Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Alderman Alexander Barr, Alderman Sir Peter Estlin, Alderman Gregory Jones, Alderman Tim Levene, Alderman Michael Mainelli, Alderwoman Jennette Newman and Sir Andrew Parmley.

There were no declarations.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6 September 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6 September 2022.

RESOLVED: - That the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6 September 2022 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

Chairman’s Congratulatory Remarks

The Chairman wished to place on record his congratulations to Alderman Gregory Jones on his recent appointment as Chancellor of the Diocese of Manchester by the Lord Bishop as well as his appointment as a Fellow of the Faculty of Law from Goodenough College.

The Chairman encouraged all to keep him informed of any new positions or accolades for noting at future meetings.

Lady Lucy French and Ruth Duston, OBE, to provide an update to the Committee on City BIDs.

The Chairman welcomed Lady Lucy French, the Chief Executive for Fleet Street Quarter and Ruth Duston, the Managing Director of Primera to the meeting.

Ms Duston began by sharing some insights on the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) across the Square Mile and the impact that they had had across the UK more generally. Ms Duston highlighted that Primera as an organisation were very focused on place-based leadership and were keen to develop partnerships between the private and public sector which was where the BIDs, still relatively new as a sector, came in.

The Committee were informed that there were now approximately 300 BIDs operating across the UK. Primera were primarily focused on Central London in terms of their portfolio of BIDs and were normally commissioned to set up partnerships. Ms Duston explained that it ordinarily took around two years to get a BID up and running and that the seed funding for this was normally provided by property owners or developers which in turn allowed for leverage of more funding to support place-based activity. In terms of the BIDs that Primera had operating across Central London, Ms Duston highlighted the London Heritage Quarter which generated around £5 million per annum and the Central District Alliance which generated around £2.5 million per annum. She also made reference to the City BID portfolio including the Cheapside Business Alliance which was now a very well-established BID in the Square Mile and the first BID in the City of London which had now been operating for 7-8 years. It was reported that this BID generated approximately £400,000 per annum. Ms Duston also spoke on Aldgate Connect, a cross boundary BID operating across both Tower Hamlets and the City of London which generated around £800,000 per annum.

Ms Duston commented that, over the years, BIDs

Joint report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor and the Town Clerk and Chief Executive.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor and the Town Clerk and Chief Executive presenting a reviewed and updated Wardmote Book.

The Comptroller and City Solicitor reported that the changes here reflected the various changes over the last year including a change of Sovereign, various Acts of Common Council in relation to resolutions taken by the Court of Aldermen with regard to Statutory Declarations and Retirement Age.

RESOLVED – That Aldermen note the updates to the Wardmote Book.

Report of the Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor.

The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director and Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor outlining the proposed 2022 – 2023 Shrieval Plan to be championed by the Sheriffs, Alderman Alastair King & Andrew Marsden Esq.

Sheriff King spoke to underline that, ultimately, the Sheriffs’ role was to support both the current Lord Mayor and the Lord Mayor Elect and that this Plan which was already familiar to most sought to divided up the various duties between the two Sheriffs. Appended to the Plan were the potential topics to be covered this Shrieval year as part of the themed lunches. The intention was to report back on these in due course. It was highlighted that there was much focus here on women’s issues such as domestic violence, FGM and gender and the law. It was envisaged that the Aldermanic Sheriff would focus more on the business elements of the Plan with the Non-Aldermanic Sheriff tending to focus more on the Livery and Ward Club side.

The Lord Mayor highlighted that next year would see the 600^th anniversary of the death of Richard Whittington and that one of his philanthropic ventures had involved the prisoners of Newgate Prison which was something that could be picked up within the Shrieval Plan and play in nicely to the ‘No Going Back’ body of work that the pan-Livery Steering Group had been spearheading in recent years. Others highlighted that the Mercers had already begun work on developing a programme around the anniversary. An Alderman highlighted that Richard Whittington had also awarded funds to ’64 Longdrops’ and that, given that sewage in the Thames was still an issue, this might also be worth the Sheriffs exploring further.

An Alderman highlighted that there was a budget set aside for Shrieval events. Sheriff King highlighted

The Chairman to be heard.

The Committee took the opportunity to discuss the next steps coming out of the recent Aldermanic Strategy Morning session held in September 2022.

The Town Clerk distributed the final membership of the three Strategy Groups (Internal Priorities, External Priorities, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement) established as a result of the Strategy Morning.

