City of London Corporation to scale down during coronavirus outbreak
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The City of London Corporation will move to postpone some of its set piece events and limit the number of face-to-face meetings during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The local authority sent out a statement today, signalling it would postpone some of its major fixtures, such as the June Bankers and Merchants Dinner at Mansion House.
The night is famous for hosting an annual speech from the chancellor and from the Bank of England governor.
There had been concern among some members of the local authority about the susceptibility of some councillors to Covid-19 and if meetings should go forward.
A little over a quarter of the Corporation’s councillors are over the age of 70, putting them in the at risk category from the virus.
In a joint statement released today, Corporation policy chair Catherine McGuinness and Lord Mayor William Russell said the authority would “maintain critical functions and services for our communities”
They added: “Some of our major facilities may be closed temporarily, some of our events postponed and we will have fewer face-to-face meetings.
“Some of the help we now give will be provided by modern technology and remote working rather than by hand.
“We will be supporting the City, to help employees, businesses and the financial system.”
The pair added a plea for the capital to work together to deal with the fallout from the virus.
“This is a crisis which will require the whole of our capital, and indeed the whole of our country, to work together,” they said.
“We are very grateful to all those who are working so hard to keep essential services going.
“We know these will be difficult and even unhappy times for many of our communities and businesses.
“But the fundamental strengths of London will help us to recover and rebuild, as we have done before.”