Agenda and draft minutes

Resolved: - That the minutes of the Court of Aldermen held on 10^th October 2023 were correctly recorded.

[The minutes of the Court of Common Council were on the table.]

Resolved Unanimously:- That, This Court wishes to convey to,

Alderman Nicholas Stephen Leland Lyons

its warmest thanks for the exemplary manner in which he has carried out the role of Lord Mayor of this City. Nicholas’ Mayoralty came immediately after his year as Sheriff and the Court of Aldermen take the greatest of pleasure in having this opportunity to acknowledge the sheer energy and commitment that this requires as well as the fact that the Lord Mayor has, at all times, performed the duties of this office with dignity, enthusiasm and great skill.

Throughout Nicholas’ year, he has rigorously championed his Mayoral Theme, Financing our Future promoting a resilient, resourceful and responsible city, deploying capital and expertise to supercharge economic growth nationwide and grow our global competitiveness. This has been at the centre of his year and has encompassed a great range of initiatives.  Particular mention must be made of the Mansion House Compact where, having worked closely with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nicholas was able to convene at the Mansion House nine major U.K. companies who committed to a key target which, once achieved, will unlock over £50 billion of capital by 2030, in turn helping high-growth U.K. companies in fintech, life sciences, biotech and clean energy to scale-up domestically – an incredible and far-reaching accomplishment.

Nicholas has served as the City of London’s 694^th Lord Mayor. Fortunately, his Mayoral year has been the first of many to be untouched by any travel restrictions and he has certainly capitalised on this in his extensive travels both home and abroad to destinations such as the US, China, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Gulf. These visits have enabled him to meet with an enormous range of people and, in doing so, to fly the flag for

Resolved Unanimously:-That, That, on the occasion of his retirement, Members of this Court take great pleasure in conveying to:

PAUL DOUBLE, CVO

their gratitude and sincere appreciation for the distinguished manner in which he has carried out the role of Remembrancer of the City of London over the past twenty years.

Paul first joined the Corporation in 1985 as Counsel to the City Remembrancer. He was Assistant Remembrancer 1994-1998 and Director of the Office from 1998-2003. He was elected as the City’s 45th Remembrancer in July 2002 and took office the following January. Over the course of the past two decades, his stewardship of this unique and ancient role has covered a plethora of significant and indeed historic events.. The City Remembrancer is the official channel of communication between the City, the Royal Households, Parliament and the London Diplomatic Corps – something that Paul has fulfilled with great professionalism, level-headedness but also good humour and kindness.

Paul studied at the Universities of Bristol and Aston, and at University College, London. He was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1981 and became a Bencher in 2017. Paul has been a Freeman of the City of London since 1985. Between 1983 and 1997 he was a visiting lecturer for London University's undergraduate law programmes. He became the City’s Parliamentary Agent in 2004 and has served as consulting editor for Halsbury's Laws of England on London Government and, as an active member of the Financial Markets Law Committee, has developed strong and enduring links with the legal sector.

Paul’s time at the Corporation has spanned thirty-eight Lord Mayors, nine UK Prime Ministers and two Monarchs – a period, therefore, of much change. There is scarcely any part of the Corporation that hasn’t benefitted from legislative change during Paul’s time at

The Comptroller & City Solicitor reported the result of the Wardmote held on 2^nd

November 2023 for the Election of an Alderman for the Ward of Langbourn.

Simon Pryke was presented to the Court of Aldermen.

The Chamberlain presented the names of one hundred and forty-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:-

Name                             Occupation               Address                      Company

Name:                                Company:

Zeus Patel                          International Bankers

Application of the following to be recorded as a Freeman of the City in the Company named:-

Name                                                  Company

Zeus Patel                                           International Bankers

Read and Agreed to.

The Voluntary Hospital of St Bartholomew

The Court of Aldermen considered recommendations of its General Purposes Committee of Aldermen relative to a governance review undertaken by The Voluntary Hospital of St Bartholomew charity and noted that the Board of Governors of this charity were now pursuing a restructure to update the its constitution, governance and charitable purposes, and to address some governance complexities.

It was highlighted that the changes are intended to be made by a Charity Commission Scheme and will result in the establishment of a new charity with modern governance. As the changes affect the City Corporation’s historic connection to the charity, including its historic Trustee appointments rights, the charity is required by the Charity Commission to consult with the City Corporation to ensure that there are no objections to their proposals.

Resolved: - That the court of Aldermen:

(a)   endorse the proposed restructure, subject to the City Corporation being granted a right to nominate to the board of trustees of the new charity a suitably qualified Member of the Court of Common Council to serve as a trustee; and

(b)  delegated authority to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee and the Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen, to take any further actions or decisions necessary to implement the decision.

The Town Clerk lay before the Court a letter of surrender of office from Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney offering to surrender his Office of Alderman of the Ward of Cheap and a letter of surrender of office from Alderman Emma Edhem, offering to surrender her Office of Alderman for the Ward of Candlewick.

RECEIVED.

Resolved Unanimously:- That the Court of Hustings NOTE the appointment by the Lord Mayor of Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser as Deputy Gauger for his Mayoralty and of Deputy Dr. Giles Shilson as Assistant Deputy Gauger for the same period.

At the conclusion of the Court of Hustings, the Lord Mayor wished all members of the Court, the High Officers, and all others present or observing the meeting online, a very happy festive period.