Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room - 2nd Floor West Wing, Guildhall. View directions

Contact: Gemma Stokley
tel.no.: 020 7332 1407  Email: gemma.stokley@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Judith Barnes, Alderman David Graves, Christopher Hayward, Dan Large, Anju Sanehi (Independent Person) and Chris Taylor (Independent Person).

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

MEMBERS' DECLARATIONS UNDER THE CODE OF CONDUCT IN RESPECT OF ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

Minutes:

Ann Holmes declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to agenda Item 10 stating that she was currently the serving Chairman of the Barbican Residential Committee.

Oliver Lodge declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to agenda Item 6 (Minutes of the Previous Meeting), stating that he was currently a member of Guildhall Lodge.

Deputy Ingham Clark and Deputy Kevin Everett also declared non-pecuniary interests in relation to agenda Item 3 (Minutes of the Previous Meeting), stating that they were also members of the Guildhall Lodge.

Deputy Edward Lord declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to agenda Item 3 stating that he was a member of the City of London Lodge of Installed Masters.

Mark Greenburgh declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to the same agenda item, stating that he was a Freemason.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

ORDER OF THE COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL pdf icon PDF 89 KB

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council, 27 April 2017, appointing the

Committee and approving its Terms of Reference.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

The Order of the Court of Common Council of 27th April 2017, appointing the Committee and approving its terms of reference, was received.

 

RECEIVED.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.29.

 

The Town Clerk read a list of Members eligible to stand and Oliver Lodge, being the only Member expressing his willingness to serve, was duly elected as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

 

Mr Lodge thanked the Committee for their continued support and went on to welcome the newly appointed Members of the Committee – Alderman David Graves, Chris Boden, Deputy Kevin Everett and Ann Holmes.

 

Mr Lodge went on to thank, on behalf of the Committee, Alderman Yarrow, Tom Sleigh and Virginia Rounding who had now stepped down from the Committee.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

ELECTION OF DEPUTY CHAIRMAN

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

Minutes:

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.30.

 

The Town Clerk read a list of Members eligible to stand and Christopher Hayward, being the only Member expressing his willingness to serve (by way of a statement previously circulated to all Members of the Committee via email) was duly elected as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing year.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 317 KB

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2017.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 February 2017 were considered and approved as a correct record.

 

MATTERS ARISING

Freemasonry (page 4) – A Member, who had also been present at the Hospitality Working Meeting at which this matter was discussed, reported that there had been detailed discussion around this with over half of the Members present declaring a non-pecuniary interest by virtue of the fact that they were Freemasons. These Members were invited by the Chief Commoner to contribute to the discussions and provide any background information but refrained from voting on any outcomes.

 

Members were informed that the Hospitality Working Party had concluded that both the Guildhall Lodge and Londinium Lodge should continue to have free use of the Guildhall on the same basis as any other Member/staff club was. It was felt that it was no longer appropriate for the City of London Lodge of Installed Masters (who were currently charged the Members’ private hire rate of 10% of the commercial rate) to be entitled to this level of discount and that, going forward, they should now be charged a higher, ‘City Connection’ rate which was currently offered to all Livery Companies, Ward Clubs etc.

 

In response to a question regarding entitlement to free use of Guildhall as opposed to a 90% discount, a Member explained that free use was granted solely to ‘internal users’ for clubs/societies that were for the benefit of elected Members or members of staff. Individual Members were also entitled to a 90% discount for personal occasions/celebrations.

 

The Chairman requested that a formal minute/resolution of the Hospitality Working Party on this matter be circulated to the Standards Committee ahead of their next meeting.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

STANDARDS REGIME REVIEW WORKING PARTY

The Chairman of the Standards Regime Review Working Party (Emma Edhem) to brief the Committee on the approach being taken by the Working Party with regard to the progression of the recommendations within Mr Bourne’s Independent Review Report.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Minutes:

The Chairman introduced Emma Edhem, the Chairman of the Standards Regime Review Working Party and thanked her for her attendance. The Chairman explained that Ms Edhem had been invited to today’s meeting to brief the Standards Committee on the work of the Working Party in general. He added that the Committee’s general views on Mr Bourne’s recommendations were well documented in the minutes of the last meeting.

 

Ms Edhem provided the Committee with an overview of the Working Party’s constitution and work to date as well as their work-plan going forward. She explained that, as well as the formal meetings of the Working Party, a lot of work and research was being carried out between meetings. Ms Edhem’s presentation went on to cover the following points:

·        The Working Party had already come across some recommendations within the report that they were not in agreement with;

·        The Working Party had begun by scrutinising all 36 of the recommendations within Mr Bourne’s report and identifying those that were obvious/’quick wins’ in terms of implementation;

·        The Working Party had then identified six clear ‘blocks’ that would require further clarification/investigation and these were - Assessment of Complaints, Investigation of Complaints, Complaints Hearings, Sanctions, Appeals against Complaints and the Role of the Independent Person. These would be covered over five meetings, two of which had already taken place to date;

·        The Standards Committee’s three Independent Persons had been invited to address the Working Party informally earlier this month ahead of their formal consideration of those recommendations relating to the role of the Independent Person going forward;

·        It was hoped that the Working Party would be in a position to present their full recommendations to the Standards Committee by October as opposed to a piecemeal approach. The Working Party were very keen to engage the Standards

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Code of Conduct/Protocol Training pdf icon PDF 76 KB

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 8.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor summarising the attendance of members at recent training sessions offered on the Code of Conduct.

