Issue - meetings
Freedom of the Borough Nomination Shortlist and Ceremony Venue
Meeting: 07/09/2021 - Freedom of the Borough (Item 5)
5 Freedom of the Borough Nomination Shortlist and Ceremony Venue PDF 240 KB
Additional documents:
- Appendix. 1 Freedom of the Borough Nominations , View reasons restricted (5/2)
- Appendix. 2 Summary of venue information (Exempt) , View reasons restricted (5/3)
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and handed over to Matthew Mannion, Head of Democratic Services, to administratively run the meeting and introduce the report.
Matthew Mannion, Head of Democratic Services, presented a report on Membership, Nomination Shortlist and Ceremony Venue.
Membership
The Panel agreed the appointment of a representative of the new political group (Aspire) onto the Panel in line with the Terms of Reference.
Nomination Shortlist
The Panel were reminded of the process the Panel had undertaken to date. They were then provided with the results of the indicative voting panel Members had undertaken over the last few weeks. This gave an initial indication of those candidates Members thought had the strongest cases to be given the Freedom of the Borough.
It was noted that the voting should not be considered definitive and that not all Members had participated but that it was a useful guide.
The Panel then discussed the full list of nominees taking into account the above information and the details in the submissions themselves. They agreed to focus on the shortlist of 20 nominations that had been voted on.
The discussion in particular explored whether the nominee’s contribution was boroughwide, over a long period of time and carried out over and above any paid position. After much discussion, the Panel agreed on a final list of 5 nominees.
RESOLVED
1. That the nominations for the Freedom of the Borough Award for the following nominees should be put forward at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Council:
· Sister Christine Frost
· Sir George Iacobescu
· Sufia Alam
· Abdul Aziz Sardar
· Jim Fitzpatrick
Ceremony Venue
The Panel discussed the options presented as potential venues for the Extraordinary Council Meeting and Freedom of the Borough ceremony and reception. This included looking at potential costs and the general suitability of the venue options. The Panel concluded that the Tower of London was the most suitable venue for such a prestigious event and that the proposed costs were within the Speaker’s available budget.
RESOLVED
2. That the meeting, ceremony and reception should be held at the Tower of London.