Agenda item

Joint report of the Deputy Town Clerk and the Executive Director and Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor.

The Committee received a joint report of the Executive Director and Private Secretary to the Lord Mayor and the Deputy Town Clerk outlining the proposed 2023-24 Mayoral Theme which would be championed, subject to election, by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Michael Mainelli.

Alderman Mainelli took the opportunity to provide the Committee with some preliminary thoughts as to his year ahead as well as some thoughts as to the continuum. He highlighted that his mayoral theme would be ‘Connect to Prosper’ with a tagline of ‘celebrating our knowledge miles in the world’s coffee house’. The focus would be on how we prosper through trade, ideas and culture. The theme recognised that the Square Mile contained many knowledge miles. Alderman Mainelli referenced the many universities and research institutes within close proximity to the City or in the Square Mile itself. He also highlighted that almost a third of the City’s SMEs were in the science technical area, something that he was therefore keen to see more engagement with. He added that he was keen to show that the City of London was an active and interesting place to be and do business.

Alderman Mainelli highlighted that his theme was very much in line with the government’s productivity theme and also followed on from the themes of recent Lord Mayor’s around people and skills a well as finance, whilst also focusing on the importance of connectivity. He went on to speak on the importance of partnerships and mentioned that a connectivity app would be launched for the Lord Mayor’s Show. He also highlighted that his Mayoral year would include a very full travel programme but that he hoped to supplement this with visits to science, research and university establishments whilst on tour.

The Committee were informed that a Knowledge Mile lecture series was also planned, featuring approximately 50 online lectures to be handled by the Gresham Society. The lectures would cover matters such as the Future of Fusion, Design for Life, Keeping Faith with Business and Bioengineering. In terms of getting things done, Alderman Mainelli was proud to report that, alongside MQ Mental Health, the first open source for mental health resource had been created and launched last month under the name ‘Galenos’. Other events of a science/research and demonstration nature were also planned.

Alderman Mainelli reported that he was also exploring the idea of ‘coffee colloquies’ with the Mansion House Team – a system whereby guests would be invited to join at 9.15am with sessions then incorporating 10 short presentations in an hour followed by an opportunity to network. These would be themed around the 17 Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) and other topic areas such as Big Philanthropy Capital as volunteered by two other Aldermen.

He concluded by requesting any feedback or further ideas that the wider Court of Aldermen might have. He also encouraged all to consider whether they might wish to host a future ‘coffee colloquy’.

An Alderman commented that this was a very ambitious programme and questioned how the ‘Connect to Prosper’ theme would be used to connect all SMEs in the City of London. Alderman Mainelli responded by stating that one of the planned coffee colloquies would be focused on the development of SMEs. He added that the Association of Business Schools ran the government’s Help to Grow programme and held a budget for putting some 15,000 businesses through a training programme. Take up on this to date had been mediocre and he had therefore undertaken to make this a focal point of his Mayoral year. Finally he stated that he had also been working alongside the City’s Policy Lead on SMEs to help advance these efforts.

Another Alderman commented on the various sub-themes set out and questioned which Alderman Mainelli felt would be the major or minor theme that might deliver the most traction by the end of his Mayoral year. He added that he felt reference to Health and Wellbeing and Peace and Justice was somewhat limited and asked how these might also be tied in. Alderman Mainelli confirmed that both of these SDGs were referenced in full as part of his Theme and apologised for any omission on these in what was presented here. He added that, given the current climate, he would expect the sub themes of ‘posterity, people and prosperity’ to land best throughout his Mayoral year.

An Alderman asked if Alderman Mainelli could speak further on plans around regional engagement. Alderman Mainelli spoke of events planned across the UK, in Cardiff for example. He also mentioned that the Lord Mayor had not visited the Channel Islands for some considerable time and highlighted that he had therefore queried whether a visit here might be possible during his Mayoralty. He commented that most regional engagement would be conducted through SMEs and the Association of Business Schools who were keen to reach out to their regional alumni.

An Alderman encouraged the candidate whom the Court of Aldermen expected to become Lord Mayor in the coming year to draw upon the skills and expertise of the other 124 members of the Court of Common Council in helping to deliver on this very ambitious programme which had the ability to propel the City globally. Alderman Mainelli reiterated that he would be keen for Members to volunteer to host various colloquies throughout the Mayoral year but added that he would also be exploring other ways in which he might call upon the expertise of the wider Court.

Another Alderman queried how arts, culture and heritage would be incorporated. Alderman Mainelli recognised that other, former Lord Mayor’s had focused on culture during their year in office and stated that he was keen to see a continuum here. He referenced some specific cultural events which he already had planned including Paganini’s violin coming to the City and a week-long programme of events being crafted around this. He also spoke on the idea of utilising some of the City’s historical sites such as The Monument and St Paul’s Cathedral for scientific experiments , thereby highlighting not only a scientific but also a cultural aspect.

An Alderman questioned how the City’s own family of schools/academies might plug into the Mayoral theme. He also questioned whether more could be done to protect or encourage the ‘eco-system’ of universities and the like situated in close proximity to the City. Alderman Mainelli stated that he had already reached out to the City’s family of schools and referenced some specific events already planned with Christ’s Hospital and the City of London School for example. He welcomed any further suggestions that the wider Court might have on this front. In terms of the wider university ‘eco-system’ – Alderman Mainelli recognised the difficulties that some were facing and reported that he had reached out to the Association of Business Schools and London Higher to offer support but recognised that there would likely be a limit to what was possible here.

RESOLVED :-  That the Committee note the draft Mayoral theme.