Difference Between ‘Solicited’ Engagements and Networking-Based Invitations?

General
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Our Mayor and Deputy Mayor attended the civic skills training early this year and I thought it went really well. However, since they have been in office, there have been several clashes between them over what constitutes an ‘engineered / solicited’ engagement.

I have had to decline engagements as the Mayor does not want the DM to attend an engagement she has ‘engineered’ but the organiser has specifically invited the DM and, upon being asked if they want the Mayor, they have said no and have withdrawn their invitation.

The engagements in question have come about due to the DM having a wide network of connections, especially among the scouts and cubs community as well as being an active councillor. Organisations who know the DM are just taking the opportunity of inviting her to their events because she is the DM this year and the only ‘engineering’ going on is an informal conversation with organiser asking the DM if she’d like to attend their event and the DM saying she would love to !

Our Mayor would do a great job at these events, but, if organisers have specifically asked for the DM should it be the DM who attends? I have called a few of the organisers and spoken to them so that I can test the waters but although they acknowledge that the Mayor would be lovely they have said they really would prefer the DM.

Organisers don’t understand why the DM can’t attend and the Mayor is not budging from his opinion the engagements are engineered.
This seems to me an extraordinary situation and I haven’t experienced this issue in my 10 years supporting the Mayor.

Any help appreciated!!!

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Yes, a tricky one! I have known instances of this from time to time.

When it has occurred in the past, I have explained to the event organiser that civic protocol precludes an invitation being directed specifically at the Deputy Lord Mayor. Moreover, the Deputy would represent the Lord Mayor only if (s)he requested that they do so (their being indisposed only for one of a pre-agreed set of reasons).

In an isolated instance (and where the relationship between the Civic Head and the Deputy had been a warm one) the Lord Mayor would be made aware of the special situation and would have a chat with the DLM, before gracefully stepping aside and asking the DLM to undertake the engagement.

Naturally, it had to be made abundantly clear that this could not be happening repeatedly and that this particular occasion was be treated as a special exception. It was felt that an isolated act such as this could inject some goodwill and cordiality into their working relationship.

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Thanks for that, much appreciated!

I recently today had the same advice from Link UK who facilitated the civic skills course.
I need to sit down with the DM and explain she needs to work as part of the team and remind her of the training and the standard process for engagements.

It’s helped that i can say this opinion is not just coming from the Mayor and I, but from various unbiased sources!!

As you say, organisers can occasionally request the DM, the Mayor can then offer the request to the DM in an act of goodwill.

I now need to sit down with each separately and try to ‘re-set’ the relationship between them.

Wish me luck :wink:

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SamP Said
I have had to decline engagements as the Mayor does not want the DM to attend an engagement she has ‘engineered’ but the organiser has specifically invited the DM and, upon being asked if they want the Mayor, they have said no and have withdrawn their invitation.

… As sad as it is to say, such events are not worth the Mayor’s attendance; all requests for Mayoral representation should be made to and for the Mayor, not the DM

SamP Said:
The engagements in question have come about due to the DM having a wide network of connections, especially among the scouts and cubs community as well as being an active councillor.

…The DM needs to understand his/her position is that of “Deputy” and will only represent the Office of the Mayor if the elected Mayor agrees.

SamP Said:
Organisations who know the DM are just taking the opportunity of inviting her to their events because she is the DM this year and the only ‘engineering’ going on is an informal conversation with organiser asking the DM if she’d like to attend their event and the DM saying she would love to !

…Sorry to disagree, Firstly the DM is showing considerable disrespect to the Office of the Mayor and to the elected Mayor through not ensuring that any such discussions and subsequent invitations are not made in the first instance to the Mayor. Secondly Regardless of how active the DM may be as a councillor, their position is that of Deputy Mayor and that takes a lower precedence in the Mayoral hierarchy; If the DM had anything about them, they would not be positioning themselves to receive specific invites, or even justifying a case for them attending. This is likely leading the Mayor to believe these events are engineered. (and particularly when organisers withdraw their invites when they learn the DM won’t be attending)

SamP Said:
Our Mayor would do a great job at these events, but, if organisers have specifically asked for the DM should it be the DM who attends? I have called a few of the organisers and spoken to them so that I can test the waters but although they acknowledge that the Mayor would be lovely they have said they really would prefer the DM.

…Who they prefer is entirely irrelevant and isn’t, and should never be part of a discussion.

SamP said:
Organisers don’t understand why the DM can’t attend and the Mayor is not budging from his opinion the engagements are engineered.

When the Civic team respond to such invitations explaining the protocol, and the organisers claim the don’t understand, that’s irrelevant, it’s been explained, the Mayor may choose to delegate but is under no obligation for anyone Mayor or deputy, to attend.

Regardless if these events are engineered or not, the DM should be deferring all such invitations to the Mayor, if the organisers didn’t want the elected Mayor in the first place, the event isn’t worth attending or allowing the DM to attend.

Kind regards

Dave

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Hi Sam,
I’ve had this situation recently where the DM was invited over the Mayor - this was my reply to the invitation…
"Typically, it is appropriate to invite the Mayor in the first instance and if they are unable to attend then the deputy mayor could be asked to attend in their absence. However, on this occasion as you may not have been aware of the above, the Deputy Mayor would be delighted to support. "
good luck !

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Hi, we’ve had this on occasion and the answer is always the same. Invites to attend engagements are for the Lord Mayor only, there is no invite for the Deputy. Lord Mayor may wish to pass the invite on if unable to attend themselves. They also have the ability to decline the invite and it would never be passed to the Deputy if the Lord Mayor declines the invite. The Deputy will get their year in office and can then accept invites as they wish but until then, they are not the deciding person for invites or requests to be hosted. It’s a difficult line to walk but you need to be firm on the protocols in place, otherwise everything is up for challenge and you will soon find yourself swamped with ridiculous asks.

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do you guys have a handbook? our handbook is given to them before they take post and it makes it very clear what the responsibilities are between the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor. We also have a meeting with them before they take post where we make it perfectly clear what the dos and donts are, so there is no misunderstanding and it protects you as well. our handbook is signed off by the Leader and Chief Executive. Our meeting is also attending by the Leader, Chief Executive and our Head of Legal

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Continuing on from the excellent point Emara made:

Our handbook is located here on this website under Civic Office Resources.. Recommended Publications link

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Hi all, thanks Sam for starting this thread as its one we have no doubt all come across from time to time, guessing at varying degrees. We, from the outset, ensure that the DM knows that they are only the “Deputy” and all invitations are directed to the Mayor in the first instance. Its only if they choose to offer it to the DM that the DM is given the chance. If organisations are not happy with being told, they could always invite the DM as a ‘plain’ Councillor as it is usually the chains or medal of office that they DM like to wear to stand out. I could go on as there appears to be a very fine line between solicited and unsolicited - rant over!

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We do and it pretty much mirrors what you have said. I have the added bonus of being backed by the Leader and Chief Exec. Whenever there are any issues around these sorts things, the first question they ask is what does the protocol say. I think it’s really important to have that backing to be able to stick to your guns.

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hi Emara - yes we have a handbook which we used as a reference during the civic skills training day. I also went through sections of it with them both in the various meetings we had in the run up to the start of their year :frowning: The handbook is signed off by the deputy Monitoring Officer.