Agenda item

At the Chairman’s request, the following item of urgent business was considered:-

(i)  Request for a dispensation – Mr Shravan Joshi

The Town Clerk tabled a written request for a dispensation from Mr Shravan Joshi, Common Councilman for the Ward of Bishopsgate and a member of the Board of Governors of the City of London Freemen’s School, which had been received earlier that morning. 

It was noted that Mr Joshi was the parent of two pupils at the City of London Freemen’s School and therefore, given his contractual arrangement with the School, Mr Joshi had a disclosable pecuniary interest and could not, without a dispensation to speak and/or vote on any of the business considered by the Board of Governors, participate in the business of the Board.

The Sub-Committee considered Mr Joshi’s written application and his grounds for seeking a dispensation to allow him to serve as a Governor (to speak/vote on all core strategic business), principally that (i) the Board will be left with a further vacancy and this may impact on its ability to transact its business; and (ii) it is common practice for parents to serve on school governing bodies in both independent and maintained schools and to withdraw from the business when a specific pecuniary interest arises, and therefore it is appropriate to grant a dispensation in the circumstances.

On the first point it was felt that, although there were some current vacancies on the Board, this was not sufficient to satisfy the relevant statutory ground. On the second point, it was noted that the City Corporation had chosen not to have parent governors on the Boards of its independent schools and, as a Common Council appointment, Mr Joshi’s role as a Governor was different to that of a parent governor. The Sub-Committee acknowledged Mr Joshi’s request to participate only in core strategic business and where no direct pecuniary interest arose.  However, Members felt that it was not possible to easily determine in every case what business before the Board was or was not relevant to Mr Joshi’s interest and on that basis, the request should be refused as it was not appropriate for him, in light of his disclosable pecuniary interest, to serve on the Board of Governors as a City Corporation Member.

RESOLVED:- That the request for a dispensation from Mr Shravan Joshi, Common Councilman for the Ward of Bishopsgate and a member of the Board of Governors of the City of London Freemen’s School, to speak and vote on the business considered by the Board of Governors of the City of London Freemen’s School (excluding matters where there is a direct pecuniary interest) until his term of appointment comes to an end, be refused.