Agenda item

To approve the public minutes and non-public summary of the previous meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 8 February 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 8 February 2022.

RESOLVED: - That the minutes of the last meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Aldermen held on 8 February 2022 be approved as an accurate record

of the meeting.

The Chairman took the opportunity to congratulate Alderman Prem Goyal on his appointment as an advisor to the Hinduja Group. He also reported that a senior figure from the Hinduja Group would now be joining the Aldermen for lunch after their next meeting on 10 May 2022.

An Alderman raised an issue regarding those Common Councillors who had not been returned to Court following last week’s all-out elections. He recognised that those who had chosen not to stand for a further term were given advance notice that their Corporation IT facilities would be disconnected on the day before the election and that this email did also refer to the fact that similar action would be taken for those who were not re-elected. However, the Alderman made the point that a number of those who had lost their seats last week had done so unexpectedly and that the individuals concerned had not therefore made preparations or circulated their personal email/telephone details to those contacts that they intended to stay in touch with. Some had also been in the middle of undertaking work on behalf of their constituents and had found themselves unable to access previous correspondence, even to simply pass this on to one of their Ward colleagues. The Alderman went on to express his disappointment at this approach towards Councillors who had served in senior positions and those who may have served for many decades. He suggested that those who lost their seats unexpectedly should be given until the end of the election week to continue to access their City of London correspondence and email accounts so that they were able to adequately conclude or pass on nay official business.

The Town Clerk clarified that this action had been taken in accordance with the policy approved by Members and that the IT team had made every possible effort to transfer all of the relevant emails and files for individual Members onto memory sticks which were then issued to them. Specific arrangements were made for those Members who had difficulty in accessing and configuring their own information and information was given to all Members to warn that this would be actioned but that assistance would be made available to them should they require this. The Town Clerk concluded by stating that if Members wished to review this approach it would be appropriate to raise the matter with the Policy and Resources Committee to suggest that they look again at this.

Another Alderman commented that it was his understanding that, at midnight the night before the Wardmote was held, Members ceased to hold elected office and he was of the view that it was therefore inappropriate for them to continue to send emails from their City of London accounts beyond this time. He stated that he was, however, in favour of introducing some sort of transitional arrangement going forward whereby Members could continue to access their accounts.

The Alderman commented that, in every other local authority, Members continued to hold office until the Sunday following the poll which allowed those not re-elected to make appropriate arrangements in terms of any outstanding issues. He mentioned that there would also be some Aldermen surrendering office under the 6-year convention but seeking re-election and that this therefore remained a live issue.

Another Alderman asked that consideration be given to the introduction of a sort of alumni community for former Members, perhaps overseen by the Chief Commoner, so that the wealth of institutional knowledge and talent was not lost going forward and to ensure that former Members continued to have a sense of belonging as far as the City Corporation was concerned.