Agenda item

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain on Guidance for Members and Non-Members regarding the Freedom of the City of London.

Detailed discussion ensued on both sets of proposed guidance.  It was agreed to amend the wording of paragraph 4 of the Guidance for Members, as follows:-

‘If Members wish to nominate an Ambassador, a Member of Parliament, a significant figure from the City of London or some other  prominent public figure in the UK or overseas, then they should consult first with the Freedom Applications Committee to ascertain whether the City of London has an existing agenda which can be enhances by the freedom ceremony or to enable the Remembrancer to carry out appropriate consultations, for example with the Foreign and Commonwealth office regarding Ambassadorial, diplomatic and prominent nominations. In these cases, it would be normal for the Lord Mayor, Chairman of Policy and Resources and the Chief Commoner to be the nominators.’

With regard to the wording of the Guidance for Non-Members amendments were agreed as follows:-

·           Title – to be amended to read ‘Guidance for Livery Companies – The Freedom’;

·           Paragraph 2, second sentence – ‘The Purpose of this note is to provide Livery Companies with some….’

·           Paragraph 4 - ‘Freedom granted by the Court of Alderman via a Livery Company. It is appreciated that Livery Companies carry out their own extensive vetting procedures and often interview candidates personally through a membership committee. However, if the Company is nominating an Ambassador, a Member of Parliament, a prominent public figure  it should consult fist with the Freedom Applications Committee..……’

·           Paragraph 8 - All applications under any of the categories above, but not those submitted to Livery Companies, will be subject to some basic checks by the Chamberlain’s Court to ensure that they are people that….’.

The Committee also agreed that paragraph 5 in both sets of Guidance should be amended to reflect the most recent Honorary Freedom i.e. Sir Tim Berners- Lee in September 2014, and the date be changed to 2016.

It was noted that the Guidance for Members would be amongst a number of other governance documents available on a web page being created specifically for the use of Members.

RESOLVED – That the Clerk to the Chamberlain’s Court be requested to amend wording of guidance for both Members and Livery Companies (formerly Non-Members) be amended as set out above and that the revised versions be circulated accordingly by the Chairman of the Committee.