Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor Vincent Keaveny, Alderman Sir Andrew Parmley, Alderman Nick Anstee, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli and Alderman Gregory Jones QC.

There were no declarations.

To approve the public minutes and non-pubic summary of the previous meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 30 March 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 30 March 2022.

RESOLVED: - That the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 30 March 2022 be approved as an accurate record

of the meeting.

The Chairman took the opportunity to congratulate Alderman Gregory Jones who had recently been invited to join the Lysis Advisory Panel as a paid consultant. It was reported that Alderman Jones had also been appointed Chair of the Infrastructure, Finance and Delivery Steering Group of the London branch of the Institute of Directors as well as to the Provincial Panel of Chairs for Bishops Disciplinary Tribunals appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk setting out the current practice in respect of the decision-making processes of Livery Companies and Guilds, specifically in relation to the conduct of virtual meetings. The Committee were asked to consider whether certain aspects of the waiver should be made permanent.

The Chairman of the Magistracy and Livery Sub-Committee reported that this matter had already been the subject of some discussion in this forum as well as at previous meetings of this Committee. She added that what was currently in place was a temporary fix introduced as a result of the pandemic and that it was now proposed that elements of this be made permanent. She went on to add one slight correction to the wording of the recommendation, in that it should request that ceremonial business, election, installation or admission of any members or officers conducted by Guild and Livery Companies take place only on a physical basis within the City boundaries.

The Chairman of the Magistracy and Livery Sub-Committee also reported that she had been lobbied by the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers who had highlighted that since going online during the pandemic, their international and non-City based membership had hugely increased. They would now like the ability to keep in touch with them but reported that it may not be possible for some to travel into the City to physically have their Freedom of the Company bestowed upon them and were therefore now requesting some guidance on this matter and questioning whether there was any flexibility in terms of conducting Freedom Ceremonies of the Company virtually – something which the current recommendations did not address. It was noted that the City of London Freedom Ceremonies had now returned to physical attendance with occasional virtual ceremonies still held in

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman reported that the Court of Common Council had consented, at their last meeting, to the Court of Aldermen having a second appointment to the Corporate Services (formerly Establishment) Committee. He reminded the Committee that Alderman Sir Charles Bowman had already been appointed to the Corporate Services Committee.

The Chairman went on to propose that Alderwoman Susan Langley be appointed as the Court of Aldermen’s second appointee due to her professional background and expertise.

RESOLVED – That, Alderwoman Susan Langley be appointed to the Corporate Services Committee alongside Alderman Sir Charles Bowman.

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman highlighted that there were currently three Aldermanic elections on progress that would see five candidates contest the election in the Ward of Cordwainer, two in the Ward of Aldersgate and two in Cornhill. The Committee were reminded that these elections would take place on Thursday 26^th May. Thereafter, it was intended that a special meeting of the Court of Aldermen would be convened in order to swear in any newly elected Aldermen. It was also likely that further letters of resignation would be received at a future, special meeting of the Court which would trigger a second round of Aldermanic elections set to take place in July. It was envisaged that another special meeting of the Court of Aldermen would then need to be scheduled for 18 July in order to trigger any remaining rounds of Aldermanic elections for 2022.

An Alderman commented that a question had been raised at the last meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee to highlight that the current Aldermanic elections were not advertised on the Speak for the City website in the same way that Common Council elections had been. He questioned whether there was any update on this matter. It was reported that there was further work being undertaken on this by the City’s Election Engagement Manager and that the current candidates had now been contacted to provide profile information and photographs for this purpose. It was hoped that this information would go live in the coming days. It was clarified that the names of candidates for each Ward were, however, already available on the City Corporation’s own webpages.

RECEIVED.

To note the outstanding actions in respect of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen’s work programme.

The Committee considered the Outstanding Actions List which had been updated since the last meeting on 30 March 2022.

The Chairman noted that many of the items listed were concerned with what the Court of Aldermen did, how these things were done and the training required around them. He reminded the Committee that, at its last meeting, it had agreed to extend the age at which Aldermen retire by convention to age 75. This had been agreed on the basis that a Working Party would be established to look at the terms of office and tenure of Aldermen going forward. At the same time, it was recognised that there were also other workstreams progressing in the form of the Future of the Mayoralty Working Party who had submitted a report for consideration in non-public session today and a forthcoming Strategy Morning in September. The Chairman therefore questioned whether these matters might be better dealt with as a single workstream under the purview of the Future of the Mayoralty Working Party so that it might also consider matters pertaining to Aldermanic tenure/terms of office. The Committee were in favour of this proposal and suggested that matters now be progressed on this basis.

RESOLVED: - That –

(i)      the Non-Public Outstanding Actions List be noted; and

(ii)     that completed items be removed from the list.

The Chairman confirmed that a Strategy Morning had been arranged to take place on 6 September 2022.

It was reported that the Future of the Mayoralty Working Party intended to submit a paper for consideration at the Strategy Morning. Further details on the arrangements and agenda for the day would be circulated to all by the Town Clerk in due course.

RECEIVED.

The Town Clerk reported that it was the intention that dates for future meetings would return to being set up to two years in advance and that these would be discussed with the relevant Chairmen over the Summer recess period such that dates for the whole of 2023 and provisional dates for 2024 could be secured in diaries at this point.

In response to a question, the Chairman reported that it was entirely within the gift of the Court of Aldermen to consider whether meetings on a Tuesday morning were still the best option.

In terms of wider Aldermanic events/commitments, it was reported that Officers were discussing a mechanism under which Mansion House, Remembrancers and Town Clerk’s events could all be brought together in one place and easily consulted by all Aldermen.

RECEIVED.

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman referred to the information circulated by the Town Clerk ahead of the meeting detailing which Committees now had Aldermanic representation following appointments made at the April Court of Common Council meeting. He stated that it was helpful to have this information brought together in one document.

In response to a question regarding the recording of any outside bodies that Aldermen also sat on by virtue of holding the office, the Chairman reported that there was a central list of Outside Bodies and their representatives kept by the Town Clerk. The Committee asked whether this information could also be drawn together such that the aggregate of all Aldermanic commitments could be set out within one document.

The Chairman went on to refer to the list of all Committee Chairs and Deputy Chairs that had also been circulated by the Town Clerk. He highlighted that this was a live document and could be recirculated to future meetings when the election cycle would be complete. The Chairman also took the opportunity to congratulate Aldermen Gregory Jones on his recent election as Deputy Chairman of the Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee.

An Alderman made the point that membership of the various Aldermanic Sub-Committees was also not registered on the City Corporation’s webpages at present. He questioned whether this could be amended such that a true representation of all work undertaken by the Court of Aldermen could be more visible. The Town Clerk reported that, historically, those meetings which took place in private had not been included here but that this could be revisited if it was the wish of the Court.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

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

MOTION - That, in accordance with the Court of Aldermen’s Disclosure Arrangement (Standing Order 25), the public shall be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen have determined, having had due regard to the Disclosure Arrangement, that disclosure should not be permitted.

RESOLVED - That, in accordance with the Court of Aldermen’s Disclosure Arrangement (Standing Order 25), the public shall be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen have determined, having had due regard to the Disclosure Arrangement, that disclosure should not be permitted.

To approve the non-public minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 30 March .

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 8 February 2022 and approved them as a correct record.

To note the lists of forthcoming events and hospitality to be managed by the Events Teams at Mansion House and Guildhall (Remembrancer’s Department).

The Committee received the list of Forthcoming Events produced by the Events Team at Mansion House and the Remembrancer’s Department.

Three questions were received.

The Committee discussed matters arising from the most recent meeting of the Future of the Mayoralty Working Party.