Sub-Treasurer's Report, November 2018

The Remuneration Committee met on 30 October to consider recommendations on staff pay and bonuses.

The Investment Committee met on 31 October.

The annual cycle of Budget Round meetings between the Finance Sub-Committee and relevant Committees, Masters and staff began on 8 November and will continue for two weeks.

High quality tenders for the delivery of Project Pegasus were received from four construction companies on 26 October, giving confidence that if the project goes ahead it can be completed to time and cost. They are now being evaluated.

Consideration of Inner Temple’s application for planning approval for temporary structures was deferred from the agenda of the City of London Planning Committee meeting scheduled for 30 October. A meeting of the Project Pegasus Steering Group took place on 1 November, largely to consider alternative plans if approval is not forthcoming in good time.

A presentation on Project Pegasus by the Inn’s architect Hugh Broughton was organised for Governing and Senior Benchers on 5 November, prior to the Bench Table meeting on 3 December which will debate the project.

A recent audit to verify compliance to legislation and other requirements of the operational controls; emergency preparedness; and cleaning service provision of our Julius Rutherfoord contractors at Inner Temple produced a positive report with no areas of non-conformity.

The incandescent bulbs in the Treasury Building (except in the Library) have been changed to LED bulbs in recent weeks at a saving of approximately £1,000 a month.

Professor Ray Dolan delivered a Treasurer’s Lecture Night talk on “Brain Imaging as Evidence” to a full Hall on 8 October, followed by dinner in the Drawing Room.

A Pupils’ Advocacy Evening took place on 9 October; a Pupils’ Criminal Case Analysis Session on 15 October; a Pupils’ Civil Case Analysis Session on 16 October; and a Pupils’ Advocacy Residential Weekend at Wotton House on 26-8 October.

The Deferred Trinity Term Call Night was held on 11 October, with 88 members of Inner Temple being Called to the Bar.

A Magna Moot and Reception took place on 22 October. Master Hodge delivered a Moot Master Class on 29 October, followed by a Mixed Dining Night.

Insight Evenings took place in Newcastle on 23 October; in London on 25 October; and in Bristol on 30 October.

The Student Societies Sub-Committee met on 23 October to discuss forthcoming Society activities.

The Qualifying Sessions Sub-Committee met on 24 October to review feedback on recent qualifying sessions and to receive an update on the BSB’s changes to the Qualifying Sessions Framework. The BSB has reduced the number of qualifying sessions required for Call to the Bar from 12 to 10 of which two must be completed in each of the following five categories:

• Ethics, Standards and Values;
• Advocacy Skills;
• Legal Knowledge, Justice and the Rule of Law;
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion;
• Preparation for Pupillage, Career Development and Wellbeing;

The original framework required students to complete at least one Ethics session, two Advocacy sessions (of which one had to be interactive), and one Legal Knowledge session. Two sessions in total had to be interactive and require preparation in advance. The BSB has changed the framework to require students to attend a minimum of two sessions under each theme. The Inns, via COIC, have pushed back on this stating that two per category is not necessarily appropriate; that this will make the framework too inflexible for students (choice) and the Inns (design and innovation); that it may not be particularly useful for international students to attend sessions on pupillage and careers at the Bar of England and Wales; and that the key categories are Ethics, Advocacy and Legal Knowledge. To date, the BSB is refusing to change its position.

Currently, students at providers outside of London can attend four qualifying sessions in their location. Up to three of these are organised by their Inn’s student representatives and local members. The Inns organise one “joint-Inns” session at each provider which is open to students of all Inns. Students can also attend their annual end of year dinner/lecture which has historically counted as a qualifying session (in the future, these will be subject to the Qualifying Sessions Framework). The BSB has stated that students at providers outside of London should be able to attend five qualifying sessions in their location. Given that students will now only need to complete ten qualifying sessions, the Inns believe the number of local qualifying sessions should remain as four but the BSB is insisting upon five.

It is as yet unclear whether the above changes will be implemented in September 2019 or September 2020 (the Inns are pushing for the latter). In the meantime, the Qualifying Sessions Sub-Committee and Education Team are working to ensure that the Inn’s programme of qualifying sessions meets the requirements of the Qualifying Sessions Framework.

A Schools Project outreach event took place on 2 November attended by 118 students from London schools.

The Junior Bar Association held its annual Halloween Quiz in Hall on 2 November.

Training on Advocacy and the Vulnerable took place on 3 and 6 November.

The Sub-Treasurer held a Town Hall meeting for all staff on 8 October. Master Foster addressed the meeting on the role and remit of the Master of the Staff.

The Bar Liaison Committee met on 8 October, with a lengthy agenda.

The McCain Institute held a fundraising dinner at Inner Temple on 9 October. Former Vice-President Joe Biden attended and spoke and an award for work to combat human trafficking was presented to Prime Minister Theresa May. Master Treasurer addressed a gathering of many of the guests before dinner.

