Buckinghamshire Council convened an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday 17 September 2025. The main item for discussion was the appointment of honorary aldermen. The meeting was also scheduled to confirm the date of the next meeting.

Appointment of Honorary Aldermen

The council was asked to consider conferring Honorary Alderman status on 19 individuals. A report pack included a recommendation to do so, in recognition of their service as former councillors.

According to the report pack, Honorary Alderman status may be conferred every four years, coinciding with council elections, as outlined in the council's constitution. Nominations were submitted to the Monitoring Officer, discussed with Group Leaders and the Chairman, and then put before the Full Council.

To be eligible for the title of Honorary Alderman, nominees must:

• Not hold political office.
• Have served as a member of the council, or any of the five legacy Buckinghamshire local authorities prior to the establishment of the council on 1 April 2020, for at least 10 years in total.

The report pack stated that the granting of Honorary Alderman status is a way for the council to recognise dedicated public service given by former councillors.

The 19 nominees that were listed in appendix 1 of the public reports pack were:

• Patricia Birchley
• Bill Chapple OBE
• Sue Chapple
• Santokh Chhokar
• Peter Cooper
• Carl Etholen
• Tony Green
• Mimi Harker OBE
• Tom Hunter-Watts
• Arif Hussain
• Matt Knight
• Steven Lambert
• Angela Macpherson
• Neil Marshall
• Zahir Mohammed
• Michael Rand
• Paul Rogerson
• Sir Beville Stanier
• Richard Scott

The report pack stated that Honorary Aldermen are entitled to the following rights and privileges:

• A badge
• A link to the electronic version of the Full Council summons and agenda
• Free parking at council offices when undertaking duties
• Invitations to civic, ceremonial, and social events to which councillors are invited.

The public reports pack also stated that the council can withdraw the title of Honorary Alderman from individuals via a formal motion to a meeting of the full council, with a two-thirds majority vote.

Date of Next Meeting

The agenda frontsheet indicated that the date of the next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 17th September 2025 at 4 p.m.