Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Nick Bensted-Smith, Tijs Broeke, The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor Alderman Peter Estlin, Anne Fairweather, Alderman Ian Luder, Andrew McMurtrie, Wendy Mead,  Alderman William Russell, Jeremy Simons, Mark Wheatley, and Alderman Sir David Wootton.

The Chair declared an interest in Item 8 as a Trustee of the Centre for London. The Deputy Chairman would take the chair for consideration of that item.

Graham Packham and Jeremy Mayhew declared an interest in Item 6 as Trustees of the Crossrail Arts Foundation.

To consider minutes as follows:-

The public minutes of the meeting held on 2 May 2019 were approved, subject to it being noted that Deputy Joyce Nash had been present.

The draft public minutes of the meeting of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee held on 2 May 2019 were noted.

The draft public minutes of the meeting of the Projects Sub-Committee held on 24 April 2019 were noted.

The draft public minutes of the meeting of the Public Relations and Economic Development Sub-Committee held on 7 May 2019 were noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk proposing an independent review into the City’s education grant funding activities and the establishment of a joint Education Board and Policy and Resources Committee Working Party, to assist with the work of the review and report back recommendations.

The Committee agreed that the composition of the Working Party should be altered to include the Chair of the City of London Academies Trust (ex-officio) and a representative of the Finance Committee.

Randall Anderson and Alderman Tim Hailes both expressed an interest in respect of the two vacancies to be filled to by the Policy and Resources Committee and were appointed accordingly.

It was asked that clarity be provided in respect of reference to the City Corporation’s “family of schools” and which institutions were included in this descriptor. Members noted it would be important to adopt a clear and consistent approach in respect of this terminology.

RESOLVED: That:-

1.      The scope of the independent review of City Education Grant Funding be approved.

2.      The composition and terms of reference of the City Education Grant Funding Joint Working Party be approved as set out in appendix 1, subject to the inclusion of a representative of the Finance Committee and the Chair of the City of London Academies Trust (ex-officio).

3.      Alderman Tim Hailes and Randall Anderson be appointed to the Working Party.

4.      Authority be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of both the Education Board and Policy & Resources Committee to make any further changes that may be necessary to the terms of reference or composition of the Working Party.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which presented proposed changes to the Education Board’s terms of reference.

Some concern was expressed that the proposed wording at paragraph 4(J) in the terms of reference still left some scope for confusion in respect of the relative remits of the Education Board and Policy & Resources Committee. It was subsequently suggested that this be amended to read “assisting the Policy & Resources Committee and the Economic Development Office in their oversight of the City of London Corporation’s promotion of skills training and education-business link activities.”

Discussing the proposed amendment, Members raised further queries in respect of social mobility and cultural learning, expressing a lack of clarity as to the Education Board’s role in these areas and the roles of the other relevant committees. Officers were asked to revisit the terms of reference with a view to providing clarity on these items, prior to resubmission.

RESOLVED: That officers be asked to revisit the terms of reference in line with comments made and re-submit them for consideration in due course.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning future funding of the maintenance of two artworks in the public realm at Liverpool Street station that were part of the Crossrail Art Programme.

Members expressed concerns in respect of the figures presented, querying the accuracy of the maintenance costs and the level of testing this forecast had undergone. It was suggested that it might have been advisable for another committee to scrutinise these costs prior to consideration by Policy & Resources. The Committee also expressed its disappointment that the City Corporation was being left in the position of having to take on a further unanticipated financial commitment or see the artwork cancelled, despite having committed significant funding already. The timing was particularly unfortunate given the ongoing Fundamental Review process. In response to several comments, the Director of Major Projects reassured Members in relation to the significant activity that had gone into testing and seeking to minimise these costs. The Director of Communications outlined the strong link to the Corporate Plan and Members noted that the artwork in question had been produced by a renowned female sculptor, thereby providing an additional link to the Corporation’s policies associated with increased celebration of women in its public art and the sculpture in the City programme.

RESOLVED: That Members:-

1.       Agee to enter into agreements with the Conrad Shawcross Studio Ltd., Kusama Enterprises, British Land, Land Securities (and any other party) as necessary for the successful fabrication and installation of the two artworks.

2.       Note that a sum for fabrication and installation will be transferred by the Charity to the City of London Corporation as highway and local authority to meet the costs of the two fixed price artist contracts.

3.       Note that Crossrail Limited have advised the City of London Corporation that a

Report of the Director of Communications.

The Director of Communications withdrew from discussion during consideration of this item.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Communications proposing sponsorship of the Institute for Public Policy Research’s (IPPR) Environmental Justice Commission (EJC).

A Member observed that Commissioners were listed from just three political parties at present, querying the exclusion of others, such as the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats. The Chair agreed to raise this with the IPPR.

The Committee supported the Chair’s intention to serve as the City Corporation’s Commissioner for this activity whilst actively engaging other interested Members to participate in this work.

RESOLVED: That Members approve the allocation of £40,000 from the Committee’s Policy Initiatives Fund, categorised under ‘Promoting the City’ and charged to ‘City’s Cash’, to sponsor the first year (2019/20) of the IPPR’s Environmental Justice Commission (EJC).

