Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome

Minutes:

The Mayor, Councillor Jenny Wheeler, welcomed all those present to the meeting.

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Salman Akbar and Anita Clayton.

3.

Declarations of Interest

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

4.

Mayor's Opening Remarks

The existing Mayor, Councillor Jenny Wheeler, will provide opening remarks and report on her Mayoral year.

Minutes:

Councillor Wheeler advised that she had really enjoyed serving as Mayor during 2017/18 and she thanked Members for providing her with an opportunity to take on this role.  One of Councillor Wheeler’s first engagements as Mayor had been to attend a solidarity event at the mosque which had been organised in response to the terrorist incident that occurred at an Ariane Grande concert in Manchester.  This event had illustrated the important role of the Mayor in drawing communities together in difficult circumstances.

 

The Mayor circulated a list of the engagements that she had attended since the last meeting of Council in writing (Appendix 1).  There had been a number of highlights during Councillor Wheeler’s Mayoral year, which had included the many events that she had attended.  Councillor Wheeler had been positively surprised by the range of sporting clubs and cultural activities taking place in the local community and had welcomed the opportunity to meet with people from diverse backgrounds.  The Mayor had also enjoyed visiting the Alexandra Hospital on Christmas Day and had been impressed by the hard work of all the staff. 

 

Councillor Wheeler thanked a number of people for their support during the year.  Particular thanks were extended to former Councillor, Nina Wood-Ford, who had served as Deputy Mayor during the year.  Thanks were also paid to Susan Lisle, the Mayor’s Secretary, for her hard work as well as to Jess Bayley, Senior Democratic Services Officer (Redditch).

 

During 2017/18 the Mayor had supported St Basils and Young Minds, both of which had been selected due to their hard work supporting young people who were experiencing mental health difficulties.  This had supported the Mayor’s theme that year of raising awareness of mental health and wellbeing for young people.  The Mayor paid tribute to everybody who had volunteered and helped to raise money for charity during the year.   A total of £5,000 had been raised for the Mayor’s charities and this would be divided equally between the Mayor’s charities.  Thanks were also extended to the Sea Cadets (Redditch and Bromsgrove branch), particularly their lead officer, James Saunders, who had helped the Mayor with various activities during the year.

5.

Election of the Mayor for 2018/19

Once the new Mayor has been elected s/he will make the declaration of acceptance of office, receive the chain of office and take the Mayor’s seat in the front of the Chamber.

Minutes:

Councillor Juliet Brunner was elected Mayor of the Borough for the forthcoming year, following which she made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and was then invested with the Chain of Office by the outgoing Mayor, Councillor Jenny Wheeler.  Councillor Brunner thanked the outgoing Mayor and, on behalf of the Council, expressed gratitude for the work she had carried out as an ambassador for the town.

 

RESOLVED that

 

1)        Councillor Juliet Brunner be elected Mayor of the Borough of Redditch to serve until the next Annual Meeting of the Council; and

 

2)        the Council formally express, and record, its gratitude to Councillor Jenny Wheeler for her excellent service to the town over the last 12 months as Mayor.

 

6.

Election of the Deputy Mayor for 2018/19

When the new Deputy Mayor has been elected, s/he will make the declaration of acceptance of office and receive the badge of honour.

Minutes:

Councillor Roger Bennett was elected Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Redditch for the forthcoming year, following which he made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and was then invested with the Deputy Mayor’s Badge of Office by the Mayor, Councillor Juliet Brunner.

 

RESOLVED that

 

Councillor Roger Bennett be appointed Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Redditch to serve until the next Annual Meeting of the Council.

7.

Announcements

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

 

a)           The new Mayor’s Announcements, including the Mayor’s charities.

 

b)           The Leader’s Announcements.

 

c)           Chief Executive’s Announcements.

 

 

Minutes:

a)        Mayor’s Announcements

 

Councillor Brunner thanked Members for providing her with an opportunity to serve as Mayor of the Borough of Redditch. 

 

Members were informed that the Mayor’s chaplain would be Canon Garth Nathaniel from St Peter’s church in Ipsley, Redditch.  The Mayor would have a team of consorts; her husband, Mr Mark Brunner, her daughter, Ms Arlene Victoria Brunner, and her friends, former Councillor, Gaye Hopkins, and Ms Angela Heighway.  Councillor Brunner dedicated her mayoral year to her father who had inspired her and who had lived by the principles of public leadership.  Thanks were also extended to Councillor Brunner’s family for their support.