 

The Comptroller and City Solicitor reminded the Committee that they had requested this report at their last meeting. He reported that, since writing this report, one further training session had taken place and that this had been attended by two elected Members. He commented that attendance amongst newly elected Common Councilmen at these sessions was fairly disappointing.

 

A Member, who also currently sat on the City’s Member Development Steering Group, commented that the attendance at the July and September Code of Conduct Sessions was actually comparatively high compared with many other sessions that had been offered. She did, however agree that the new Member level of attendance at these sessions was disappointing. She suggested that, if any training could be made mandatory, it should be this given its increasing importance to those who were publically elected.

 

The Town Clerk confirmed that all 26 newly elected Members had completed and submitted their Register of Interest and Non-Pecuniary Interest forms within the statutory deadline and that all details had been published on the public facing website.

 

The Committee suggested that the Chairman write to all newly elected members who were yet to attend a Code of Conduct training session underlining its importance and centrality to their role. It was suggested that he should also ask Ward Deputies to encourage new Member attendance at future sessions.

 

RECEIVED.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE pdf icon PDF 87 KB

Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk setting out its Draft Annual Report for submission to the Court of Common Council.

 

It was suggested that paragraph 16 referring to the recent recruitment campaign for a Co-opted Member be amended to read that ‘it had not been possible to make an appointment at this stage’.

 

It was also suggested that reference to the Committee’s Independent Persons and their attendance/contributions at Standards Committee meetings throughout the year should be reflected at paragraph 13.

 

Some further, minor amendments were suggested to paragraphs 5, 10, 16 and 17.

 

RESOLVED – That:

 

(a)   Subject to the proposed amendments made at the meeting, the annual report be approved; and

(b)   In accordance with the Committee’s terms of reference, the annual report be referred to the Court of Common Council for information.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

REQUESTS FOR DISPENSATION pdf icon PDF 100 KB

The Committee is asked to consider written requests for a dispensation from a

number of Members.

 

The majority are in relation to forthcoming discussions relating to the charging policy for car parking and stores at the Barbican Residential Committee.

 

A further dispensation has also been received from a newly elected Common Councilman relating to housing/matters relating to Golden Lane Estate.

 

Written requests for a dispensation from Randall Anderson (Common Councilman for the Ward of Aldersgate), Deputy David Bradshaw (Common Councilman for the Ward of Cripplegate), Deputy Joyce Nash (Common Councilman for the

Ward of Aldersgate) and Susan Pearson (Common Councilman for the Ward of

Cripplegate) are attached.

 

N.B. - Any further written requests received will be tabled at the meeting.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a total of twelve written requests for dispensations from the following Members:

 

·       Randall Anderson (Common Councilman for the Ward of Aldersgate);

·       Deputy David Bradshaw (Common Councilman for the Ward of Cripplegate);

·       Mary Durcan(Common Councilman for the Ward of Cripplegate);

·       Gregory Lawrence (Common Councilman for the Ward of Farringdon Without) ;

·       Deputy Edward Lord (Common Councilman for the Ward of Farringdon Without) (TABLED);

·       Deputy Joyce Nash (Common Councilman for the Ward of Aldersgate);

·       Barbara Newman (Common Councilman for the Ward of Aldersgate);

·       Susan Pearson (Common Councilman for the Ward of Cripplegate);

·       William Pimlott (Common Councilman for the Ward of Cripplegate) ;

·       Stephen Quilter (Common Councilman for the Ward of Cripplegate) (TABLED);

·       Oliver Sells QC (Common Councilman for the Ward of Farringdon Without);

·       Deputy John Tomlinson (Common Councilman for the Ward of Cripplegate)

 

It was noted that the majority of the requests were in relation to forthcoming discussions relating to the charging policy for car parking and stores at the Barbican Residential Committee. The Chairman therefore suggested that these requests be dealt with first.

 

The Comptroller and City Solicitor reiterated the relevant criteria against which dispensations might be granted. He added that the composition of the Barbican Residential Committee (BRC) requires representation from resident Members. He reported that, under the previous Standards Regime, this was specifically excluded from being a prejudicial interest and so, in the past, dispensations had been approved.

 

A Member reported that the quorum for these Committee meetings was defined as any four non-resident Members and that this was a deliberate attempt to anticipate these types of issues. The Comptroller and City Solicitor agreed that this meant that the criteria for granting a dispensation which stated that ‘without the dispensation the proportion of Members and Co-opted Members prohibited from participating

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Questions on matters relating to the work of the Committee

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Any Other Business that the Chairman considers urgent

Minutes:

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

Minutes:

RESOLVED - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

 

Item No(s).

Paragraph No(s).

14

2 & 3

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

non public minutes

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2016.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.

Minutes:

The non-public minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 February 2017 were considered and approved as a correct record.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

NON PUBLIC QUESTIONS ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE

Minutes:

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIRMAN CONSIDERS URGENT AND WHICH THE BOARD AGREE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHILST THE PUBLIC ARE EXCLUDED

Minutes:

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration in the non-public session.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.