The Civic Honours Committee of Ealing Council was scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 18 February 2026, to discuss potential recipients for civic awards. The meeting's agenda included the consideration of nominations for the Freedom of the Borough and Mayor's Awards, as well as reviewing the minutes from a previous meeting.

Award of Civic Honours

The primary item scheduled for discussion was the Award of Civic Honours, as detailed in the Public reports pack Wednesday 18-Feb-2026 16.15 Civic Honours Committee.pdf. The report presented to the committee outlined the process for making civic awards and sought recommendations for individuals to receive the Freedom of the Borough.

The report indicated that 90 nominations had been put forward by members of the public. Following due diligence and an initial sift by the Chair of the Committee and other notable individuals, a list of recommended nominees for the Freedom of the Borough was compiled in Appendix 1 of the report. The committee was asked to review this list and make recommendations for an extraordinary Council meeting scheduled to be held before the Council meeting on 3 March 2026.

Additionally, the committee was to consider nominees for Mayor's Awards or national honours from the full list of public nominations found in Appendix 2 of the report. The report noted that the Council has the power to confer the title of Honorary Freeman of the borough under section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972, provided individuals have provided eminent services to the Borough. The criteria for awarding the Honorary Freedom of the Borough had previously been agreed at a Council meeting on 23 May 2023 and further refined by the Civic Honours Committee on 24 February 2024.

The financial implications of the awards were noted as being low, primarily relating to the award ceremony itself, which could be managed within existing budgets allocated to the Mayoralty.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The committee was also scheduled to review the minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2024. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 February 2024.pdf document indicated that at that previous meeting, the Mayor's Award Criteria was agreed, and several former councillors were recommended for Honorary Alder status. The report for the current meeting stated that the press and public would be excluded from part of the meeting due to the potential disclosure of exempt information relating to individuals.