Agenda and minutes

Apologies have been received from the Rt Hon. The Lord Mayor, the Chief Commoner, Munsur Ali, Jason Groves, Florence Keelson-Anfu, and Deputy Andrien Meyers.

Deputy Emily Benn, Deputy Benjamin Murphy and Irem Yerdelen observed the meeting virtually.

There were no additional declarations.

A Member asked that the minutes should be amended at item 21 to include 2019 as the year of the Policy and Resources Committee’s decision on using gender neutral terminology.

RESOLVED, that – the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 8 May 2025 be approved as a correct record, as amended.

The summary of the Competitiveness Advisory Board meeting held on 3 April 2025 were noted.

To consider Resolutions from the Wards of Aldersgate, Bishopsgate, Cripplegate and Dowgate.

Members received the resolutions from the Annual Wardmotes of Wards of Aldersgate, Bishopsgate, Cripplegate and Dowgate concerning Ward newsletters and the Speak for the City Campaign.

The Chairman asked officers to provide a response to the resolutions. Beginning with those resolutions on the topic of ward newsletters, officers acknowledged the importance of regular communication with City residents and workers and provided an update on the work done in this area, including on the City Belonging Project, the quarterly ‘City Living’ newsletter for residents and the inclusion of ward-based communications in the City Corporation’s new Corporate CRM. Officers undertook to return with a full report on the subject of reintroducing Ward newsletters.

With regards to the resolutions on the election engagement campaign, officers said that this had been run on similar lines to that before the 2022 election. The 2025-2026 Ward List had received its highest level. There had been no change in the number of candidates standing, though the number of contested Wards was fewer than in 2022. Officers would be bringing a report back to the Committee following a full and formal evaluation of the campaign.

The Chairman noted that there would be a number of views on these topics but said that to enable a more informed debate, he would wait until the mentioned reports were on the agenda; he suggested that the report on Ward Newsletters should first be referred to the Communications and Corporate Affairs Sub-Committee, with any recommendations from that body returning to the parent Committee. The report on the election engagement campaign would be presented directly to the Policy & Resources Committee.

In reply to a question from a Member, the Deputy Town Clerk set out the processes by which the Committee’s deliberations on the Wardmote resolutions could be reported back to the Wards.

Town Clerk to be heard.

The Town Clerk informed the Committee of the names of those Members who had submitted expressions of interest for the outstanding appointments to be made to various committees and sub-committees.

There were no contests for any position. As no Members had nominated themselves for the position on the Audit and Risk Management Committee, this position was held over to the next meeting.

RESOLVED, that – the following appointments be made:

·           Member Development and Standards Sub Committee - Deputy Jaspreet Hodgson

·           Investment Committee - Deputy Peter Dunphy

Report of the Chamberlain.

Members considered a report of the Chamberlain concerning appointments to the Income Generation Working Party.

RESOLVED, that - the Committee endorses the appointment of the following Members to the Working Party for Income Generation:

·           Deputy Tim Butcher

·           Jason Groves

·           Alderman Tim Hailes

·           Stephen Hodgson

·           Shravan Joshi

·           Deputy Ben Murphy

·           Deputy Dawn Wright

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning Lead Members.

A Member asked for further information on the reconstitution of the Sports Sounding Board in the Appendix to the Report. They also asked if the City Corporation should review its Ticket Allocation Policy.

In reply, the Chairman said that a revised Ticket Allocation Policy had been agreed at the Communications & Corporate Affairs Sub-Committee meeting on 29 May 2025, and asked for this to be shared. The Chairman also said he believed that all Members of the Court were eligible to serve on the Sports Sounding Board

RESOLVED, that - the Committee endorses the following:

·           Alderman Alison Gowman is appointed Lead Member for Climate Action

·           Sushil Saluja is appointed Lead Member for Innovation and Technology

·           Jacqui Webster is appointed Lead Member for Resident Engagement

·           Shravan Joshi is appointed Lead Member for SMEs

·           Edward Lord is appointed Lead Member for Sport

·           Irem Yerdelen is appointed Lead Member for Sustainable Finance

and notes the changes to proposed delegations to CFIT and Innovate Finance.

Report of the Executive Director, Innovation & Growth.

Members received a report of the Executive Director of Innovation and Growth concerning the Competitiveness Advisory Board.

The Chairman thanked Dominic Christian, Shravan Joshi, Dame Sue Langley and Sir Nicholas Lyons for their service on the Competitiveness Advisory Board.

