Lord Mayor's Office - Communications

Meeting: Finance and Governance Committee 

Meeting date: 14 September 2021

Raised by: Alderman Briscoe

Question: The Lord Mayor’s office is funded generously to facilitate the organisation of the ceremonial and statuary functions of the Lord Mayor. In the last years it my belief with considerable evidence that it has been used increasingly as an electoral office of the current Lord Mayor.

Accordingly in the last three years of the current Lord Mayor’s tenure

1.What letters have been sent to school, colleges, parents’ organisations, school associations or other institutions or organisations that have gone out under the signature of the Lord Mayor (excluding official communication)? Please provide copies of these letters. These should include those that offer for Lord Mayor to attend and speak at school assemblies and offers to do other activities such as personal tours of the town hall.

2.What is the cost (or estimate) in terms of officer time, postage or otherwise to facilitate these communications?

3.What policies of the HCC that enables the Lord Mayor to generate such personal political communications and what contributions has the Lord Mayor made to the cost of these communications and is the same service available to other elected members?

4 What communications has been made to government department when in the Lord Mayor letters reference is made to state government initiatives but not acknowledged in such letters?

5.In light that the Lord Mayor has only one vote (out of 12) what office resources are used to facilitate “mayor in the chair” events which are clearly political events?

6.What cost has been incurred to produce and circulate the Lord Mayor’s report that was posted out to various political figures and organisations? This is not referring to the HCC’s annual report that contains statements from the Lord Mayor?

[View the full response](PDF, 255KB)