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

8r

Carers of Barking and Dagenham pdf icon PDF 90 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £105,700 over three years (£34,600; £35,200; £35,900) for the salary of a full-time Carer and Family Advice Information & Advocacy Worker and associated running costs.

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

8s

Hoxton Health pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £110,000 over three years (£34,000; £38,000; £38,000) towards the salary of a part-time Volunteer Co-ordinator (11 hours per week); part-time Manager (7 hours per week); and related project costs.

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

8t

MOLA pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £87,400 over three years (£28,560; £29,130; £29,710) towards the salary and associated running costs of a Community Archaeologist to run a programme of activities targeting Londoners aged over 75 years.

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

8u

William Wilberforce Trust pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

AGREED – That the application be deferred until further information could be provided regarding the finances of the charity and its need for funding.

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

8v

Trailblazers Mentoring Ltd pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £99,000 over three years (£32,000; £33,000; £34,000) for the costs of Trailblazers' work around HMPs Wandsworth and ISIS, as well as with Londoners released by HMPs Aylesbury and Rochester. The funding includes the costs of 0.5 full-time equivalent of the charity's Operations Manager, who will oversee the work.

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

8w

women@thewell pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £105,000 over 3 years (£34,600; £34,800; £35,600) towards four days/week salary costs of a Senior Support Worker and running costs of a life skills programme for women who have offended or are at risk of offending or re­offending.

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

8x

Voice4Change England pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

APPROVED - £122,240 over two years (2 x £61,120) towards a part-time (21 hours per week) Development Director plus associated running costs of a project to support the BME voluntary sector in London to develop policies and good practice around volunteering and asset management.

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

9.

To consider reports of the Chief Grants Officer as follows:-

Minutes:

9a

Grants Recommended for Rejection pdf icon PDF 81 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer which recommended that twenty four grant applications be rejected for the reasons identified in the schedule attached to the report. Members noted that Thames Festival Trust had subsequently withdrawn.

 

RESOLVED – That twenty three grant applications detailed in the schedule attached to the report be rejected.

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

9b

Withdrawn and Lapsed Applications pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer, which provided details of five applications which had been withdrawn or had lapsed.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

9c

Grants/expenditure considered under Delegated Authority pdf icon PDF 163 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which advised Members of twenty three applications, totalling £437, 825, which had been presented for approval under delegated authority to the Chief Grants Officer in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

 

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

9d

Variations to grants awarded pdf icon PDF 81 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer, which advised Members of a variation to two grants agreed by the Chief Grants Officer since the last meeting.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

9e

Report on Monitoring Visit pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer about a visit that had taken place.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

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

9f

Events Attended pdf icon PDF 21 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee noted a report of the Chief Grants Officer regarding the key meetings and events attended by Members and officers since the last meeting.

 

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

10.

Questions on Matters Relating to the Work of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no questions.

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

11.

Any other business that the Chairman considers to be urgent

Minutes:

There was no other business.

 ...  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 of business 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.

 

Item No.                                                          Exempt Paragraphs

13, 15                                                                         3

14                                                                                -

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

13.

Non-Public Minutes

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2015.

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

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2015 be approved as a correct record.

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

14.

Questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 

At this point, the time limit for Committee meetings, as set out in Standing Order 40, had been reached, but there being a two-thirds majority of the Committee present who voted in favour of an extension, the Committee agreed to continue the meeting.

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

15.

Any other business that the Chairman considers urgent and which the Committee agree should be considered whilst the public are excluded

Minutes:

There was one item of other business.

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