At the start of each civic year, Members of the City of London Corporation must allocate all of the sub-committee, working party and outside organisation representatives.
The Policy and Resources Committee is a corporate committee which is responsible for the City Corporation’s governance arrangements, recommending its strategic priorities, agreeing policy, allocating overall resources and overseeing the City’s security and emergency planning arrangements. The Committee is also tasked with directing the City Corporation’s economic development initiatives and the activities associated with the promotion of the City of London as the world’s leading international financial and business centre (both here and abroad) and as a place within which to do business. It is the most senior Committee and therefore seats on it and its sub-committees are hotly contested, as I explained here.
The first order of business is to elected a Chairman. Given the significance of the role, which is the primary interface with government in the UK and abroad, the role carries a 5 year term of office. The incumbent, Deputy Christopher Hayward is just beginning his fifth and final year and therefore, the role is often uncontested, as was the case today.
Indeed, the same applies to the Deputy Chairman, as they are expected to take the Chair and therefore spend several years learning the ropes and shadowing the Chair. As such, Deputy James Thompson was also elected unopposed today.
To support the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, two Vice Chairman are appointed and today saw an election, which resulted in the incumbents (Caroline Haines and Emily Benn) successfully challenged by Helen Fentimen. It was a very tight elected, but sadly Caroline Haines, who had already agreed to step down in November, was beaten by just 2 votes. Helen and Emily are therefore, the Vice Chairmen.
| Candidate | Votes Cast | Result |
| Deputy Emily Benn | 20 | Elected |
| Deputy Helen Fentimen | 15 | Elected |
| Deputy Caroline Haines | 13 | Not Elected |
The Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Vice-Chairmen are all have ex-officio seats on the Committee’s Sub-Committees and therefore, are withdrawn from the candidates lists in subsequent elections.
Next up was the most prized sub-committee: Resource Allocation. The Terms of Reference outline the Membership which is comprised of the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee (Chairman), Chairman of the Finance Committee (Deputy Chairman), The Deputy Chairmen of the Policy and Resources Committee, The Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee, Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of the Court of Aldermen, The Senior Alderman below the Chair, The Chairman of the Corporate Services Committee, Past Chairmen of Policy and Resources Committee providing that they are Members of the Policy and Resources Committee at the time, plus seven Members of the Policy and Resources Committee elected by P&R peers.
With 11 candidates for 7 vacancies, a ballot took place, with the following results.
| Candidate | Votes Cast | Result |
| Sheriff & Deputy Keith Bottomley | 12 | Tie |
| Leyla Boulton | 9 | Not Elected |
| Deputy Helen Fentimen | Withdrawn | Withdrawn |
| Steve Goodman | 12 | Tie |
| Jason Groves | 11 | Not Elected |
| Shravan Joshi | 16 | Elected |
| Deputy Paul Martinelli | 15 | Elected |
| Deputy Benjamin Murphy | 18 | Elected |
| Alderman Sir William Russell | 18 | Elected |
| Deputy Tom Sleigh | 18 | Elected |
| Chief Commoner Philip Woodhouse | 12 | Tie |
I was delighted to have been elected for the first time to this sub-committee and proud to have strong support from colleagues, especially in the face of such outstanding candidates.
With a tie for 6th and 7th place, another ballot was required to confirm which of the 3 candidates would be successful. Usually at this stage, there is also an option for a candidate to withdraw to avoid a ballot, but none had indicated a desire to do so.
| Candidate | Votes Cast | Result |
| Sheriff & Deputy Keith Bottomley | 12 | Not Elected |
| Steve Goodman | 14 | Elected |
| Chief Commoner Philip Woodhouse | 16 | Elected |
Next up was the Communications and Corporate Affairs Sub-Committee. The membership is comprised of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Vice Chairmen of the Policy & Resources Committee, Past Chairmen of the Policy & Resources Committee still on the Committee, Chairman of the Finance Committee, Chair of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen, Senior Alderman Below the Aldermanic Chair, Five Members of the Policy & Resources Committee, elected by the Committee, Four Members of the Court of Common Council, co-opted by the Sub-Committee and up to two non-City of London Corporation members, who shall not have voting rights.
With 9 candidates for 5 seats, a ballot took place. However, because Emily Benn and Helen Fentimen have ex-officio seats as Vice-Chairs of Policy and Resources, their candidacy was withdrawn, leaving 7 candidates for 5 seats, with the following results.
| Candidate | Votes Cast | Result |
| Deputy Emily Benn | Withdrawn | Withdrawn |
| Sheriff & Deputy Keith Bottomley | 14 | Elected |
| Leyla Boulton | 14 | Elected |
| Deputy Peter Dunphy | 19 | Elected |
| Deputy Helen Fentimen | Withdrawn | Withdrawn |
| Jason Groves | 14 | Elected |
| Deputy Ann Holmes | 14 | Elected |
| Shravan Joshi | 12 | Not Elected |
| Chief Commoner Philip Woodhouse | 13 | Not Elected |
The Civic Affairs Sub-Committee was uncontested, therefore, the P&R Reps will be Sheriff and Deputy Keith Bottomley (Chairman), Deputy Peter Dunphy, Deputy Jaspreet Hodgson and Alderman Sir William Russell.
The Member Development & Standards Sub-Committee was uncontested, so the P&R Reps will be Deputy Helen Fentimen and Deputy Jaspreet Hodgson.
The Capital Buildings Board was uncontested, so the P&R Reps will be Deputy Alastair Moss (Chairman) and Deputy James Thomson.
The Freedom Applications Sub-Committee was uncontested, so the P&R Rep will be Shravan Joshi. Alderman Sir William Russell has has been appointed by the Court of Alderman to serve on this Sub-Committee and will be its Chairman.
The Equity, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Sub-Committee was uncontested, so the P&R Rep will be Deputy Caroline Haines, who will also be its Chairman. A further unfilled vacancy will be offered up to candidates from the Court of Common Council.
Through an open application process across the Court of Common Council, Lead Member appointments were also ratified. These are individual Members who will help focus and progress key policy initiatives and represent the Chairman of Policy at external meeting and events. They were:
Climate Action: Alderman Alison Gowman
Innovation, Technology and AI: Alderman Sushil Saluja
SMEs: Shravan Joshi
Sport: Edward Lord
Sustainable Finance: Irem Yerdelen
Residential Engagement: Jacqui Webster
On P&R Reps for other Corporate Committee’s across the City of London Corporation, the following was agreed:
Barbican Centre Board – Deputy Jaspreet Hodgson
Education Board – Deputy Caroline Haines
Investment Committee – Shravan Joshi
Local Plans Sub (Planning & Transportation) Committee – Deputy Alastair Moss
Mayoralty and Shrievalty Allowances – Deputy James Thomson
A wider range of other posts were filled today, which you can watch via the rather long video below.