Agenda item

To receive a progress report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee considered the regular progress report and events update of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Chief Grants Officer informed Members that the aim was to commit remaining funds for the year as fully as possible.

At the request of the Chief Grants Officer, Members agreed the new name of the new grants programmes as ‘Investing in Londoners’, which had been recommended by Officers and PRO.

The Deputy Chairman advised that a list of monitoring visits had been sent to Members but only a few responses had been received. He remarked that it was important for Members to gain an understanding of the Trust through these monitoring visits and encouraged responses.

Members discussed the frequency of notifications of monitoring visits and it was agreed that, in future, Members would receive notice of monitoring visits quarterly rather than annually.

The Deputy Chairman queried as to whether or not the process of distributing Trust media clippings to Members could be improved upon. PRO undertook to investigate if links of recent media clippings could be brought together as a PDF incorporating articles of links distributed to Members, in addition to their inclusion in the City of London Corporation morning media clippings.

In response to the information about how the Trust assesses the cost of generating funds, the Deputy Chairman asked whether a standout metric could be used. The Chief Grants Officer advised that questions are tailored to each applicant and raised at the outset of each grant application process.

A Member remarked that would be beneficial for the Trust to work with the Corporation’s Secondary of London on the possibility of future collaboration noted in the report.

Members and Officers discussed the City Philanthropy Exhibition and that Livery Companies with the greatest charitable activities should be prioritised for invitations. In light of this, a Member recommended that Livery Company Charity Managers should also be considered.

In regards to the conference with Barrow Cadbury Trust, LankellyChase Foundation and New Economics Foundation, hosted by CBT, Members and Officers said it was important to have a clear plan going forward of  the benefit and objectives of hosting these events and their profile.

RESOLVED – That,

a)         the report be received and its contents noted; and

b)         the new grants programmes be given the over-arching title of ‘Investing  in Londoners’.