Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Keith Bottomley, Sheriff Christopher Hayward, Shravan Joshi and Alderman Sir David Wootton.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on Tuesday 2 March 2021.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 2 March 2021 be agreed as a correct record.

Report of the Chamberlain

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain seeking approval to the reallocation of funding between schemes to address unexpected shortfalls, and to the release of funding post gateway approvals to allow schemes to progress. The Chamberlain introduced the report and outlined the proposals recommended.

RESOLVED – That the Resource Allocation Sub Committee:

(i)            Reallocate £1.137m to provide top-up funding for two schemes - applying the ‘one-in, one-out’ approach – as summarised in Table 1 of the report;

(ii)           Review the schemes summarised in Table 2 of the report and, particularly in the context of the current financial climate and confirm their continued essential priority for release of funding at this time;

(iii)          Agree the release of up to £3.198m for the schemes in Table 2 from the reserves of City Fund, City’s Cash and Bridge House Estates as appropriate, subject to the required Gateway approvals;

(iv)          Agree the release of £135,000 of revenue funding to cover maintenance of the new Secure City systems over the interim programme delivery period, to be met from existing revenue provisions; and

(v)           Note that in order to maintain sound financial discipline a review of unallocated central project funding provisions will be brought to Members in Spring 2021.

Report of the Chief Grants Officer and Director of City Bridge Trust (CGO)

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Chief Grants Officer and City Bridge Trust (CGO) regarding applications to the Community Infrastructure Levy Neighbourhood Fund (CILNF).

RESOLVED – That the Resource Allocation Sub Committee:

1.    Note the approved and rejected grants under delegated authority at a meeting of the CILNF Officer Panel in February 2021; and

2.    Approve the grant recommended to the Bevis Marks Synagogue Heritage Foundation at a meeting of the CILNF Officer Panel in February 2021, as set out in the report.

The Chair advised that the Sub Committee was reaching the end of a series of additional meetings, and would soon be reverting to a more familiar programme. The Chair then sought Members’ views on a preferred timetable and frequency of meetings, noting that previously, meetings had been scheduled shortly before meetings of the Policy & Resources Committee. The Town Clerk added that Members had reported difficulties with this arrangement in the virtual meetings format.

Members commented that a more intensive programme may be necessary until the conclusion of the Governance Review, and the frequency of meetings could be reviewed again at that point. Members also felt that scheduling meetings further from Policy & Resources Committee meetings had been beneficial. A Member stressed that going forward, hybrid meetings would be important for participation. Another Member commented that it would be beneficial if a regular date was identified for meetings to maintain a structured committee cycle.

The Deputy Chairman commented that the recent work of the Sub Committee had demonstrated the importance of a collaborative relationship between the Policy & Resources and Finance Committees, and expressed his hope that this would continue. The Chair agreed and thanked Members and officers for their contributions to the work of the Sub Committee during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Chair then thanked Members for their comments and advised that this would be taken forward with the Town Clerk.

There was no other business.

The Chair then thanked any Members of the public watching via YouTube for their attendance.

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 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Part 2 – Non-Public Agenda

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.

Item No.                                                                    Paragraph No.

9 - 10                                                                                      3

11 - 12                                                                                      -

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 2 March 2021.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2021 be agreed as a correct record.

Report of the Headmaster, City of London Freemen’s School

The Sub Committee considered a report of the Headmaster of the City of London Freemen’s School.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.