Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Deputy Town Clerk on the review of the City of London Corporation’s grants portfolio. The Chairman noted that the Board was being asked to consider its potential role, alongside the Community and Children’s Services Committee, in governing the Combined Education Charity and City Educational Trust Fund.

A member noted that in his experience the grant making of both funds tended to have a social aspect as well as an educational one. Overall members felt that the most appropriate governance structure now that the City had an education strategy and Board would be for these charities to be governed by a joint subcommittee of two members from each of the Education Board and Community and Children’s Services Committee. Members welcomed the opportunity to review the most appropriate governance arrangements in conjunction with the Community and Children’s Services Committee.

Members then discussed City Corporation funding for King Edward’s School Witley (KESW) and Christ’s Hospital, noting that funding for was drawn from the Finance Grants Sub Committee City’s Cash. Members queried what would happen to City Corporation funding for these schools once the recommendations of the grants review were implemented. Unless an alternative source of funding was identified it was suggested that an allocation should be made for them from the funds currently carrying the cost before these funds were allocated to another grant-making theme.   Members noted this proposal would require a resolution to the Policy and Resources Committee, which would be responsible for reviewing the overall level of funding made available to educational support by the City Corporation. The Education Board agreed with the Chairman’s suggestion that it should be involved early in the decision-making process when the funding-term for both KESW and Christ’s Hospital next came up for renewal.

RESOLVED, that

·         The report on the cross-cutting review of grant giving activities of the City Corporation be welcomed, and

·         The Community and Children’s Services Committee be asked to consider the most appropriate means of joint governance, with the Education Board, of the Combined Education Charity and City Educational Trust Fund.

·         The Policy and Resources Committee be asked to clarify where funding for King Edward’s School Witley and Christ’s Hospital would be provided from before funds were fully allocated to any other proposed future grants programmes for current Finance Grants Sub Committee funds without provision for these grants.