The Policy and Resources Committee met to discuss a number of items, including changes to the Scheme of Delegations, an investment governance update, the appointment of additional members to the Competitiveness Advisory Board, a proposal for Faith in the City, and a rough sleeping prevention and recovery grant delivery proposal. The committee approved the recommendations for Faith in the City, the North East London Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant Delivery Proposal, and the changes to the Scheme of Delegations.

Faith in the City

The committee endorsed the adoption of Faith in the City as an official project of the City of London Corporation, with the vision to to make the City of London the most faith friendly and religiously literate business community in the world, enabling it to attract and retain the very best global talent . The committee also agreed to establish a Faith in the City Advisory Group to facilitate delivery, with membership drawn from elected members, officers, faith leaders, business representatives and civil society. City Corporation officers will provide support for the pilot phase of this project, using the organisation's convening power to secure funding and develop a longer-term vision for faith facilities and services.

The proposals followed research undertaken by Union Street Consulting, in which more than 1,000 individuals participated. The research highlighted that 87% of Muslim and 72% of Dharmic¹ City commuters described religion as very important to their daily life. However, while 52% of commuters of faith felt part of a faith community where they lived, only 10% felt this in the City. The proposals aim to address this gap by creating a more supportive environment for people of all faiths in the Square Mile.

North East London Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant Delivery Proposal

The committee approved a proposal for the City of London to act as the lead authority, commissioning body and administrator for the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant (RSPARG) on behalf of the North East London (NEL) sub-region. The proposal covers an initial period of the financial year 2025/26, with the possibility of an extended period pending confirmation of further grant funding for 2026/27 and beyond.

The RSPARG grant funding is provided to individual local authorities and sub-regions through a ring-fenced section 31 grant². The funding should be used to provide vital single homelessness and rough sleeping services, to support individuals sleeping rough, at risk of sleeping rough, or at risk of returning to rough sleeping. The proposal sets out the new governance and oversight arrangements required to safely deliver the 2025/26 grant on behalf of the seven NEL local authorities, plus the City of London.

Scheme of Delegations – Managing Director of City Bridge Foundation

The committee agreed proposed amendments to the Overall Delegations to Officers and Managing Director of City Bridge Foundation (CBF) sections of the Scheme of Delegations for recommendation to the Court of Common Council for approval. They also agreed to delegate authority to the Town Clerk, Ian Thomas CBE, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chair of the Policy & Resources Committee, to agree any consequential amendments to the entries in respect of other Chief Officers, where these are required to give effect to the proposed amendments and/or impact on the Managing Director of CBF post.

An additional amendment was proposed to the section in respect of the Chamberlain & Chief Financial Officer to clarify procedure for writing off debt affecting CBF.

Investment Governance Update

The committee were asked to note the procedure for approving investment property transactions.

The Investment and Finance Committees were asked to endorse the following to the Policy and Resources Committee, for onward recommendation to the Court of Common Council:

• Amend the thresholds for investment property transactions in Standing Orders as set out in paragraphs 3 to 5 and in Appendix 1 of the Final Investment Governance Report.
• Authorise the Town Clerk to make the necessary amendment to the Scheme of Delegation to Officers to give effect to these changed thresholds.

Appointment of Additional Internal Members to Competitiveness Advisory Board

The committee were asked to agree that the Terms of Reference for the Competitiveness Advisory Board (CAB) be updated to include the ability for the Chairman, Deputy Christopher Hayward, in consultation with the ex officio members, to exercise discretion over the number of internal Members appointed from the Court of Common Council, based on the scoring and recommendations provided by the officer panel.

Subject to the decision above, Members were also asked to endorse the appointment of the following individuals to the CAB for the 2025–2028/29 term:

• Melissa Collett
• Prem Goyal
• Stephen Hodgson
• Shravan Joshi
• Sushil Saluja

Annual Report of the Panel of Independent Persons

The committee were asked to note the Annual Report of the Panel of Independent Persons and consider the request from the Panel regarding the daily attendance allowance, and whether it recommends an uplift to the daily attendance allowance in line with Consumer Price Index (CPI).