Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alex Deane, Simon Duckworth, Dr Martin Dudley, Alderman Sir David Howard, Hugh Morris, Henry Pollard, Giles Shilson and Sir Michael Snyder.

The Chairman declared an interest in Item No. 11 by virtue of Yatterbox, a company which he had chaired, the assets of which had been acquired by Cicero a public affairs company. Cicero had assisted in the arrangements for his visit to Singapore. 

Alderman Alan Yarrow declared an interest in Item No 23 which related to the creation of a new body to promote the Financial Technology Sector.

To consider minutes as follows:-

The public minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2013 were approved.

The public minutes of the Projects Sub-Committee meetings held on 26 September and 29 October 2013 were noted.

The public minutes of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee meeting held on 24^th October 2013 were noted.

The minutes of the Lighting Up Deputation Sub-Committee meeting held on 30^th October 2013 were noted.

To appoint a representative of the Investment Committee in the room of Edward Lord.

The Committee considered the appointment of two representatives on the Investment Committee.

It was noted that Michael Hudson and Deputy John Barker had expressed an interest in serving as one of the Committee’s representatives.

RESOLVED – That Michael Hudson and Deputy John Barker be appointed as one of the Committee’s representatives on the Investment Committee in the room of Edward Lord and Alderman Sir Robert Finch.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a progress report of the Town Clerk on the activities contained in the departmental Business Plan up to 31 October 2013.

RESOLVED: That the report be received and the content noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the creation of a Cultural Hub Working Party to oversee the strategy for developing a cultural hub in the City.

A Deputy Chairman referred to the composition of the Working Party and suggested that given the significance of the creation of a cultural hub, one of the Committee’s places on it should be allocated to the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee or to one of the Deputy Chairmen. Further discussion ensued and it was agreed that given the importance of this project, in addition to the appointment of two representatives, the Working Party should be chaired by the Chairman of this Committee.

The Committee also agreed to the Principal of the Guildhall School Music and Drama and the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries serving on the Working Party.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.    a working party be established to oversee the development of a cultural hub based on the Barbican area to coordinate improvements to the street scene, links to future transport infrastructure developments, and increased collaboration between the cultural institutions in and around that area;

2.    the working party be constituted for 12 months initially and that its membership be as follows:-

·                The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee who should also chair the working party;

·                Two additional representatives from the Policy & Resources Committee

·                One representative from:-

o    the Board of the Museum of London

o    the Barbican Centre Board

o    the Board of Governors of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

o    the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee

o    the Planning and Transportation Committee

·                the Managing Director of the Barbican Centre

·                The Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama

·                The Director of Culture Heritage and Libraries 

·                the Director of the Museum of

Joint report of the Town Clerk, the Chamberlain and the Comptroller & City Solicitor.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk, Chamberlain and the Comptroller and City Solicitor submitting a Bill for an Act of Common Council, introducing qualifications for the office of Auditor of the Chamberlain’s and Bridgemaster’s Accounts and regularising the electoral timetable and processes for the various offices appointed at Common Hall.

A Deputy Chairman stated that it was important for the City Corporation to ensure that there was no conflict of interest when appointing the Auditor and questioned whether this should be covered in the Bill. It was suggested that should it be necessary to make such a change the approval of the final wording be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.    the Bill for an Act for an Act of Common Council, introducing qualifications for the office of Auditor of the Chamberlain’s and Bridgemaster’s Accounts and regularising the electoral timetable and processes for the various offices appointed at Common Hall be approved as set out in the report, subject to it being settled by the Recorder of London and submitted to the Court of Common Council for approval; and

2.    should it be necessary to amend the Bill to take account of any potential conflict  of interest in relation to the appointment of an Auditor, the final wording be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

Joint report of the Town Clerk, Chamberlain and Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk, Chamberlain and the Comptroller and the Director of the Built Environment concerning the governance arrangements and broad spending priorities for the City’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

RESOLVED – That the following be agreed:-

1.     the approach to decision-making and spending priorities for the City CIL and revised planning obligations as set out in Appendices A and B of the report; and

2.     the creation of a Priorities Board led by the Town Clerk to assist Resources Allocation Sub Committee in refining the broad approach and in making subsequent decisions on infrastructure spending priorities, with the composition of the Board and its terms of reference being as set out in Appendix C of the report.

Joint report of the Director of Economic Development and the Director of Public Relations.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Economic Development and the Director of Public Relations proposing additional financial support for the City Corporation’s European engagement strategy.

The Chairman updated the Committee on activities undertaken recently in support of the EU engagement strategy. He advised that the common view amongst business and promotional bodies such as the CBI and TheCityUK was that Britain needed to be in the EU and to be fully engaged and that both he and the Lord Mayor were doing what they could to get this message heard.

