Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed Simi Shah who presented on Finance for Growth: A Roadmap.

The Committee were informed that this project was intended to document the future vision for the UK’s Financial and Professional Services sector. It was recognised that there were a number of reports and reviews that had preceded this and that this was intended to build upon as opposed to replicate these. It was highlighted that this was a sector-led initiative and not explicitly endorsed by government although they were welcoming of the ideas coming out of it. This was inclusive of the entire UK, reflective of best practice and innovation across the world and built upon existing insight. Ms Shah commented that it was very important that this was part of a wider narrative around how the sector supports the economy across the UK. Finally, it was underlined that it was important to ensure that this was grounded in evidence and that there was an economical case for any suggestions made.

The focus of the report would be ‘big moves’ and big, clear, costed, tangible mechanisms to support big outcomes by 2030. The Committee were informed that there had been wide sectoral engagement around this which was already underway and would continue for the next few months. In terms of governance, the project had been presented to the Policy and Resources Committee in December 2022 and would come back in June 2023 before progressing to the Court of Common Council in July. It was reported that the project was jointly chaired by the Lord Mayor and the Policy Chair and was being championed via many avenues such as the Competitiveness Advisory Board. A Senior Advisory Group (also chaired by the Lord Mayor and Policy Chair) had also been set up and would allow for some critical challenge.

Ms Shah concluded by asking Aldermen to contact her with any thoughts they might have as to content or engagement.

The Chairman thanked Ms Shah for her presentation and invited questions from the floor.

An Alderman queried engagement with the trade associations. Officers confirmed that there had been early engagement with the trade associations and that they were all represented in some way on the Senior Advisory Group whether via City Number 1 or the Competitiveness Advisory Board. The Committee were informed that the intended launch date for this was September which would be followed by many months of further engagement and hopefully help form the policy and promotional programme of future Lord Mayor’s and Policy Chairs over the next decade.

An Alderman questioned how individual organisations might also get involved in the project. Officers encouraged those who might know of individuals who would like to be involved to contact them on the dedicated email address provided so that they could make contact with them in good time.

Another Alderman questioned what the City were actively doing to engage with political parties as to the formulation of policy as we moved towards a general election. Officers reported that they had spoken to all three main political parties on this work. It was felt that if the correct big moves were presented and economically sound with a narrative as to how they would help the entire economy, they would be supported by all.

An Alderman queried how this linked with the current Lord Mayor’s programme. He also questioned how success would be measured and at what stage. In terms of measuring success, it was reported that KPIs would be tied to the big moves – these would be longer-term in nature. In terms of ‘initiative overload’ it was hoped that this would be a longer-term, overarching project which could lessen this and focus on bigger moves. In terms of linkage with the current Lord Mayor’s agenda and the continuum here, the Lord Mayor commented that his theme of ‘Financing our Future’ was designed to be something that put in place a number of initiatives that would be far-reaching. Industry had been pushing to look at where London would sit as a global financial future in the next decade but the same question was also being posed internationally. Future Lord Mayors were therefore going to have to be able to answer this question and the thinking here was to provide a framework in which they could work and explain what the initiatives were and how they fit together in this respect.  The Lord Mayor concluded by saying that this would launch in September and would coincide with party conference season which would present an opportunity to speak with all parties on it further.

An Alderman spoke on the challenges and opportunities presented by this and commented that one of the challenges would be around the medium-term vision and the framework that this would present alongside the City’s ability to be nimble and respond to circumstances and opportunities that might arise. He went on to comment on the wealth of initiatives underway at the moment and the importance of ensuring that this framework was used as an additional platform for amplifying these within the context of the medium-term strategy.

An Alderman commented that the University of Coventry had a branch in the Ward of Bishopsgate and encouraged Officers to reach out to contacts here on this work. He went on to question to what extent local impact of this would extend to the City’s surrounding boroughs. He also asked how the Court of Aldermen could best support this work. Officers reported that they had offered presentations on this work to all UK Universities and would therefore be very happy to reach out further to the University of Coventry. In terms of local impact/engagement, it was reported that further consideration needed to be given as to how the City would discuss this work with other boroughs as no direct engagement had taken place to date. In terms of support from the Court of Aldermen, Officers encouraged all to flag the dedicated email address and series of presentations to all in their respective Wards.

An Alderman commented that much work had already been done in this broad area including the Kalifa Review. He went on to comment that Financial and Professional Services was a significant, UK-wide industry and therefore questioned how engagement would be undertaken with the various regional hubs. Finally, he questioned how the City were getting a sense of where the real need for capital was, noting that much funding was going into infrastructure at present. Officers highlighted that there was a KPI dedicated to ensuring that there was appropriate regional representations at all sessions and also underlined a forthcoming event with the University of Leeds to be held at their Innovation Centre and to which the local regional development body, academics and local industry representatives would be invited. A further session would also be held with Scottish Enterprise. In terms of previous reviews of this type, Officers reported that the authors of these such as Mark Austin and Sir Ron Kalifa had agreed to speak with them on this project which was very much about extending some of the arguments already presented by them some years ago now. In response to the final query, Officers reported that sessions were planned on infrastructure and the digital/data side of things but stated that they would be very open to further discussions around this.

An Alderman commented that the international promotion of this work seemed key to moving things forward and questioned what the UK Development Agency were seeking to do in this vein. Officers highlighted that this was one of the ‘big moves’ that had gained traction very early on both internally and with external stakeholders. It was reported that other jurisdictions were professionalising their promotional efforts and there was now an opportunity for the UK to do similar.

Another Alderman questioned whether the City were working alongside larger organisations such as the British Chamber of Commerce on this work. Officers confirmed that they were in touch with the British Chamber of Commerce and had offered a session on the project to them but were yet to secure a date in the diary for this. The Alderman commented that he would be very happy to facilitate introductions to help progress this.

The Chairman thanked Officers for their very informative presentation and, again, encouraged all to feed in any additional views directly to Simi Shah.