Report of the Director of Communications.

Simon Duckworth took the chair for consideration of this item.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Communications proposing sponsorship of the Centre for London’s  2019 London Conference.

RESOLVED: That Members agree to sponsor the Centre for London’s 2019 London Conference at a cost of £25,000, to be met from the 2019/20 Policy Initiatives Fund, categorised under ‘Events’ and charged to City’s Cash.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Markets & Consumer Protection which sought approval to explore, with other local authorities, the potential for working together in partnership to pilot a Primary Authority ‘Hub’ delivery model.

RESOLVED: That Members:-

1.    Endorse the approach taken by the Port Health & Public Protection Division to-date.

2.    Authorise the Interim Director of Consumer Protection & Markets Operations to seek partnership relationships with other willing local authorities to set up and pilot a Primary Authority “Hub” delivery model as described in the report, in order to test its efficacy for the future.

3.    Note that an outcomes report would be submitted following the pilot.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered a report of the City Surveyor which sought funding to progress the work of the Housing Delivery Programme Working Group.

RESOLVED: That Members:-

1.    Approve the use of £45,000  from the 2019/20 Policy and Resources City’s Cash Project Contingency Fund to fund the external opportunity search and analysis for the Housing Delivery Programme Working Group.

2.    Note that, should viable opportunities be identified, further funding to take these forward will be requested separately.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment regarding the Museum of London Public Realm Project.

RESOLVED: That Members:-

1.     Note the proposed widened scope of the scheme and agree that it be allowed to progress outside of the Fundamental Review;

2.     Approve additional budget of £625,000 required to progress the project to the next Gateway; of which £80,000 is to be met from existing provisions within the Markets Consolidation Budgets and the remaining £545,000 from the eligible sources for this project of CIL or OSPR.

3.     Note the Capital Funding Review process via Resource Allocation Sub Committee had approved central funding for the key project dependency elements of this project.

4.     Approve the increase in the scope of the project to reflect the proposals within the Transportation Strategy, the planned implementation of Culture Mile and the development of the Markets Consolidation Programme.

5.     Approve the change of the project name from Museum of London Public Realm to West Smithfield Area Public Realm and Transportation project.

6.     Note the revised project budget of £715,000; and note the total estimated project cost of £12m which is subject to the identification of funding.

Joint report of the City Surveyor and the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee considered a joint report of the City Surveyor and the Director of the Built Environment which outlined activities at MIPIM (le marché international des professionnels de l’immobilier) in 2019 and sought funding in relation to attendance at MIPIM 2020.

In response to questions concerning the cost of the event, the City Surveyor provided a breakdown of expenditure, a large proportion of which was associated with the transport and entry cost for the City’s model. He reassured Members that robust scrutiny was given to each element of spend every year to ensure costs were appropriate and minimised where possible. Members noted the particular importance of promoting London in the current climate and observed that the number of attendees and associated costs had been reduced in recent years.

RESOLVED: That approval be given to the City of London Corporation attending MIPIM 2020 with a total budget of £92,000, to be funded via the Central Communications Director budget (£5,000), Planning & Transportation Committee

budget (£11,250), the Property Investment Board (£21,750), and from the CPAT

budget (£54,000).

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain updating on projects and activities that had received Policy Initiatives Funding and funding from the Committee’s contingency or Brexit contingency funds.

RESOLVED: That approval be granted to a transfer of £61,865 from the 2019/20 Committee Contingency to 2019/20 PIF to cover multi-year expenditure.

There were no questions.

There was one urgent item:

Employee Assistance Programme For Members

The Committee considered a resolution from the meeting of the Members’ Privileges Sub-Committee held on 3 June 2019, together with a joint report of the Director of Human Resources and the Town Clerk, concerning the extension of the Employee Assistance Programme to encompass Members.

RESOLVED: That the proposal for Members be added to the existing Employee Assistance Programme, provided by Health Assured, be approved.

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 100A(4) 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.

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

The non-public minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 2 May 2019 were approved.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee held on 2 May 2019 were noted.

The draft public minutes of the meeting of the Projects Sub-Committee held on 24 April 2019 were noted.

The draft non-public minutes of the meeting of the Hospitality Working Party held on 30 April 2019 were noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Town Clerk concerning the development of an investment strategy for Bridge House Estates.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Chief Grants Officer & Director of The City Bridge Trust which provided an update on the Bridge House Estates strategic governance review.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and City Surveyor.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the City Surveyor concerning the Markets Consolidation Programme (MCP).

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor which sought amendments to the Scheme of Delegations and Projects Procedure in relation to property matters.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor concerning a review of Members’ Accommodation.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Director of Community & Children’s Services concerning the Islington Arts Factory.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Director of the Built Environment which provided an update on the Last Mile Logistics project.

There were three questions; one concerning an investigation being undertaken in relation to the City Corporation’s Standards Regime; one concerning the legal position in respect of attendance at meetings; and one concerning a forthcoming event involving the provision of hospitality.

There were four urgent items. Two concerned proposed Memorandums of Understanding; one concerned Borrowing Arrangements for the City Corporation; and one concerned the annual committee dinner.  

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the City Surveyor concerning Smithfield General Market.