Agenda item

To consider the appointment of a Co-opted Member of the Standards Committee.

STANDARDS COMMITTEE

(Oliver Arthur Wynlayne Lodge)

25 January 2019

(A) Appointment of Co-opted Member

The Standards Committee comprises sixteen Members, four of whom are co-opted and must not be members of the Court of Common Council or employees of the City Corporation. Whilst Co-opted Members are no longer a statutory requirement and have no formal vote, following the introduction of the Localism Act 2011, the City of London Corporation has agreed to the inclusion of Co-opted Members on the Committee to maximise the breadth of knowledge and experience available.

A vacancy for one co-opted Member had arisen and following a recruitment exercise Nicholas Cooke Q.C. had been nominated by the Selection Panel to serve on the Standards Committee.

Resolved – That the Court approve the Selection Panel’s recommendation that Nicholas Cooke Q.C. be appointed to serve as a Co-opted Member of the Standards Committee for an initial two-year term (in order to better regulate the terms of office of Co-opted Members of the Standards Committee) expiring in March 2021 be approved. It was noted that, thereafter, Mr Cooke Q.C. would be eligible for re-appointment for a further, full, four-year term.

The Chairman thanked the Court for approving the recommendation to appoint Nicholas Cooke Q.C. to the Committee and provided an update in respect of Co-opted Member Mark Greenburgh who had recently been found to have breached Principle Six of the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority Rules 2011. The Court was advised that the remarks made did not breach the Members’ code of conduct, Mr Greenburgh had been transparent throughout the process and this was a matter for the Standards Committee consider now that the hearing had concluded.