Agenda item

The Town Clerk to be heard.

The Town Clerk took this opportunity to update the Committee on arrangements for the Election of Lord Mayor on Monday 1st October. Copies of the Ceremonial, the list of candidates and the Order of Procession were circulated within the Committee papers.

Members were reminded that breakfast would be available in a Committee Room from 9am for those arriving early to perform a ‘meet and greet’ role and that the Chairman would also be hosting a Committee lunch in the Guildhall Club after Common Hall.

The Town Clerk went on to report that the Assistant Town Clerk, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman had recently been considering how the ceremony might be shortened following a number of comments made following last year’s event. Members were informed that several measures would be trialled this year including the shortening of proceedings in the Print Room and proposing that movers and seconders of any votes of thanks move simultaneously to their lecturns. It was hoped that all of the proposed ‘small fixes’ combined would shorten the proceedings by approximately 5-6 minutes.

The Chairman reminded Members that strict guidelines were already issued to the movers and seconders of Votes of Thanks as to how long they should look to speak for.

A Member suggested that, in future, the anticipated end time of the proceedings should be published on documentation circulated prior to the day. Another Member commented that there were other seating options in ‘overflow’ arrears such as the Old Library and the Livery Hall for those who were not comfortable being seated in the Great Hall for a given length of time. He went on to state that Livery Companies should, by now, be well aware that Common Hall proceedings tend to last until 1.10/1.15pm and should therefore adjust their schedules for the day accordingly.

Finally, the Town Clerk reported that, for the first time this year, tickets for the Admission of Lord Mayor (the ‘Silent Ceremony – 9 November 2012) would now be made available to members of the public via the City Corporation’s webpages. It was agreed that a link to these pages be published in the next edition of the Livery Briefing.