Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Alderman Sir Alan Yarrow.

Alderman Alison Gowman declared a personal interest in relation to Agenda Item 8 stating that she was currently on the Council of the 1^st Battalion London Guards.

To elect a Chairman for the year ensuing, in accordance with Standing Orders 11 and 12.

Nominations received: Alderman Sir William Russell.

In accordance with Standing Orders No.11 and 12, the Committee elected its Chairman for 2022/23.

RESOLVED – that, as the only Alderman in nomination, Alderman Sir William Russell be elected as Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen for the ensuing year (2022/23).

[Alderman Sir William Russell thanked The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor and moved into the Chair.]

Both Sir William and the Lord Mayor paid tribute to Sir David Wootton stepping down from the role of Chair of GP after almost a decade.

To elect a Deputy Chairman for the year ensuing, in accordance with Standing Orders 14 and 16.

Nominations received: Alderman Sir Charles Bowman.

In accordance with Standing Orders No.14 and 16, the Committee elected its Deputy Chairman for 2022/23.

RESOLVED – that, as the only Alderman in nomination, Alderman Sir Charles Bowman be elected as Deputy Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen for the ensuing year (2022/23).

[Alderman Sir Charles Bowman thanked the Committee for its support.]

To approve the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 10 May 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 10 May 2022.

MATTERS ARISING

Guidance for Liveries and Guilds – Conduct of Virtual Business – Future Position (page 9) – Alderman Gowman, Chairman of the Magistracy and Livery Sub-Committee spoke on resolution iii) set out on page 9. She stated that what she thought had been agreed was that Freedom Ceremonies may take place virtually if occasion required as opposed to if requested.  

Future General Purposes, Nominations and Court of Aldermen Meeting Dates (page 11) – An Alderman questioned progress on this in terms of drawing various Aldermanic events/commitments together. The Chairman reported that Officers from Town Clerks, Remembrancers and Mansion House had already met to progress this. It was intended that all Aldermen would be sent a rolling 12 month programme of events via email at the beginning of each month post Summer recess.  

COL Committees following the April Court of Common Council Meeting (page 12) – In response to a question, the Town Clerk reported that membership of the various Aldermanic Sub-Committees was now visible on the public webpages.

RESOLVED: - That the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 10 May 2022 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

Joint report of the Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor, the

Director of Innovation & Growth, the Deputy Town Clerk & Director of Communications and External Affairs, the Chief Strategy Officer and the Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion.

The Committee received a joint report of the Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor, the Director of Innovation & Growth, the Deputy Town Clerk & Director of Communications and External Affairs, the Chief Strategy Officer and the Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion outlining the proposed 2022-2023 Mayoral Priorities which will be championed, subject to election, by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Nicholas Lyons.

Alderman Lyons stated that this report and its contents had been discussed at length with Innovation & Growth as well as with the Communications and Corporate Affairs Committee. He went on to raise two contextual points on communication and continuity. Firstly, he highlighted that it was, in his view, essential that future Mayoral themes built upon existing themes in order to really have impact upon areas of national importance. He added that a significant amount of what had been achieved under the last two mayoralties around social and economic priorities needed to continue to be built upon. Secondly, he spoke on the importance of a ‘one team approach’ between the mayoralty and the Guildhall. Reinforcement of messages from the Policy Chair through the Mayoralty and vice versa would be key and was something that Alderman Lyons had already actively discussed with the current Policy Chair. This would lead to better coordination in the messaging and would also provide greater clarity around the leadership that the mayoralty can take around some of the larger, national, financial priorities.

Alderman Lyons went on to state that the current climate provided an ideal opportunity for the City to step up and provide leadership nationally and to drive change and growth. He reported that there was overwhelming support from the financial services industry behind this agenda as well as many offers of assistance to help progress this.

The Chairman

Report of the Remembrancer.

N.B: To be considered in conjunction with the non-public appendices attached at Agenda Item 19.

The Committee considered a report of the Remembrancer recommending that they approve the petition of the Guild of HR Professionals’ to be recognised as a Company without Livery.

The Town Clerk reported that there was a host of supporting information including financial account set out within the Non-Public agenda at Item 19.

The Chairman of the Magistracy and Livery Sub-Committee reported that the Sub-Committee had considered and approved this matter. She reported that the Guild of HR Professionals had been well recognised and very hardworking over the last few years and were therefore felt to be well qualified to move forward as a Company without Livery at this stage. It was reported that the sponsoring Alderman for the HR Professionals was Sir Peter Estlin. Sir Peter spoke to also commend this application to the Committee but clarified that he intended to abstain from voting on the matter.

RESOLVED – That the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen approve the Guild of HR Professionals’ petition to be recognised as a Company without Livery.

Report of the Remembrancer.

The Committee considered a report of the Remembrancer noting the redesignation of the London Regiment as the 1st Battalion London Guards and recommending its continued treatment as a Privileged Corps of the City of London.

RESOLVED – That the Committee continue to recognise 1^st Battalion London Guards, the redesignated London Regiment, as a Privileged Corps of the City of London.

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman reported that he would be replacing Sir David Wootton as one of the Aldermanic representatives on the Policy and Resources Committee. Alderman Luder would remain on the Committee as would Alderman Hailes. It was reported that SABTAC also had a place on the Policy and Resources Committee and that Alderman Lyons would therefore rotate off after the September meeting and be replaced by Alderman Mainelli. The Chairman reported that this would be revisited regularly and welcomed any comments that Alderman might have either now or outside of the meeting.

The Chairman went on to report that he also had a number of ex-officio places on various Committees but also had the right of delegation to some of these. With this in mind, he reported that it was his intention to allow Sir David Wootton to continue as his representative on the Capital Buildings Committee to ensure continuity and to ask the Deputy Chairman, Sir Charles Bowman to sit on the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Sub-Committee.

