Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, Alderman Vincent Keaveny, Alderman Alison Gowman, CBE, Alderman Prem Goyal, OBE, Alderman Robert Hughes-Penney, Alderwoman & Sheriff Dame Susan Langley and Alderman Kawsar Zaman.

There were no declarations.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 16 July 2024.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 16 July 2024.

MATTERS ARISING

Appointments (page 6) – The Town Clerk reported that the Court of Aldermen’s proposed external nominee to Emanuel School had since been appointed directly by the Trust to another existing vacancy in their own right. This therefore left the Court’s nomination still vacant. The position had been offered to all Aldermen with no expressions of interest received to date. This would now therefore be advertised to all members of the Court of Common Council within the standard vacancies letter for October alongside details of the specific skills that the School were currently seeking. A final decision on the nomination would then be made at the next meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen.

Chairman’s Congratulatory Remarks

The Chairman congratulated Alderman Emma Edhem for having been made Professor in Practice for Space Economy, Technology & Innovation at Durham University's Space Research Centre, meaning that she therefore now held a dual Professorship at Durham.

It was reported that Alderman Edhem also now sat on the Strategic Advisory Board of Space Aye along with others from the Space Sector, MoD and RAF.

Congratulations were also offered to Alderman Goyal who had been made a non-executive Director of Greengage, a FinTech Company in the City of London.

RESOLVED: - That the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 16 July 2024 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

The Chairman welcomed Professor Caroline Barron to the meeting who presented on ‘The Aldermen of London in 1446’.

Professor Barron referred to the Corporation of London’s records on the ‘Journals of the Court of Common Council’ which were, in fact, the records of the Court of Aldermen. Records of meetings began in 1416 and listed those present as well as meeting dates and the business of the Court which was presented in Latin. Professor Barron went on to share a collection of drawings of Medieval Aldermen, produced in 1446-7 by one of the Heralds, John Roger Lee, who was Clarenceux King of Arms. All Aldermen were depicted holding placards featuring the name of their Ward, the idea being that successive Aldermen for each Ward would have their own coat of arms added to the placard. An illustration was also produced of the Recorder.

Professor Barron remarked on the two different hat styles shown in the illustrations. She went on to remark that, in the 15^th Century, there was a growing interest in heraldry and in chivalry generally - that this was mostly confined to the gentry and aristocracy but was also spreading to London. At this time, Edward III had also already established the Order of the Garter with the statutes of the order being revised in 1421, directing that the arms of all the Knights of the Order should be placed on the stalls in St George’s Chapel. It was reported that the reorganisation of the Knights Garter was the work of William Bruges who produced the ‘Garter Book’ depicting all of the Knights – it was highlighted how comparable this was with the illustrations of the London Aldermen and the placards they were depicted carrying. The difficulty for the Aldermen at the time was that they

The Town Clerk tabled the Shrieval Plan 2024/25 on behalf of Sheriff-Elect Jones and Sheriff-Elect Chalk.

Alderman Jones presented the Plan on behalf of both Sheriffs Elect and highlighted that this had also been drawn up in consultation with the Secretariat Director at Mansion House. Previous versions of the plan had been shared with the Recorder. Alderman Jones thanked the current Lord Mayor, SABTAC and to the current Aldermanic Sheriffs who had provided both oral and written briefings to date which had been incredibly helpful. Alderman Jones commented that both Sheriffs Elect were also very conscious of resource implications in the Shrieval Corridor at the Old Bailey. Some of the proposed events would therefore be sponsored by City law firms and others which would bring in their representatives and their various networks but would also relieve some administrative burden for staff at the Old Bailey in terms of processing invitations and the like.

It was underlined that the primary role of the Sheriffs was to support the work of the Lord Mayor in promoting financial and professional services, noting that the Shrieval year overlapped two mayoralties. It was noted that much of what was planned had been drawn up in consultation with SABTAC. The role was also about supporting the judiciary and these aspects of the plan had been discussed with the Recorder who was very keen for the Old Bailey to be used as a resource for promoting events concerning the rule of law. Alderman Jones referenced various lectures proposed in this vein such as those around the role of legal services in meeting the needs of business.

In terms of relationships, Alderman Jones stated that he was keen to embed his own legal networks into his plans such that subsequent Sheriffs may also utilise these if desired.

It

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 16 July 2024.

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 16 July 2024.

RESOLVED: - That the non-public minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 16 July 2024 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk This report advising Members of action taken by the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of the Court of Aldermen, in accordance with Standing Order No. 46 (Court of Aldermen).

The Committee took the opportunity to reflect further upon the Aldermanic Awayday that had taken place last week, particularly the key objectives established for each of the three Strategic Working Groups for 2024-25.

Aldermanic Strategy Group Three updated the Committee on progress on the ‘Court of Aldermen 2024’ document.

Aldermen were given the opportunity to report on recent, wider Committee issues of strategic importance.

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

There were 5 items of other business for discussion in non-public session.

The Executive Director, Private Secretary to Lord Mayor provided a verbal update on staffing matters.