Agenda and minutes

At the outset of the meeting, the Rt. Hon the Lord Mayor invited all members of the Court and those officers present to observe a short silence to mark the death of Sir Roger Gifford, Alderman for the Ward of Cordwainer.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the Court of Aldermen held on 11^th May 2021 were correctly recorded.

[The minutes of the Court of Common Council were accessible throughout the meeting.]

Resolution of Condolence:

Resolved unanimously – That, upon his unexpected and melancholy death, the Members of this Honourable Court wish to place on record their most sincere condolences as well as their profound thanks to Sir Roger Gifford for the most distinguished service that he gave to the City Corporation as Alderman for the Ward of Cordwainer since 2004, as Sheriff of the City in 2008, as the 685^th Lord Mayor of the City of London in 2012; and as a most respected and amiable Senior member of the Court.

Roger’s distinguished career, as a highly respected and visible senior figure in international banking is well documented as is his impressive and inspirational role in embedding financial services in the climate action agenda. As Chair of the Green Finance Institute, and Chair of Her Majesty’s Government’s Green Finance Taskforce, Roger provided vision and stewardship in this rapidly growing area. With his boundless energy and good humour- neither of which ever seemed to tire - he successfully brought people together to achieve significant long-term outcomes. Undoubtedly, Roger leaves a strong legacy in this area as the UK prepares to host the COP26 international climate summit in Glasgow later this year. As a proud Scot, Roger would have played a key role for the City and the UK at the summit and his valuable contributions will inevitably be missed.

Roger’s Mayoral theme was “The City in Society”, championing the role that business, and financial services in particular, can play in nurturing talent, supporting the wider economy, creating jobs and making a social contribution across society.  In a world of increasing inequality, helping to improve social mobility is hugely important and Roger advocated the importance of this in many ways. His Mayoral Appeal in 2021 supported the City Music Foundation, which he

[Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney declared an interest in this item by virtue of his wife being an applicant for the Freedom of the City.]

Mr Chamberlain presented the names of one hundred and six persons to be made free of this City, and it is Ordered that they be admitted into the Freedom of this City accordingly, as follows:-

(i)            Extension to the waiver for Guilds and Livery Companies

The Court was advised that, in accordance with the Court of Aldermen’s Standing Orders (urgency provisions), on 28^th April 2021, the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen approved an extension to the waiver for Guilds and Livery companies to conduct their business virtually due to on-going Coronavirus-related restrictions. The Court noted that the Guilds and Livery companies had been advised of the decision in April and it was anticipated that, subject to a review by the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen in October, the conduct of all Guild and Livery company business shall revert to normal practice as the 2021/2022 Mayoral year commences.

NOTED.

(ii)          General Purposes Committee of Aldermen – access to meetings and meeting-related documentation

The Court of Aldermen considered a recommendation of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen following its consideration on 5^th July 2021 of a proposal to provide public access to meetings of the Committee and the public disclosure of Committee related documentation (agendas, reports, minutes). It was recommended that the business of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen should be accessible to the public henceforth subject to where exemptions to disclose could be reasonable, as directed by a Disclosure Arrangement to be adopted by the Court of Aldermen and with relevant revisions made to the Court’s Standing Orders. In approving the recommendations, it was recommendedthat the Disclosure Arrangement should be appended to the revised Standing Orders and placed on the City Corporation’s webpages; and the new arrangement should apply to all future meetings and future business of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen, but not that which was historic.

Resolved: - That –

(i)            as of 7^th July 2021, a Disclosure Arrangement be adopted by the Court of Aldermen and