Agenda and minutes

The Committee received a presentation from Tatiana Jardan, Director of the Human Trafficking Foundation (HTF), after which Members had the opportunity to ask questions.

Ms Jardan advised the Committee that modern slavery is a global phenomenon. As a hidden crime, exact numbers were unknown, but it was estimated that 21 million people worldwide were in forced labour and 30 million were enslaved. Members noted an estimated 10-13,000 people in the UK were being exploited, mainly in the South East or Greater London, who were from 96 different countries of origin. UK nationals were also victims of exploitation, both within the country and outside it.

Previous funding received from the City Bridge Trust enabled the HTF to work with survivors, and investigate what happened when they left care shelters. The findings of this research demonstrated that survivors remained vulnerable to further abuse or to being re-trafficked, and the subsequent funding from the Trust was allowing further work to be undertaken to find solutions to support survivors and allow them to gain control over their lives. 

In response to Members’ questions, Ms Jardan reported that, despite being unrecognised five years ago, the numbers of forced labour worldwide now equalled those for sexual exploitation. She also advised that the HTF was in a unique position, with their influential and dedicated Board of Trustees, to raise awareness of these problems and to encourage policy and legislative changes, such as the Modern Slavery Act which took effect from 31 July 2015.  Members noted that the HTF had successfully raised awareness of the problems, particularly in the Police, who now underwent training on modern slavery and had set up multiple Special Police Forces throughout the UK to prevent slavery and help victims.

The Chairman thanked Ms Jardan for her presentation.

Apologies were received from the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor Alderman the Lord Mountevans.

The Chairman, Jeremy Mayhew, and the Deputy Chairman, Alderman Alison Gowman, declared non-pecuniary interests in London Youth (item 8a) by virtue of having received hospitality their roles on the City Bridge Trust Committee.

Ian Seaton declared a non-pecuniary interest in London Youth (item 8a).

Deputy the Revd Stephen Haines declared a non-pecuniary interest in Blackfriars Settlement (item 8b) and St John’s Church, Waterloo (item 8h).

The Deputy Chairman, Alderman Alison Gowman, declared a non-pecuniary interest in London Air Ambulance (item 8g).

Simon Duckworth highlighted a standing declaration in items relating to the London borough of Southwark by virtue of his appointment as HM's Representative Deputy Lieutenant for Southwark from 1 March 2016.

To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 26 November 2015.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 26 November 2015 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Monitoring visits

The Chairman requested the monthly reminder emails to be sent shortly before Committee meetings, and encouraged Members to attend some monitoring visits every year.

RESOLVED – That the Outstanding Actions update be noted.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee received a report analysing the statistics of grant applications received in the first two years of the Investing in Londoners grants programme (from September 2013 to August 2015).

Members discussed the report and, in response to questions, it was noted that:

·      Officers were visiting Barking and Dagenham to build networks and raise the profile of the Trust in order to encourage more applications from the Borough.

·      The London Borough of Islington appeared to get a disproportionately large amount of funding, but this reflected the number of pan-London bodies based there; officers undertook to try to remove pan-London data in future reports to enable fairer comparisons to be made.

·      Extra resources had been secured in order to take a more pro-active approach to grant-making, including two new members of staff to ensure more applications were processed within four months and to handle the anticipated rise in number of applications, owing to the increase in the grants budget; and the changes in the operating environment: in particular, the reduction of about 40% in London Boroughs’ budgets and the reduction in grant funding available at a time when many organisations face increased demand.

·      Officers advised that awareness of the need for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses had been raised nationally by central government and the press; it was hoped that this would result in a higher number of applications to the ESOL grants programme.

RESOLVED – That:

a)    officers remove the data for grants to pan-London organisations from the ‘Spend by Borough’ table;

b)    the next bi-annual statistical report (and, subsequently, the first of each financial year), analyse the work delivered, the beneficiaries and impact of grants made, instead of the profile of applications received; and

c)    the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee received the regular progress report of the Chief Grants Officer and discussed the updates given, including arrangements for the City Bridge Trust’s 20^th Anniversary Event scheduled for Tuesday 8^th March, the Wembley National Stadium Trust, the Stepping Stones Fund, and City Philanthropy. Members were advised that discussions were continuing with London Councils regarding infrastructure support. The research the Committee is funding through London Funders on the future of civil society support in London is due to be published in March/April 2016. It was anticipated that this will help inform the strategic application of the element of the budget uplift that has been earmarked for infrastructure support.

