The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required have also been included. Workplace role categories describe our approach to workplace attendance

Salary: A daily attendance allowance of £300 will be paid and reasonable travel expenses will also be reimbursed 
Attachments: Job Information Pack

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The City of London Corporation provides local government services for the financial and commercial heart of Britain, the “Square Mile.” It is committed to promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct amongst its elected members who serve the City’s residents, workers and businesses.

The Corporation is seeking four Independent Persons to join its established Panel of Independent Persons, in the place of four members who are stepping down from the Panel in 2025. Under the Localism Act 2011, the Corporation must appoint at least one independent person whose views must be sought and taken into account before it makes a decision on a complaint against a member. The Corporation undertook a review of its overall governance arrangements in 2021 and, as part of this, reviewed its standards regime in particular. Following this, they recruited a “Panel of Independent Persons”, to assist the Corporation in promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct by elected and co-opted members.

The Panel has been in operating since 2022 and consists of a total of twelve members and provides objective and impartial views on complaints against elected and co-opted members for consideration by the Court of Common Council. The Independent Persons may also be called to give a view to a member against whom a complaint has been made or in relation to certain disciplinary matters relating to senior officers. In addition to the usual duties of an Independent Person, those appointed to the Panel will also be empowered to maintain the rules and procedures for a three-stage process (incorporating potential informal resolution processes and an investigation stage, the formal hearing stage, and an appeals process), providing greater autonomy and independence than under previous arrangements. The Panel will also consider applications for dispensations to speak and vote at meetings where there might be considered to be a potential conflict of interest and make recommendations to the Town Clerk thereon.

We are seeking individuals with relevant experience in the private or public sector and with a keen interest in local government and standards of behaviour – a legal background is not essential, and we welcome a diverse range of relevant employment / sector background.  Good communication and questioning skills are vital as is the ability to be objective, assertive and non-judgemental. There is a requirement to ensure panel members can demonstrate impartiality and integrity which the public can have full confidence in.

A daily attendance allowance of £300 will be paid and reasonable travel expenses will also be reimbursed. Attendance depends on the number and complexity of cases to be dealt with as well as any necessary briefing and training sessions.

For more information on the work of the Panel please see its annual report at: https://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=156271

Closing date: 12 noon on Monday 08th September 2025