Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Governance Committee on a Revision to the Procedure for the Nomination and Appointment of Honorary Freeman and Honorary Alderman (attached).

Note: The deadline for amendments is midnight, Monday 23 March 2015.

Report AGREED without division.

A report of the Governance Committee asked Council to agree a revised procedure for the appointment of Honorary Freemen and Honorary Aldermen for the London Borough of Havering. This procedure would arrange for proposed nominations to be discussed initially by Group Leaders and then considered by Governance Committee, prior to being voted on at full Council.

The recommendations of the Governance Committee were APPROVED without division and it was RESOLVED that:

1.             The protocol for the nomination and appointment of Honorary Freemen and Honorary Aldermen for the London Borough of Havering attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes be approved.

2.             That a common form for both Aldermen and Freemen be devised so that all applications could receive equal consideration.

3.             That the Council’s Monitoring Officer be authorised to make the necessary changes to the Council’s Constitution.

Members considered revisions to the procedure for the nomination and appointment of Honorary Freemen and Honorary Aldermen and the adoption of a protocol for such matters.

It was informed that under the provisions of Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972, the Council may, by resolution passed by not less than two-thirds of the councillors voting thereon at a meeting specially convened for the purpose:

(i)            Admit to be Honorary Freemen of the Borough persons of distinction and persons who had, in the opinion of the Council, rendered eminent service to the Borough; and

(ii)          Confer the title of Honorary Alderman upon persons who had, in the opinion of the Council, rendered eminent service to the Council as past councillors.

Current practice in Havering was for nominations for the appointment of honorary freeman and honorary alderman to be submitted for consideration at the annual meeting of Council.  To support the nominations, details of the eminent service or the reasons for distinction for which the award was to be conferred, were required.

In recent years there had been an increase in the number of nominations with an annual expectation that nominations would be made.  To ensure that the honour was regarded as the highest accolade a Council could award, the Administration proposed that a protocol which would amend existing procedures and which would also remove the likelihood of a nomination not achieving the requisite two-thirds majority at Council should be put in place.

It was proposed that in the first instance Group Leaders would attempt to reach agreement on the nomination to ensure that it would meet the requisite two-thirds majority.  Once Group Leaders had discussed the matter, it would be referred to the Governance Committee which would in turn recommend to Council for its consideration the names of those individuals nominated for the award of honorary freeman or honorary alderman.

The Committee accordingly recommended to Council that.

1.             The protocol for the nomination and appointment of honorary freemen and honorary aldermen for the London Borough of Havering attached as Appendix A to the report be approved.

2.             That a common form for both Aldermen and Freemen be devised so that all applications could receive equal consideration.

3.             That the Council’s Monitoring Officer be authorised to make the necessary change to the Council’s Constitution.