The Chairman suggested that he was of the view that there ought to be a Junior lead and Senior Chair of each Group. He went on to report that the expectation was that each Group would convene ahead of future meetings of this Committee with a view to each reporting back into future meetings.

The Deputy Chairman remarked that one of the outcomes which had attracted universal support at the Strategy Morning was the production of an Aldermanic Impact Report. He was of the view that it would be ideal to see this launched early in the New Year. Sheriff King reported that he had already given some thought as to the content of the Impact Report and undertook to share this with all in due course. He added that he would also like to introduce a video element to the report which it might be helpful for the Lord Mayor to introduce for maximum impact.

The Chairman referred to the Pan Livery Impact Report which had recently been launched and suggested that this was a good example of a successful report. He asked that the Town Clerk seek to obtain hard copies of this and distribute to all Aldermen and key Officers as well as emailing PDF versions to all.

To nominate Alderman & Sheriff Alastair King as a Director of the Lord Mayor's Show Ltd.

RESOLVED – That the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen agree the nomination of Aldermen and Sheriff Alastair King as a Director of the Lord Mayor’s Show Limited which would be taken forward to the Lord Mayor’s Show Board for ratification.

The Chairman of the Lord Mayor’s Show Ltd reported that, with regards to the proposal to appoint an external director with marketing and commercial experience, procurement were now drafting a proposal to potentially go to the Policy and Resources Committee in November.

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman took the opportunity to report on various recent Aldermanic appointments as follows:

-        Alderman Kawsar Zaman to the Port Health and Environmental Service Committee (in the room of Alderwoman Susan Langley);

-        Alderman Christopher Makin to the Community and Children’s Services Committee (in the room of Alderman Gregory Jones);

-        Alderwoman Jennette Newman to Bridewell Royal Hospital

He added that there had also been some discussion with the Remembrancer as to Aldermanic spots on Emanuel School and the United Westminster Foundation. He stated that the key point here was that the Court of Aldermen had the right to nominate Governors for these schools and that these places could therefore be offered up more widely, for example to members of the City’s Education Board. An Alderman who had previously held these spaces as a Governor reported that the Schools would seemingly also be content with this approach and that this was a fairly common approach adopted by others who nominated third-party candidates.

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 on 6 September 2022.

Aldermanic Clothing Allowance – The Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor reported that a substantive report on this would be brought forward to the next meeting of this Committee in December.

The Chairman asked that the Committee also be updated as to the Shrieval Budget at their next meeting.

RESOLVED: - That –

(i)      the Outstanding Actions List be noted; and

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

There were no questions.

Quorum for Court of Aldermen

The Chairman reported that, at present, the quorum for meetings of the Court of Aldermen was ‘the Lord Mayor or their locum tenens, together with ten Aldermen’ – a high percentage. It was therefore proposed that this be reduced to ‘the Lord Mayor or their locum tenens together with seven Aldermen’.

The Town Clerk reported that, in the case of the Nominations Committee of the Court of Aldermen, the quorum was thirteen with a quorum of three for the General Purposes Committee. The Aldermen were of the view that the quorum of this Committee ought to also be increased to seven.

RESOLVED – That the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen recommend to the Court of Aldermen that the quorum for future meetings of the Court be amended to read ‘the Lord Mayor or their locum tenens together with seven Aldermen’ and that the quorum for the General Purposes Committee be amended to ‘seven Aldermen’ with the Court’s Standing Orders to amended accordingly to reflect this.

Livery Committee

The Deputy Chairman reported that the Livery Committee had been very focused in recent years on Livery Liaison and that that latest iteration of this Scheme included using the Court of Aldermen for this purpose. It was therefore suggested that the Chair of the Livery Committee be invited to the next meeting of this Committee in December to set out what this might look like.

Pan Livery Movement

The Deputy Chairman reported that the Panel Livery Impact Report also set out proposals for the future in that it was set to continue, working closely with the Livery Committee and drawing together all stakeholders in a more advisory as opposed to executive fashion. He added that he had stepped down from his Chairing role of this in September and

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 6 September 2022.

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 6^th September 2022 and approved them as a correct record.

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.  

The Committee considered a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor setting out options and issues in relation to the risk of an Alderman with a relevant foreign conviction being elected.

There were no questions raised in non-public session.

Additional items of business concerning the Aldermanic Appraisal Panel Meeting 2023, the Aldermanic Rolling Programme of Events, the Herald’s Proclamation Fee and the Presentation of Lord Mayor Elect at House of Lords were discussed in non-public session.

Report of the Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor.

The Committee considered and approved a confidential report of the Executive Director & Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor relative to a staffing matter.