Agenda and minutes

At this point in Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda. No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 24 February 2010.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Mansion House and Mayoralty Advisory Group held on 24 February 2010 be approved subject to the following amendments.

• Minute 1 (Declarations of Interest) be amended to read “Councillor J Galvin declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 (Co-option to the Advisory Group) as he is the president of York Archaeological Trust. Mrs J Hopton declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 (Co-option to the Advisory Group) as she is a member of the Board of York Civic Trust.”

• Minute 4 (Remit and Work Plan - paragraph 4) be amended to read “Members noted that 30 June, a provisional date for a future meeting of the Group, conflicted with the York Design Awards Evening, and they agreed to discuss future meeting dates at the next meeting on 21 April.“

• Minute 5 (Development of the Mansion House – Progress Update - paragraph title “Tours”) End of paragraph to be amended to read “…..It was agreed that the tours would be advertised as being normally available on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 11.00am, 12.30pm and 2.00pm”.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Groups remit can do so.  Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Tuesday 20 April 2010 at 5:00pm.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The Chair welcomed Mr John Walker, Chief Executive of the York Archaeological Trust to his first meeting as a Co-opted Member of the Group and advised the Group that Mr Peter Brown, the Director of York Civic Trust, had also agreed to join the Group as a Co-opted Member (Minute 6 (24 February 2010) refers) but had been unable to attend this meeting.

This reports looks at the current operational and constitutional role of the Lord Mayor and Civic Party.

The Group received a report which asked them to consider some options for reviewing the current operational and constitutional roles of the Lord Mayor and Civic Party.

The Group discussed a set of proposed revisions to Article 5 of the Constitution, including the proposed addition of the role and function of the Deputy Lord Mayor and agreed some minor amendments to the written roles and functions of the Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and Sheriff. The Group was asked to consider whether Article 5 should be actively promoted and sent out to interested parties in future and they agreed to consider this issue at a future meeting once the amendments had been approved by Council.

They then discussed and agreed amendments to the Civic Party Roles, particularly the duties of the Lord Mayor, detailed within the Civic Guide. It was suggested that the relationship between York’s Lord Mayor and the Lord Mayor of London should be strengthened as this would assist in raising both the profile of the city and the Lord Mayor of York. They noted that if the relationship was left to diminish it may be lost completely.

The Group considered the template for the annual civic calendar and put forward some additional events to be included in the template.

RESOLVED:             (i)         That the Executive be requested to recommend to          Council that it approves the proposed revisions to           Article 5 of the Constitution, as agreed by             members of the Advisory Group (attached as       Annex A).

(ii)That the current roles defined for the Civic Party in the Civic Guide, as amended by the Group, be agreed. ²

(iii)That the annual civic template/calendar of events, as amended by the Group, be agreed. ³

REASON:                  To ensure that the roles of the Lord Mayor and Civic Party are regularly reviewed and updated as necessary.

To receive a verbal update on the future of the Guildhall.

Members received a verbal update from the Mansion House and Guildhall Manager on the future of the Guildhall. He reported that he had met with the Chief Executive, Head of Property Services and Interim Head of Civic, Democratic and Legal Services to discuss plans for the future of the Guildhall. He updated the Group on discussions which had taken place and advised that the Head of Property Services would be producing a report providing further information in due course. He stated that the Chief Executive had given an assurance that a full consultation on the future of the Guildhall would take place and that any decision taken would be made democratically.

RESOLVED:             That the update on the future of the Guildhall be noted.

REASON:                  In order that the Group is kept informed on plans for the future of the Guildhall.

This report sets out, for the Advisory Groups information, an outline framework for the Mansion House Business and Development Plan which the Group is scheduled to receive in October 2010.

The Group considered a report which set out an outline framework for the Mansion House Business and Development Plan which the Group is scheduled to receive in October 2010. The Group discussed the draft outline framework which sets out the eight areas to be covered in the actual plan.  Officers provided additional information and answered queries on the following areas of the framework:-

Collection Management/Development

The Group discussed the issue of gifts received by the Lord Mayor which are currently displayed or stored in the Mansion House and it was suggested that some members of the Group should spend some time looking through these items and decide on the most suitable way of managing them. ¹

Income Generation/Public access

The Group raised concerns that the upper limit of 60 persons in the State Room would hinder use of the Mansion House for conferences, meetings etc. Officers explained that this restriction was due to fire regulations and the limited ways of exit from the room. In response to a request from members of the Group, the Mansion House and Guildhall Manager agreed to look at the possibility of obtaining advice from a fire consultant on what work would be required in order to increase the number of persons permitted in the State Room and update the Group on the outcome. 

Building Maintenance

The Group noted the intention to consider options for ensuring the environmental sustainability of the Mansion House and two members of the Group agreed to pursue this issue with the City of York Council’s Conservation Architect and the Historic Buildings Officer at the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) and report back to the Group. ²

Marketing

The Group was advised that the brief for the website to promote the Mansion House and Mayoralty had been issued, and this embraced comments made by members of the Group. The Democratic Services Manager reported that a provider had now been selected and that a meeting to discuss specifications would take place in due course.

Financial

The Democratic Services Manager advised the Group that she had liaised with finance managers and that the establishment of a “ring-fenced” fund would become a realistic proposal when the Mansion House was earning in excess of its income target. The Group suggested that it may be worthwhile speaking to other councils who have a Mansion House to find out how they deal with their finances.

RESOLVED:             That the report and draft outline framework for a 5 year Business and Development Plan for the Mansion House be noted and that the Group’s comments be taken into account.

REASON:                  To ensure an effective business and development planning approach is in place for the Mansion House for the foreseeable future.

To consider formally co-opting onto the Advisory Group the former Lord Mayor and Honorary Alderman Charles Hall who is also a Trustee of the York Archaeological Trust.

The Group was asked to consider whether to formally co-opt Honorary Alderman Charles Hall, a former Lord Mayor and Trustee of York Archaeological Trust, onto the Group.

The Group agreed that Honorary Alderman Charles Hall was a key player in establishing the link with York Archaeological Trust and that he would play an important role in ensuring that this link was maintained.

RESOLVED:             That Honorary Alderman Charles Hall be co-opted onto the Group with immediate effect.

REASON:                  In order to ensure the Group is involving appropriate organisations.

Members are asked to consider the Advisory Groups Work Plan.

The Group considered a draft workplan for future meetings of the Mansion House and Mayoralty Advisory Group.

The Group considered that it would be useful to capture the experiences of every Lord Mayor and, at the end of each term of office, be able to determine whether they had realised their aims and objectives. This information would form a knowledge base which the Council could learn from and use to inform plans for the next term of office.

The Group also stressed the importance of networking and recognised the need to keep a record of contacts made by each Lord Mayor and Civic Party during their term in office.

The Democratic Services Manager noted these comments and suggested that an analysis of visits made by former Lord Mayors be included in the report on Promoting the Civic Function and Mansion House which is to be presented at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:             (i)             That the changes to the work plan be noted.

(ii)That the meeting scheduled for 30 June be rearranged for an alternative date to be agreed with Group members.