Executive	9 December 2021
Report of the Director of Governance Portfolio of the Executive Leader

Lord Mayoralty 2023/24

Summary

1. The purpose of this report is to invite the Executive to receive details of  the annual nomination of the Lord Mayor for the City of York Council. The Executive will be asked to formally confirm those with the most points to qualify for nomination of the Lord Mayor for the forthcoming municipal year, 2023/2024

Recommendations

2.      Members are asked to:

(i) consider the accumulated points system as set out in paragraphs 3-6 below; and to

(ii) invite the Liberal Democrat Group to consider accepting the nomination for Lord Mayor for 2023/2024, in line with the accumulated points system.

Reason: To ensure that the Council adopts an appropriate method by which to nominate Lord Mayors for Office.

Background

3. The system for nominating the Lord Mayor is based on an accumulation of points determined by the number of seats held by each group or individual on the Council.  The group (or individual) having the largest cumulative total of points on Lord Mayor’s Day each year is invited to nominate the Lord Mayor for the following year.  A group (or individual) loses 47 points when nominating the Lord Mayor or when not taking up the offer of nominating.  It should be noted that currently a nominee for Lord Mayor requires at least four years’ service as a City of York Councillor, and be elected to serve a further term. (Article 5 of the Constitution, revised March 2022).

Current Points System

4. Should a group lose all its seats on the City Council, it may have any accumulated points frozen until seats are once again gained by that group on the Council.

5.      Under the current points system, the number of points accumulated by each group or independent Member, as we move towards the Annual Meeting in May 2023, is as follows:

Party	Points at LM Day 2022	Loss for LM	Points at LM Day 2023*	Total
Labour	1		1 + 17	18
Lib Dem	2		2 + 21	23
Green	0		0 + 3	3
Conservatives	5		5 + 2	7
York Independents	6	-47	6 - 47	-41
*Councillor Warters (Independent)	10	-47 (for non acceptance)	10 - 47	-37
Councillor D Taylor (Independent)	2		2 + 1	3

*Note: The position of Lord Mayor for 2022/23 was initially offered to Councillor Warters in accordance with the accumulated points system.  Councillor Warters felt unable to accept the offer and as a result the position was offered to the York Independents with the next highest number of points.  Both the York Independents and Councillor Warters have been deducted the usual points under the existing agreed process.

6.      The above table shows that the Liberal Democrat Group, with a total of 23 points, will qualify for the Lord Mayoralty in 2023/2024 under the existing points system. 

7.      Traditionally, the outgoing Lord Mayor assumes the mantle of Deputy Lord Mayor following their year in office. This is to ensure there is an experienced Member to chair meetings of Full Council, should the incumbent Lord Mayor be absent for any Council meetings during their term. Otherwise, the role of Deputy Lord Mayor is very minimal, given that the civic standing of York requires it to have a Sherriff to work alongside and share duties with the Lord Mayor during their year of office.

Options

8.    Under the existing points system, the available option to Members is:

To invite the Liberal Democrat Group to consider their nomination for the office of Lord Mayor for the Municipal Year 2023/2024, in line with the accumulated points system, set out in paragraphs 3-7 above.

Analysis

9.      The nomination of a Lord Mayor is an annual event which is undertaken by way of a points system (to ensure a fair and robust outcome.  This system has been in place for many years and has operated successfully in terms of rotating the role and honour of becoming Lord Mayor on a cross party basis.

Council Plan 2019 - 23

10. The appointment of the Lord Mayor in York is a fundamental part of the city’s continuing historic traditions. The role of Lord Mayor is firmly enshrined in the Council’s Constitution, as an ambassador for the city and its cultural and economic ambitions.  As such, the appointee will promote all of the Council’s priorities.

Implications

11.    There are no direct implications in relation to financial, human resources, legal or equalities arising from the recommendations in this report.

Risk Management

12.    Failure to appoint a Lord Mayor in the second most traditional city outside of London could have a significant impact on the Council’s reputation in terms of maintaining its civic heritage. It is important that an equitable and robust system is applied to the nomination process.

Contact Details
Author:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Dawn Steel Head of Civic, Democratic & Scrutiny Services Tel No. 01904 551030	Bryn Roberts Director of Governance
	Report Approved	√	Date	01.11.22
Wards Affected:  All					√
For further information please contact the authors of the report

Background Papers/Annexes:

None