Members discussed the updates in the report and highlighted the need for effective networking to be facilitated at the Anniversary Event in March.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

APPROVED – That:

a)    the development phase be funded at the level requested, namely £27,000;

b)    the pilot phase be funded in full at the level requested of £240,000, subject to the satisfactory completion of the development phase, including the demonstrable commitment of the in-coming CEO (to be considered and agreed by the Principal Grants Officer in consultation with the Chief Grants Officer); and

c)    an additional £12,000 be granted, by way of external evaluation (30 days at c.£400 per day) to evaluate the pilot as it progresses.

APPROVED - £39,000 over two years (2 x £19,500) for the staff and project management costs of delivering 216 hours per year of ESOL classes to Entry Level and Entry Level-1 standard.

APPROVED - £59,300 (£19,400; £19,800; £20,100) to meet the sessional staffing and running costs of providing introductory ESOL classes for women aged 60 years and over.

APPROVED - £81,200 over three years (£26,500; £27,100: £27,600) for 4 days per week of the Community Education Support Officer's salary costs; and 1 day per week of the Finance Officer's salary costs.

APPROVED - £94,100 (£19,000; £39,200; £35,900) towards the Breaking the Barrier Initiative, to contribute towards the cost of three Lead Practitioners, activity and running costs, on condition that match funding is secured in years 2 and 3.

APPROVED - £59,000 towards the cost of providing an accessible toilet/wet room; improved level flooring and ramps; accessible doorways; and to tarmac the car park and pathways to enable full access.

The Chief Grants Officer advised that the City Bridge Trust’s logo was being included on the helicopter’s tail-wing, in formal recognition of the contribution being made.

APPROVED - £214,000 over two years (2 x £107,000) for the costs of the Patient Liaison Nurse project and including a contribution of £40,000 per annum to the helicopter operating costs.

APPROVED - £100,000 towards the cost of access works to the crypts, first and second floors.

APPROVED - £100,000 to re-develop the theatre auditorium to fully accessible standards.

APPROVED - £103,750 over three years (£33,250, £34,350, £36,150) towards the salary of a full-time Volunteer Co-ordinator, together with the associated project running costs.

APPROVED - £84,600 over three years (£27,600; £28,200; £28,800) towards the part-time salaries (2 x 18.75 hours per week) of two child support workers in Lewisham.

APPROVED - £75,800 over three years (£25,500; £24,800; £25,500) for the salary of a part­-time (25 hours per week) Elderly Link Worker and towards related overheads and associated project costs.

APPROVED - £85,500 over three years (3 x £28,500) towards a full-time Outreach Worker and associated running costs for a project working with isolated people aged 75+.

APPROVED - £112,700 over two further years (£55,600; £57,100) for the salary of a full-time Project Officer and related costs of a project providing training, capacity-building, advice and information to London's voluntary sector.

APPROVED - £106,000 over two years (£52,500; £53,500) for the salaries of a 2 days per week Volunteer Services Manager; a 3 days per week Membership Services Officer; and associated running costs of a project, increasing the number and the quality of volunteering placements in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer, which recommended that thirty five grant applications be rejected for the reasons identified in the schedule attached to the report. Members discussed the report, and asked officers to establish whether the cap on funding capital projects of over £10m was still appropriate and, where possible, to facilitate the submission of suitable and robust proposals from charities to the English for Speakers of Other Languages grants programme.

RESOLVED – That thirty five grant applications detailed in the schedule attached to the report be rejected.

The Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer, which recommended that twelve grant applications to the Stepping Stones fund be declined for the reasons identified in the schedule attached to the report.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which advised Members of twelve grants and expenditure items, totalling £229,796, which had been presented for approval under delegated authority to the Chief Grants Officer, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman. Members highlighted that this included an expenditure item for administrative charges to the Trust, and asked that these be reported more clearly in the future.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Grants Officer which provided details of nine applications which had been withdrawn and two which had lapsed.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

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.

A Member queried the extent to which successful grantees were asked to promote the City Bridge Trust.  Officers advised that the grant letter asked charities for “due recognition”, and successful applicants were sent the Trust’s logo and put in contact with the Corporation’s press office. They also advised that, during monitoring visits, checks were made as to whether appropriate recognition was being given.

Members acknowledged that publicity must remain proportional to the grant amount, but were keen to utilise all opportunities for promotion and, as such, officers undertook to highlight routinely the importance of recognition with applicants, and to report back at a future meeting as to the scope for encouraging promotion within the current policies.

RESOLVED – That officers:

a)    Highlight routinely the importance of recognition with applicants; and

b)    report back at a future meeting as to the scope for encouraging promotion within the current policies.

There was no other business.

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.

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                                                                               3

14 – 15                                                                        -

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2015.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2015 be agreed as an accurate record.

Under Matters Arising, the Committee were advised of the liquidation of PACE and had a short discussion regarding the possible implications for the sector.

There were no non-public questions.

There was no other business.