Alderman Hailes reported that he was also on the Capital Buildings Committee as an ex-officio appointment from the Police Authority Board. In terms of the Operational Property and Projects Sub Committee which he now chaired, he reported that the terms of reference for this were extensive and included responsibility, in conjunction with the relevant service Committees, for all of the City Corporation’s operational property including areas of particular interest for the Aldermen such as Mansion House, the Central Criminal Court and the Magistrates Court. He therefore reassured the Committee that, in chairing this new Sub Committee, he would be in a position to ensure that the Court of Aldermen’s voice was heard in relation to these matters.

RESOLVED – That the General Purposes Committee agree the revised appointments to the Policy and Resources Committee.

The Town Clerk to be heard.

The Chairman of the Lord Mayor’s Show Limited reported that part of the settlement arrangements entered into with the Corporation around the Show through the Policy and Resources Committee included underwriting the financial risk and it was therefore felt appropriate that the Chairman of Finance or his or her nominee be invited to become Directors of the Show Limited. Whilst this was technically a decision for the Board of the Lord Mayor’s Show Limited, the Court of Aldermen indicated from time to time who it felt it would be appropriate to have on the Board.

The request today was that the Committee recommend to the Board of the Lord Mayor’s Show Limited that the former Chairman of Finance, Jamie Ingham Clark be replaced as a Director by the new Chairman of Finance, Henry Colthurst or his nominee.

The Chairman of the Lord Mayor’s Show Limited went on to report that he had already had numerous discussions around how best to take things forward and commercialise the offering now that the Lord Mayor’s Show had been stabilised. He went on to state that the kind of things looked at as part of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, namely the appointment of external, non-executive directors who could bring particular skills sets such as marketing and commercial merchandising to the Board might be an interesting avenue to explore.

He therefore also sought the support of this Committee for the Board to explore this further. Whilst a majority of Aldermen would be maintained, it was felt that this could be an effective means of diversifying the skills set of the Board of Directors.

Alderman Lyons spoke to fully endorse this recommendation and underlined that he felt that it was now critical to begin to explore new sources of income that could be generated from the

The Town Clerk to be heard.

The Town Clerk reported that Alderman John Garbutt was currently the sponsoring Alderman for the Guild of Investment Managers who would be standing down from the Court of Aldermen later this month. The proposal was therefore that Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney be appointed as the Guild’s new sponsoring Alderman.

RESOLVED – That Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney be appointed as the sponsoring Alderman for the Guild of Investment Managers in place of Alderman John Garbutt.

The Town Clerk to be heard.

The Town Clerk reported that this matter had initially been raised by the Magistracy and Livery Sub-Committee and that they were keen to increase visibility at Common Hall by erecting various screens within the Great Hall so that those in all seats could have a good view of the proceedings. The proceedings would also be live streamed via YouTube. The option of further tiered seating had also been discussed although the Town Clerk reported that this was already in use and could be costly to extend further. The erection of screens would therefore seem to be a more cost-effective solution and quotes received indicated that the cost of this would be approximately £5,000. However, the AV costs of the ceremony were already paid for each year from the Town Clerk’s Local Risk Budget (approximately £2,000) and so there would only be an additional £3,000 to find for this purpose. It was proposed that this cost might be met from the Aldermanic Contingency Fund in the first instance with the effectiveness of this solution assessed thereafter. If it were to be a success then this could lead to a business case being made for ongoing funding centrally.

RESOLVED – That the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen agree that the additional costs associated with the erection of additional screens within the Great Hall for the broadcasting of Common Hall be met from the Aldermanic Contingency Fund for 2022/23.

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

The Committee considered the Outstanding Actions List which had been updated since the last meeting.

RESOLVED: - That –

(i)      the Outstanding Actions List be noted; and

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

There were no questions.

The Livery and Diversity

An Alderman reported that he had recently attended the launch event of an LGBTQ+ network with the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. He stated that this was the first time that he had seen anything like this being done by a Livery Company around diversity and he wished to congratulate them on the initiative.

It was reported that there was a Livery Diversity Open Seminar scheduled to take place on the afternoon of 21 July at Mercers Hall. It would be taking forward the Diversity Charter issues and looked set to be very well attended.

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 10 May 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting of the General

Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 10^th May 2022.

RESOLVED: - That the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes

Committee of Aldermen held on 10^th May 2022 be approved as an

accurate record of the meeting.

To note the minutes of the previous meeting of the Magistracy and Livery Sub (General Purposes) Committee meeting held on 9 June 2022.

The Committee received the minutes of the Magistracy and Livery Sub-Committee meeting held 9 June 2022.

Report of the Remembrancer – Non-Public appendices.

N.B: To be considered in conjunction with the public report attached at Agenda Item 7.

*A copy of the Guild of HR Professionals’ full submission of supporting documentation will be available at the meeting in hard copy or may be provided to Aldermen on request.

These non-public appendices were considered in conjunction with the public report at Agenda Item 7 which was approved.

Joint report of the Town Clerk, the Chamberlain and the Remembrancer.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk, the Chamberlain and the Remembrancer comparing the revenue outturn for the services overseen by it in 2021/22 with the final approved budget for the year.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee considered a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor setting out options for discussion for the introduction of checks in relation to Aldermanic Qualifications.

The Policy Chairman to be heard.

The Policy Chairman addressed the Committee and spoke on his key priorities.

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

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

The Aldermen wished to place on record their congratulations to Baroness Scotland on her recent re-election as Secretary General of the Commonwealth.