Agenda item

Report of the Managing Director of Bridge House Estates (BHE)

To be considered in conjunction with the non-public appendix at Item 24.

The Board considered a report of the Managing Director of BHE providing an update on key areas of activity across the whole charity since the Board last met in February 2022 and outlining upcoming activities for the Board to note. The Managing Director of BHE introduced the report, welcoming new Members to the Board, before advising the BHE Leadership Team was now established (although noted that the Chief Funding Director has yet to be recruited).

Communications Updates

The Managing Director of BHE advised that branding work was mostly complete, with more complicated work on the primary object ongoing, and further work to be done on the charity’s Vision and Mission.

Tower Bridge

In response to a question from a Member regarding the recent Extinction Rebellion demonstrations, the Director of Tower Bridge set out the standing security arrangements at Tower Bridge and advised that the recent protest had been well-organised and was quickly implemented. However, the disruption had been caught early and bridge closed quickly before staff worked with the City of London Police to clear the protest. The Chair commented that the provision of security at Tower Bridge was impressive and that he felt the incident had been handled very well, adding that it would be unrealistic to expect every possible incident to be prevented given Tower Bridge would always be a target for such incidents.

Millennium Bridge

The Executive Director of Environment advised that the Millennium Bridge was due to be repainted in the next eight years, with the need for tensioning and work on the decking system being monitored. Some remedial works had also been undertaken on the bridge in recent years. The Executive Director of Environment added that maintenance of the bridge required it to be closed, which was a challenge.

Member Training

In response to a question from a Member, the Managing Director of BHE advised that a training session for new Members would be scheduled during May, and that the recordings of previous session were available to view. A training session on the City Bridge Trust application and assessment process would also be scheduled.

The Chair then thanked Members and officers for their comments and updates, before drawing the Board’s attention to the recommendations, asking that information on the request for volunteers to support with a detailed review of the charity’s Risk Register be circulated after the meeting.

RESOLVED – That the Bridge House Estates Board, in the discharge of functions for the City Corporation as Trustee of Bridge House Estates (charity no. 1035628) and solely in the charity’s best interests:

i)     Endorse to the Court of Common Council, upon the recommendation of the Grants Committee of the BHE Board, the proposal to re-commit to the overarching vision and mission of the Bridging Divides funding strategy and extend the funding strategy for a further five years from 2023 to 2028 (with the Charity Commission being formally notified, subject to Court of Common Council approval); and

ii)    Note the further contents of the report.