Agenda item

Report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor which set out the main legal and governance issues which arise when former officers are elected as City Corporation Members.

The Chairman advised that the report before Members had been produced by the Comptroller and City Solicitor in response to the proposed Ward appointment of the recently elected Member of Walbrook Ward to serve on the Planning and Transportation Committee.  

A Member expressed concerns about the imposition of restrictions on Members in order to prevent their appointment to committees. A discussion took place, during which the point was raised that when nominating or electing Members to serve on Committees, potential conflicts of interest should be taken into consideration. Members further added that it was the responsibility of all Members to decide, under the existing governance arrangements, whether a Member should be appointed to a Committee.

Members further considered the recent Ward Committee appointment and it was suggested that, had the Ward Deputy been aware of the Common Councilman job description, which specifies that former officers should not sit on committees to which they have previously reported for a period of two years, the motion to appoint the new Member to the Planning and Transportation Committee may never have been submitted.

A discussion took place about the onus being on Ward Deputies to be aware of this information and the Committee asked that this be brought to the attention of both the Members’ Privileges Sub (Policy and Resources) Committee and the Standards Committee.

At the conclusion of the discussion it was noted that whilst the Committee was clear about the legal position, the appointment to committees was in essence a political decision and that Members needed to determine a policy which would ensure that appropriate restrictions on committee appointments and decision-making activities could be imposed when former officers became Members.

RESOLVED – That:

a)    the Committee note the contents of the report and the legal position; and

b)    the report and a summary of the discussion be sent to both the Members’ Privileges Sub Committee and the Standards Committee.