Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3 - 2nd Floor West Wing, Guildhall. View directions

Contact: Martin Newton
tel. no.: 020 7332 3154  Email: martin.newton@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of a Chairman

Minutes:

It was proposed by Deputy Jamie Ingham Clark, seconded by Ann Holmes and agreed that Alderman David Graves should take ‘the chair’ for the meeting.

 

RESOLVED – That Alderman David Graves be elected Chairman for the duration of the meeting.  

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

2.

Questions on matters relating to the work of the Assessments Sub (Standards) Committee pdf icon PDF 365 KB

The complaints procedure (“How Complaints to the City of London Corporation’s

Standards Committee Will Be Dealt With”), along with the Members’ Code of Conduct and guidance on it, is attached for information.

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no questions on matters relating to the work of the Sub Committee.

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

3.

Any other business that the Chairman considers urgent

Minutes:

There was no other urgent business.

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

4.

Exclusion of the Public

MOTION – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public

be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

 

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

Minutes:

RESOLVED - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972,

the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds

that it may involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

 

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

5.

Alleged breach of the Members' Code of Conduct

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor, for assessment by the Sub-Committee, on an alleged breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

 

Confidential – Committee Members only

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

Minutes:

The Sub Committee considered a report and associated papers of the Comptroller and City Solicitor on an alleged breach by Gregory Lawrence, a Member of the Court of Common Council and the Markets Committee, of paragraph 13 of the Members’ Code of Conduct in relation to a meeting of the Markets Committee on 24 January 2018. The Comptroller and City Solicitor provided a brief introduction to his report and reminded Members of the need to ascertain whether they were satisfied that if the allegation was proven it would constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct, along with the current Corporation Assessment Criteria.

 

The Sub Committee then proceeded to discuss the contents of the report and associated documents and noted thatMr Lawrence had voted on a matter in respect of which he had a registered Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, namely the Strategic Review of the Wholesale Markets which involved, inter-alia, a proposal relating to Smithfield Market where Mr Lawrence carries out his business, without a dispensation entitling him to vote upon such a matter. Mr Lawrence had a dispensation from the Standards Committee granted on 19 May 2017 which permitted him to speak but not vote in relation to matters affecting the Central Markets.

 

The Sub Committee were informed that, as Smithfield is held by the Corporation in its City’s Cash capacity and not as a local authority, any criminal sanctions under the Localism Act 2011 for voting on the matter at the Markets Committee meeting would not apply in this case. The matter was therefore solely a Code of Conduct matter. the Sub Committee also noted the contents of correspondence between Mr Lawrence and the Comptroller which confirmed that Mr Lawrence admitted the facts, which he said were due to his misunderstanding of his dispensation, and had offered an

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