RESOLVED, that – Members agree the process to appoint new internal members to the Competitiveness Advisory Board.

Report of the City Surveyor.

Members considered a report of the Executive Director, Environment concerning the development of a Complementary Land Policy and Use Appraisal.

In her introduction, the Executive Director, Environment noted that ‘complementary land’ referred to assets supporting charity operations, with ‘buffer land’ relevant to Epping Forest only. The report set out a proposed approach to developing an overarching Complementary Land Policy and Complementary Land Use Appraisal to ensure a consistent approach to management and divestment, with discreet sub-polices/frameworks for specific lands included under this. The Executive Director acknowledged the wide range of stakeholders with an interest in this work and set out how they would be included in the consultation process. This included not only the formal engagement of relevant committees, but also informal engagement throughout the process with the Chairs and Deputy Chairs of the Policy and Resources Committee and the Chairs and Deputy Chairs of the various Natural Environment charity committees. She also provided assurance that the Assistant Town Clerk was included on the Task and Finish Group to advise on governance issues. Due to the complexity of the engagement and work required, she advised that the timetable would need to be revised and that the final proposals would likely be ready for submission to committees no earlier than December 2025.

The Executive Director also noted that an email from Chair of the Epping Forest Heritage Trust had been sent to all Members of the Committee. She informed Members that the Trust’s concerns had already been addressed at the Epping Forest and Commons Committee, and that the Chair of that Committee and officers had engaged with the Trust.

The Chairman and Members supported the report and the need to review the timetable for the presentation of the final report.

RESOLVED, that – Members approve the proposed Terms of Reference for:

Report of the Executive Director, Environment.

Members received a report of the Executive Director, Environment, concerning the SME Strategy.

RESOLVED, that – the report be received and its contents noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

Members received a report of the Chamberlain concerning the Committees funds.

RESOLVED, that – the report be received and its contents noted.

A Member asked…A Member, noting the passage of time since the Committee’s 2019 decision on gender-neutral nomenclature, asked if the Chairman agreed that all Members should be consulted on the change in wording of ‘Councilman’ to ‘Councillors’ on Ward Noticeboards, and that changes to Ward Noticeboards should require a majority of Members in any given ward, before changing the public declaration of who is and is not a Common Councilman.

The Chairman asked the Comptroller and City Solicitor to provide further information. The City Solicitor, noting elements of his answer would need to be provided in the non-public session, said that he did not think the agreed policy should be revised on the back of a question. The Chairman agreed that he would not want to change or reverse policies just because some Members did not like them; he also did not think that each Ward should have the discretion to set its own policy.

The Member asking the original question acknowledged that a policy had been agreed, but said there had since been significant membership changes. The Chairman asked officers why the Noticeboards had not been changed once the policy had been agreed. The Deputy Town Clerk replied to confirm that a decision had been taken in 2019 to use gender-neutral language on City Corporation communications, which had been implemented across a wide range of material. The scheduled all-out elections in 2021 had been postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic; while the Deputy Town Clerk could not say why the Noticeboards hadn’t been updated to reflect the policy after the 2022 election, he said it may have been missed due to several staffing changes in the Elections Office.

A Member asked whether the City Corporation should consider the necessity for Ward Noticeboards at all, as there were

There was no other business.

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 or relate to functions which are not subject to the provisions of Part VA and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED, that 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 or relate to functions of the Court of Common Council which are not subject to the provisions of Part VA and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2025.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2025 were approved as a correct record.

Joint Report of the Head of the City of London School and the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

Members received a joint report of the Head of the City of London School and the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls concerning proposals for international expansion.

Report of the City Surveyor.

Members considered a report of the City Surveyor concerning governance arrangements for the management of Leadenhall Market.

Report of the City Surveyor.

Members considered a report of the City Surveyor concerning heat networks in the Square Mile.

Report of the Remembrancer.

Members considered a report of the Remembrancer concerning the Guildhall.

Report of the Chamberlain.

Members received a report of the Chamberlain concerning major projects.

Officers provided further information regarding Ward noticeboards.

There was no other business.

To approve the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2025.

The confidential minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2025 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Director, Innovation and Growth.

Members considered a report of the Executive Director of Innovation and Growth concerning decisions required under the Member-led recruitment procedure.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members received a report of the Town Clerk concerning action taken between meetings.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Deputy Town Clerk concerning the City of London Police.