To note the appointment of Councillor Sue Dann as Chair of the Lord Mayor Selection and Advisory Committee.

The Committee noted that Councillor Sue Dann would be the Chair of the Lord Mayor Selection and Advisory Committee for the 2024/25 munipal year.

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2024.

The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2024 as an accurate record.

The Committee:

a)    All agreed the importance of the role and the civic function of the Lord Mayor within the city, but acknowledged there was a need to modernise the role and its protocols.

Ross Jago (Head of Governance, Performance and Risk) explained:

b)    The meeting had been called as officers had been asked to bring Councillors together to discuss the office and role of the Lord Mayor and a civic review;

c)    This meeting would serve as a discussion and scoping session for a civic review.

Glenda Favor-Ankersen (Head of Electoral Services) added:

d)    Civic Protocol had not been reviewed;

e)    There was a need for a protocol specific to Plymouth, but also more up-to-date;

f)     An update protocol would also help officers to have clearer instruction on process and how to support the Lord Mayor;

g)    Some elements were immovable because they were determined within National Association of Civic Officers (NACO) guidance, but some regional and local elements could be changed;

h)    The Lord Mayoral budget had been cut significantly in recent years, and sometimes costs were covered by other areas within the department;

i)     It was important to look at the protocol in conjunction with the budget and ensure that as much as possible could still be carried out by the Lord Mayor;

j)     There were only 32 Lord Mayor offices in the country;

k)    Officers sought a logical compromise on which everyone could agree.

The following topics were then discussed:

l)     The protocol had not been reviewed and this needed to occur;

m)  There was a need to understand where the Lord Mayor’s Office crossed over with other areas of the Council’s work, such as the events team;

n)    Councillors needed to understand best practice from other Councils;

o)    Issues of equality needed to be addressed during the review, such as outfits required, associated costs, and remove gender specific terms;

p)    Suggestion that businesses that requested the Lord Mayor’s presence at an event could make a contribution, where appropriate;

q)    Following a review, a refreshed Civic Protocol would be submitted to Council for approval;

r)    It was important to get the views of past Lord Mayors, from Councillors such as those in the room;

s)     Any Councillor should be able to be Lord Mayor;

t)     Changes needed to be made to adapt to a lower budget;

u)    People who meet the Lord Mayor tend to want to see the chains and the Macebearer, and the Lord Mayors have struggled with the chains without the support of the Macebearer, and this needed to be taken into consideration;

v)    Travel for the Lord Mayor needed to be considered as not all Lord Mayors could drive;

w)   There was a need to ensure the new protocol was flexible, but also set a tone and guidance for Lord Mayors;

x)    The way the Macebearers hours were worked could be looked into;

y)    Not all events required a full outfit, chains and a macebearer, but important to note that some did;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.