RESOLVED – That approval be given to:-

1.    additional expenditure be approved not exceeding £50,000 for the remainder of the current financial year, and not exceeding £150,000 for 2014/15 for an expanded European engagement strategy; to be funded from the Committee’s City’s Cash contingency 2013/14 and 2014/2015 respectively; and

2.    the approval of the expenditure on individual specific projects be delegated to  the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman.

Report of the Director of Public Relations.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Public Relations concerning the provision of support for London Councils’ London Summit for a further three years i.e. 2014-2017.

RESOLVED – That the City Corporation provides the venue for the conference for the next three years, paying a sum not exceeding £14,622 in 2014, £15,353 in 2015 and £16,120 in 2016 (not exceeding £46,095 in total) for the hire of the Guildhall complex; to be met from the Committee’s Policy Initiatives Fund for 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17, categorised under the Events section of the Fund and charged to City’s Cash.

Report of the Director of Economic Development.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the outcome of the Chairman’s recent visit to Singapore.

RESOLVED – that the content of the report be noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a statement of the Chamberlain on the use of the Policy Initiatives Fund and the Committee’s contingency for 2013/14.

RESOLVED – That the content of the report be noted.

Report of the Remembrancer.

The Committee considered a progress report of the Remembrancer on the activities in the departmental Business Plan from 1 April to 30 September 2013.

In response to concerns about the length of time it was taking for the City of London (Various Powers) Bill to be enacted, the Remembrancer explained that the timescale for delivering private Bills was uncertain and that it was not unusual for the various stages of consideration to be delayed in favour of more pressing matters. It was however hoped that the final reading of the Bill would take place in December if not in the early part of next year.

RESOLVED: That the report be received and the content noted.

Report of the City Planning Officer.

NB: The Appendix to this report has been circulated electronically as a separately bound document. Hard copies of the Local Plan are also available on request or a copy can be found in the Members’ Reading Room.

The Committee considered a report of the City Planning Officer proposing revisions to the City Corporation’s draft Local Plan and to its publication for a final period of public consultation.

RESOLVED – That:-

1.    the Local Plan be agreed and published for public consultation;

2.    following consultation, the Local Plan, the public’s responses and other supporting documents be submitted to the Secretary of State for examination by a planning inspector; and

3.    the City Planning officer be authorised, following the close of public consultation, in discussion with the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the Planning & Transportation Committee, to compile a list of further changes to the Local Plan in response to the public’s comments and to submit these to the Secretary of State

Report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries proposing the adoption of revised Visitor Strategy.

During discussion the following comments were made:-

·           In delivering the Strategy across the City officers should ensure that activities were joined up;

·           More emphasis should be placed on communication generally to ensure that all audiences, including City workers, were aware of the City’s visitor attractions;

·           Reference was made to the high number of visitors staying in the City’s Hotels and to the importance of ensuring that relevant information was available in those venues;

·           Members supported a suggestion for the Director to report back later next year on the work being undertaken to promote and communicate the City’s visitor attractions, particularly to City workers.

RESOLVED – That the new Visitor Strategy for 2013-17 be adopted and that the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries be requested to report back later next year on the work being undertaken to promote and communicate the City’s visitor attractions, particularly to City workers..

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk reporting action taken by the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman since the last meeting of the Committee in accordance with Standing Orders 41(a) and 41(b).

RESOLVED – that it be noted that approval was given to £20,000 in sponsorship being made available from the Committee’s contingency fund to support the exhibition of an art installation/concept garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2014. It was noted that the concept garden would raise awareness of the threat of Oak Processionary Moth to London’s tree population and that funding would be provided in two tranches - £11,000 in December 2013 and £9,000 in early May 2014.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business for consideration.

MOTION - 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.

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 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act:-

Item Nos.                                                          Paragraph(s) in Schedule 12A 

20                                                                                            3

21                                                                                            3

Part 2 – Non-Public Agenda

To consider non-public minutes of meetings as follows:-

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2013 were approved.

The non-public minutes of the Projects Sub-Committee meetings held on 26 September and 29 October 2013 were noted.

The non-public minutes of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee meeting held on 24^th October 2013 were considered.

A Deputy Chairman referred to the discussion on the City Bridge Trust as part of the service based reviews. He stated that it was important for the granting giving role of the Trust including its relationship with the City Corporation to be clarified.

 RESOLVED: That the content of the minutes be noted.

The non-public minutes of the Members Facilities and Accommodation Working Party meeting held on 10 October 2013 were noted.

The non-public minutes of the Hospitality Working Party meeting held on 17 October 2013 were noted.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and noted a report of the City Surveyor updating it on the disposal arrangements for 2 Fann Street EC2.

There were no questions.

New Body to Promote the Financial Technology Sector

The Committee considered and agreed a report of the Director of Economic Development concerning the creation of a new body to promote and support the financial technology sector.