1.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1     The Local Government Act 1972 gives principal councils the power to confer the title of ‘Honorary Alderman’ (or ‘Honorary Alderwoman’) on persons who have, in the opinion of the council, rendered eminent services to the council as past members of that council. The title can only be conferred on individuals who are no longer members of the authority.

1.2     The legislation states that the Council must pass a resolution, supported by two thirds of the members present, at a meeting specially convened for the purpose of appointing Honorary Aldermen.

1.3     The Local Government Act 1972 does not specify the criteria that should be used for nominating Honorary Aldermen.  This is a matter of local choice.

1.4     An Honorary Alderman may attend and take part in such civic ceremonies

       and events as the Council decides, but the title does not confer rights to attend meetings of the council or receive allowances or other such payments.

1.5     Democracy Committee considered a draft protocol for the appointment of Honorary Aldermen at its meeting of 14 March 2018. However the Committee felt that the protocol needed further consideration through the convening of a working group before it took its decision.

Progress Since 14 March Committee Meeting

1.6     A working group was convened on 14 August 2018 to consider the protocol. The working group consisted of the following Committee members:

·         Councillor Fran Wilson

·         Councillor Denise Joy

·         Councillor Diana Lewins

·         Councillor Fay Gooch

1.7     All other members of the Committee were asked for feedback on the previous draft Protocol for the Appointment of Honorary Aldermen that was considered at Committee on 15 March 2018. The feedback received was taken into account at the Workshop, alongside the views of those present.

1.8     The working group made several amendments to the protocol. The amendments made to the original proposed protocol, and the reasons given for these suggested amendments, can be found in the table attached to this report as Appendix 1.

1.9     An amended Protocol for the Appointment of Honorary Aldermen, reflecting the amendments made by the working group, can be found attached to this report as Appendix 2.

1.10 The final comment that the working group made, but did not need to be included in the protocol, was that they felt it was important that only current and future members of the Council should be eligible to become Honorary Aldermen. The group were concerned that introducing the protocol would open up retrospective nominations and this was not desirable. Therefore recommendation 2 of this report makes it very clear that the appointment is limited to current and future Members of the Council.

2.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

2.1     The Committee could adopt the draft protocol, which has been discussed, scrutinised and amended by the Democracy Committee working group.

2.2     The Committee could amend the protocol according to its own wishes, providing those amendments do not conflict with the statutory requirements of section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972 – the act giving the Council the power to appoint Honorary Aldermen.

2.3     The Committee could decide not to adopt a protocol for appointing Honorary Aldermen. This would mean the Council would not be able to appoint past members of the authority as Honorary Aldermen.

3.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.       RISK

4.1    The risks associated with this proposal, including the risks if the Council does not act as recommended, have been considered in line with the Council’s Risk Management Framework. We are satisfied that the risks associated are within the Council’s risk appetite and will be managed as per the Policy. The only identified risk of introducing this protocol is the risk to the Council’s reputation due to the future (or past) conduct of Honorary Aldermen. Including a mechanism to remove the honour mitigates this risk.

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

5.1     The draft protocol was considered previously at the Democracy Committee meeting on 14 March 2018. Following this meeting a working group was convened on 14 August 2018 to discuss the specific provisions within the protocol.

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

6.1     Once the protocol is agreed, it will be submitted to full Council for inclusion into the Council’s constitution. The next Council meeting is due to take place on 26 September 2018.

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix 1: Amendments made by the Democracy Committee Working Group

·         Appendix 2: Protocol for the Appointment of Honorary Aldermen

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

There are no background papers