Agenda item

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 29.

Ahead of the election of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, the Town Clerk reminded Members of recently approved Standing Orders 29.4 and 30.5, whereby any Member interested in standing for the positions of Chairman or Deputy Chairman is asked to inform the Town Clerk by no later than one full working day ahead of the meeting.   The Town Clerk confirmed that the positions of Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee were uncontested.  

RESOLVED, that – being the only Member expressing a willingness to serve, Deputy Henry Colthurst be elected as Chairman of the Finance Committee for 2023/24.

The Chair thanked Members for their encouragement and assistance over the past year and set out his objectives in terms of further increasing all elected Members’ understanding of the position facing City Fund and City Cash, to enable the City of London Corporation to face the challenges of the future, and address them with a sustainable, long term financial strategy.   With this in mind, the Chairman set out the following areas of focus for 2023/24:

1.         Facilitate the introduction of third party investors into major capital projects.

2.         Establish an appropriate mechanism  to support long term maintenance and repairs of operational property assets, in conjunction with an incentive programme to dispose of redundant property assets.

3.         Look forensically at discretionary spend, in order to ensure value for money is achieved.

4.         Consider further ways to simplify financial reporting and enhance levels of delegated authority, in order to improve both operational efficiency and financial understanding.

The Chair then welcomed new Members; Aaron D’Souza, Luis Tilleria, Ben Murphy, Michael Hudson and Brendan Barns and thanked retiring Members

Munsur Ali, Chief Commoner Ann Holmes, Wendy Hyde, Alderwoman Susan Langley and Deputy Nighat Qureishi.