Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Town Clerk

This item was originally item 24 in the Confidential agenda pack, but was moved up the agenda and considered in public session.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk concerning the provision of dedicated PA/executive support for Committee Chairman.

The Committee heard that currently, only the Chief Commoner and the Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee were in receipt of dedicated administrative (PA) and executive support which was provided centrally by the Town Clerk’s Department. However there had been some informal discussion at a recent meeting of Members of the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee and a Chairman’s briefing session regarding whether this should be extended to include the Chairmen of other Committees, in particular the Chairmen of the Planning and Transportation, Police, Establishment and Finance Committees.

The Town Clerk reported that additionally, whilst the Mayoralty and Shrievalty received a dedicated speechwriting service, no such facility was available to the Chairman of Policy & Resources or the Chief Commoner, and there was a clear need for specialist full-time support in this area.

The Deputy Chairman expressed his support for the proposals and suggested that some support might also be made available to the Chairmen of other major committees such as Port Heath & Environmental Services and Community and Children’s Services, as well as the Deputy Chairmen of key Committees. He further suggested that occasional access to a speechwriter should be made available to those Chairmen who had to make set-piece external speeches.

The Town Clerk advised that a further report on the more substantive elements of the proposals, together with the review of Committee and Members Services would be submitted to a future meeting.

RESOLVED - That

a)    A dedicated PA/executive support should be provided centrally to City of London Corporation Committee Chairmen, principally for the Chairmen of the Planning and Transportation, Police, Establishment and Finance Committees, the Deputy Chairmen of those committees and the Deputy Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Policy & Resources Committee;

b)  A dedicated speechwriting service should be provided for the Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee and the Chief Commoner, as well as other senior Chairmen who make set-piece external speeches;

c)  Subject to a) and b) above, the Finance Committee’s approval be sought to increasing the Town Clerk’s local risk budget by £170,000 each year from contingencies to cover the cost of the posts necessary to provide the services and to help strengthen resilience within the Committee and Member Services team, in advance of a review of the structure of the team; and

d)    Officers review this arrangement to see if it might be extended to the Chairmen of other major Committees in due course.