City Remembrancer

The Remembrancer is a parliamentary agent and so can observe House of Commons proceedings from the under-gallery next to the entrance to the chamber reserved for visitors, near the chair of the Sergeant at Arms (the opposite end of the chamber from the Speaker's chair).[4][6][7] and has no access beyond the bar of the house,[1] which marks the area of the chamber where only MPs are allowed and visitors may not enter during sessions,[8] The House of Commons Commission have stated that the Remembrancer does not have any access to the floor of the House of Commons.[6]

Access to the under-gallery does not give any ability to participate in or influence the proceedings,[1] and the Remembrancer has no access to sit in this area by right, but rather by permission of the Speaker extends to parliamentary agents.[9]

The Corporation in general, and the Remembrancer in particular, have no power to overrule Parliament, which has the right to make legislation affecting the City. For example, the Corporation needed to request a private Act of Parliament in 2002 to modernise its system of local elections; the Act notes, "The objects of this Act cannot be attained without the authority of Parliament".[10]

The Remembrancer does not have any entitlement to see parliamentary bills or other papers before they are publicly available or to amend laws.[1] The Remembrancer's responsibilities include monitoring legislation introduced into Parliament, and reporting to the Corporation anything that is likely to influence the City of London's interests.[4] The Remembrancer also offers briefings to MPs and submits evidence when select committees are investigating matters of interest to the Corporation,[4] but does not have any special rights or privileges in this regard, having the same access as that of any other individual or body.[1] the Remembrancer does not have any privileged access to view legislation during the drafting process,[1] and is not even notified of public bills that impact the city, but is notified of the introduction of private bills that impact the City.[11]

Despite statements to the contrary by the parliamentary and City authorities, beliefs persist that the Remembrancer has special access to or authority over the Commons, for example that they sit behind or near the Speaker,[12][13][14] that the Remembrancer can access the floor of the Commons,[15] that the Remembrancer can intervene in proceedings,[16] or that the Remembrancer has special privileges to view draft legislation.[9]

For example, in an article in The Guardian in 2011 about the unreformed nature of the City of London Corporation, George Monbiot wrote:

The City of London is the only part of Britain over which parliament has no authority. In one respect at least the Corporation acts as the superior body: it imposes on the House of Commons a figure called the remembrancer: an official lobbyist who sits behind the Speaker’s chair and ensures that, whatever our elected representatives might think, the City’s rights and privileges are protected.[12]

In a further example, in 2013 Green Party MP Caroline Lucas wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, asking him to consider removing the Remembrancer from the floor of the House of Commons, and to end privileges she claimed the Remembrancer had to view legislation during the drafting process.[9]