Bar Guest Night took place on 12 October, with music provided by Felix’s Cuban Band.

Filming for a forthcoming Amazon Prime TV series on the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan was scheduled in Inner Temple on 13 October.

Benchers’ Night was held on 18 October.

The new season of Social Context of the Law talks was launched on 23 October with a discussion between Master Butler-Sloss and Master Falconer on “Assisted Dying”.

Temple Music Foundation organised its annual IMS Prussia Cove concert in Parliament Chamber on 30 October.

The Junior Bar Association held its annual Halloween Quiz in Hall on 2 November.

Grand Day was held on 7 November and was preceded by the Library displaying some of its most important documentary treasures for visitors and members. 189 people attended including The Rt Hon Lord Burnett of Maldon; the Lord Chief Justice; The Rt Hon Sir Terence Etherton, the Master of the Rolls; and the Treasurers of Gray’s and Lincoln’s Inns. Music was provided by Leo Popplewell (cello) and Robin Popplewell (piano); and by Master Leslie Thomas (tenor saxophone); Milena Thomas (soprano); and Renato D’Aiello (piano). Another occasion on which our catering team performed magnificently.

The Books Sub-Committee met on 10 October. The Library Committee on 17 October and discussed remote access to Lexis and the Library Services section of the ICCA Main Gate Proposal.
A Grand Night display of manuscripts and books was made available in the Library during the afternoon on 7 November for members and staff of the four Inns to view – much favourable feedback was received from our visitors.

The planned upgrade of the Inn's telephone network has been postponed to the end of November, due to circumstances beyond the Inn's control.

The Inn will be purchasing licences for Windows 10 before the end of the year in preparation for a network upgrade in 2019.

Inner Temple member Ramakrishnan Viraghavan and four advocates from the Madras High Court called on the Sub-Treasurer for a briefing on 15 October.

Master Treasurer visited Washington between 18 and 20 October for the annual American Inns of Court Celebration of Excellence, accompanied by Master Popplewell and the Sub-Treasurer. The programme included a panel discussion at the Library of Congress involving all four English Inns of Court as part of the “National Conversation on Civility”, which was preceded by a magnificent performance by the boy choristers from the Temple Church Choir. A full report on the visit will be submitted to the International Committee.

The British Malaysian Society held its annual dinner at Inner Temple on 26 October with Master Pittaway (recently appointed to their Board) hosting the event.

The Chief Justice and several judges from the Kurdish Region of Iraq visited Inner Temple on 31 October. They had lunch hosted by Master Treasurer and then participated in a round-table discussion involving Master Nice, Master McCreath and the Sub-Treasurer. Master Tomlinson and Master Hill were also present at the lunch. The visit was organised by Mark Carroll, a member of Inner Temple based with the Crown Prosecution Service. It was of interest in the wider context of promoting the Rule of Law but no areas for specific cooperation were identified.

An International Legal Assistance Consortium/Law Society Guatemala Judicial Assessment Delegation lunched at Inner Temple on 6 November, together with Master Nice, Master Lovell-Pank, and Master Nicholas Stewart and the Sub-Treasurer and discussed reform of key justice sector institutions in Guatemala.

Master Treasurer hosted the South African High Commissioner to lunch on 9 November.

The annual Quit Rents Procession took place on 10 October when the Sub-Treasurer and Head Porter escorted two Sheriffs of the City of London (Vincent Keaveny and Elizabeth Green) across Inner Temple Garden and handed them over to the Under Treasurer of Middle Temple at the Carpmael Arch. Master Fetherstonhaugh, other City officials and teachers and pupils from visiting schools also participated.

To mark Prisons Week, the guest speaker at Choral Evensong on 17 October was Peter Clarke, CVO, OBE, QPM, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons.

The Temple Church Committee met on 11 November and primarily discussed the future of the Temple Church Choir and whether it was appropriate that this should continue to be single sex.

The annual Choir Dinner was held on 17 October.

After performing at the Library of Congress on 20 October (see above), the boy choristers of the Temple Church Choir went on to sing at St Thomas’s Church in New York and then in New Hampshire.

Choral Evensong for All Saints’ Day on 31 October was followed by panel discussion on “Access to Justice” in Temple Church organised by the Bar Council to mark Justice Week.

A two-minute silence in advance of Armistice Day was held in Church Court on 9 November for members and tenants of Inner and Middle Temple, led by the Master of the Temple.

Master Woodcock delivered a History Society Lecture on “Peerage Law, its Evolution and Hereditary Peerage and Baronetcy Claims in the 21st Century” on 16 October.

The COIC Board met on 24 October. Much of the meeting was concerned with a series of discussions which are underway with the Bar Standards Board on aspects of future Bar training.