Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alderwoman Susan Langley, Mandeep Thandi, James Tumbridge, Deputy Henry Colthurst and Anthony Fitzpatrick.

The Chairman reordered the agenda to take item 19 – Confidential Item – as the final item of business.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12 July 2023.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 12July 2023 to be approved as an accurate record subject to the following amendment(s):

1)    That officers Alison Littlewood and Pauline Shakespeare be listed as having attended the meeting.

2)    That minute 11, which erroneously duplicated the text of minute 12, be updated to as to read:

Members received a report of the Chief Operating Officer concerning work being undertaken to address the risk of non-compliance with centrally managed mandatory training for employees. 

The committee discussed the completion rates of mandatory training, noting that the report outlined the arrangements for all-staff mandatory training only and not departmental or role-specific training. 

The committee recognised the need for mandatory training not to be overly burdensome or lengthy and welcomed training data being reported back to the committee on a regular basis. 

RESOLVED:  To note the status of centrally managed mandatory training compliance and the City Corporation’s approach to continue to ensure continued improved compliance. 

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The committee received a report of the Chief Operating Officer concerning the coroners’ 2023/24 pay settlement.

RESOLVED –

1. That the salary and day rates of the Senior Coroner and the day rate of the Assistant Coroners are increased by 3.5% with effect from 1 April 2023 in line with the JNC agreement.
2. That for future pay awards, the Corporate Services Committee authorise the Chief Operating Officer in liaison with the Chief People Officer and Executive Director of Environment to implement the award.

To note the minutes of the meeting held on 6 June 2023.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and summary of the meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee held on 4 September 2023 be noted.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Chief Operating Officer.

RESOLVED – to note the forward plan.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The committee received a report of the Chamberlain regarding the revenue outturn for the 2022-23 financial year regarding services overseen by the Corporate Services Committee.

RESOLVED – to note.

1. Revenue outturn for 2022/23 showing an overall favourable variance to final budget of £1.034m.
2. Yet to be agreed carry forward requests of local risk budgets of £0.188m to 2023/24.

Report of the Remembrancer.

The committee received a report of the Remembrancer regarding the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

RESOLVED – to note the report.

Report of the Remembrancer.

The committee received a report of the Remembrancer regarding several Acts of Parliament which had received Royal Assent earlier in the year.

RESOLVED – to note the report.

Chief Operating Officer to be heard.

The committee noted that a full report on the Chief Officer and Senior Management Group recruitment procedure would be brought to a future meeting of the committee and that the update would therefore be deferred to said meeting.

Chief Operating Officer to be heard.

Officers provided a verbal update to the committee regarding staff appraisal completion rates. The committee noted that 73% of staff appraisals had been recorded as completed across the City of London Corporation but that the figure was 49% when Corporation institutions were included. It was noted that work was underway to improve the completion rates for institutions over the coming months.

The committee welcomed the increased completion rates but expressed its concern that staff within the Corporation did not have completed appraisals and agreed that a session be held in due course for members and officers to discuss how to improve appraisal completion rates.

RESOLVED – that the staff appraisal completion rate for 2023/24 civic year be set a target of 82%.

A question was asked about the support offered to staff who were subjected to abuse by members of public, what data was captured regarding such incidents, and whether a policy regarding the management of such incidents was regularly reviewed.

In response, the Chief Operating Officer confirmed that data was collected through health and safety reporting but that the reporting of incidents was not consistent. It was noted that the City of London Police Force and public-facing institutions and services often had bespoke local arrangements, but that a report would be brought back to the committee on the matter.

There were no urgent items.

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 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 1972.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

Report of the Barbican Centre CEO.

The committee received a report of the Barbican Centre CEO regarding prospective structural changes to the Barbican Centre staff body.

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The committee received a report of the Town Clerk.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor regarding employment cases and settlements.