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RESOLVED:
 
1.   
That the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) approves the recommended
enhancements of SHIP governance as follows:
 

SHIP reporting to SIB to include the
following:

Shareholder triennial Investment
Strategy.
Individual annual business plans
produced by each investment entity (covering companies, the
Council’s directly owned investment property portfolio, and
any other relevant legal bodies).
Overall Corporate Investment
Business Plans for the investment entities.
Individual annual performance
reviews produced by each investment entity.
Overall Corporate Investments
Performance Review (Annual Report) including annual performance
reviews of each company.
Any report containing exempt
information under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972
will be presented as a Part 2 report.

The Overall Corporate Investments
Business Plan and Performance Review should include additional
elements not currently referenced in the annual report:

Significant risks
Forward plan of SIB activities
Summary of SIB activities during the
year
Training undertaken by
Directors

Resources and Performance Select
Committee can review all formal reports (Part 1 and Part 2).

 

At least one scheduled additional
informal business update per year to review half year performance
between SHIP and the investment entities. Informal discussions
between SIB and the investment entities to be scheduled if
required.

Reports will be processed through
the Council’s One Council pipeline which includes Corporate
Leadership Team (CLT) and Informal Cabinet (ICAB) where
appropriate, prior to SIB.

Minutes of Part 1 discussions at
SHIP to be circulated to the Asset Strategy Board (ASB) for
information.

SHIP terms of reference to be
amended as follows:

Panel membership to consist of the
Deputy CEX & Director Resources (s151 Officer) (Chair),
Director of Finance (Deputy s151 Officer) (Deputy Chair), Director
of Land and Property, Director of Customer, Culture &
Transformation, and the Director of Law and Governance (Monitoring
Officer).
For a SHIP meeting to be quorate, 3
of the 5 panel members (or their deputies) must be present, always
including either the Chair or Deputy Chair.
A deputy may be nominated by a panel
member but must possess adequate experience and knowledge to fulfil
the role of a deputy.
Where a conflict of interest exists
for an individual on the panel membership and as a director of an
individual investment entity, clarity will be made in the meeting
under which role the individual is acting for relevant agenda
items. Training to be provided for Directors, members and officers
on conflicts of interest and a draft Conflict of Interest
Policy  -
August 2025 is attached in Annex 2 to this report, which will
assist in identifying when a conflict may arise and the steps that
need to be taken to avoid such conflict.  

SHIP will forward decisions to SIB
that it has made under its delegated powers, for information.
Any urgent decisions taken by SHIP
outside of formal meetings will be recorded in the minutes of the
next SHIP meeting.

SHIP to review the performance of
each investment entity on an annual basis. In turn, company boards
will be expected to review the performance of their respective
Directors.

 
Reasons for
Decisions:
 
·        
Transparency of performance will be strengthened by the inclusion
of all investment entities Business Plans and Performance Reviews,
whereas currently only property investments are
referenced.

·        
Submission of Business Plans and Performance Reviews by the
investment entity may contain confidential and commercial
information and as such should be reported under part 2 of the SIB
agenda.

·        
Provision of all investment entities’ Business Plans will
provide greater transparency to Councillors of the future
expectations and strategy for each investment. Currently only the
recent performance is reviewed by the Resources and Performance
Select Committee (R&PSC), rather than forward-looking business
plans.

·        
The overall Corporate Investments Strategy will be more up to date
by the process of an annual refresh, and annual business plans will
be aligned to the overall strategy.

·        
To drive greater accountability, transparency, key stakeholder
management and strengthen internal controls. The ASB’s review
role has been replaced in the governance process with greater
oversight through the Council’s One Council pipeline which
includes Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and Informal Cabinet
(ICAB).
 
(The decisions on
this item can be called-in by the
Resources and Performance Select Committee)