 

Councillor Brunner advised that the theme of her Mayoral year would be to restore a strong sense of civic pride in the local community.  She noted that it was an honour to serve as Mayor of the Borough of Redditch 100 years after women had been given the power to vote.  In honour of the centenary celebrations the Mayor would be hosting an equality tea party and parade event in Redditch and would be inviting representatives of the Mercian Regiment to parade through the town as part of this process. 

 

Council was informed that Councillor Brunner would be supporting three charities during her mayoral year.  These were the Sandycroft Wellbeing Centre, Bowel Cancer UK and the Royal British Legion.  The Mayor also welcomed the support of the 216 Squadron of the Royal Air Force Cadets.

 

b)        Leader’s Announcements

 

In light of the recent election results and the loss of his Group’s majority, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Bill Hartnett, announced his immediate resignation from this position. He thanked his colleagues and Officers for their support during the previous four year period and congratulated Councillor Brunner on being appointed Mayor.

 

c)         Chief Executive’s Announcements

 

The Chief Executive confirmed that he had no announcements to make.

8.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 412 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that

 

the minutes of the meeting of Council held on Monday 19th March 2018 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

9.

Returning Officer's Report pdf icon PDF 32 KB

Minutes:

The Council received the Returning Officer’s report in respect of the Borough Council elections held on 3rd May 2018.

 

RESOLVED that

 

the Returning Officer’s report be noted.

10.

Leader of the Council

Further to the local elections 2018 and change of political control, Members are invited to appoint a member of the Council to hold the office of Leader of the Council for the ensuing four years.

 

Members will also receive any announcements from the newly appointed Leader of the Council.

Minutes:

The Council appointed Councillor Matthew Dormer to the position of Leader for the coming four year period.

 

Councillor Dormer announced that he had received a letter from Rachel Maclean, MP for Redditch.  This letter congratulated Councillor Brunner on her appointment as Mayor of the Borough of Redditch.

 

RESOLVED that

 

Councillor Matthew Dormer be, and hereby is, appointed Leader of the Council for the ensuing four years.

 

11.

Leader's Appointments

The Leader of the Council decides how the Executive powers of the Council will be carried out.  Currently, Executive decisions are taken by the Executive Committee.  The Leader also allocates portfolios and will announce arrangements for these for the coming year.

Minutes:

The Leader tabled his appointments to the Executive Committee as detailed in Appendix 2 to these minutes.

 

RESOLVED that

 

the appointment by the Leader of the Deputy Leader, of Members to the Executive Committee and to the individual Portfolios as detailed in Appendix 2 attached to these Minutes be noted.

12.

Appointment of Committees, Panels etc. and their Chairs and Vice Chairs pdf icon PDF 159 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council considered the report setting out the proposed political balance of the Council’s Committees and lists of nominations to Committees, Sub-Committees and other bodies.

 

A proposal was made for the decision in respect of appointments to the Budget Scrutiny Working Group, Care Leavers Scrutiny Task Group and the Performance Scrutiny Working Group to be postponed and instead made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its first meeting.  This proposal received general support.

 

RESOLVED that

 

1)        the political balance of the Committees of the Council be agreed as set out in paragraph 3.5 of the report;

 

2)      the arrangement where the seats on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are not allocated in accordance with the political balance requirements be continued;

 

3)      the arrangement where the seats on the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel are not allocated in accordance with the political balance requirements be continued;

 

4)      appointments by political group leaders to the places on each Committee as attached at Appendix 3 to these minutes. be noted;

 

5)      the Council appoints Chairs and Vice-Chairs to the Committees and other bodies as set out in Appendix 3 to these minutes;

 

6)      appointments to the Scrutiny Working Groups and Care Leavers Task Group be agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

 

7)      the terms of reference for the Committees be confirmed.

 

13.

Outside Bodies pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report setting out proposed appointments to various outside bodies.

 

During consideration of this item Officers confirmed that two Members sat on the Tardebigge Relieve in Need and Sickness Charities on behalf of the Council.  However, Members in these positions were appointed for a four-year term and only one of these positions was due for reappointment at this meeting.

 

RESOLVED that

 

appointments to the places on each of the Outside Bodies, as detailed in Appendix 4 attached to these Minutes, be agreed.

14.

Scheme of Delegations pdf icon PDF 76 KB

The Scheme of Delegations is regularly altered and updated to reflect changes in the operation of the Council and changes to legislation. This report covers changes that have been made by the Monitoring Officer under the delegation that currently exists to amend the scheme to reflect changes in legislation, job titles and reallocation of functions.  Members are referred to the amended Scheme of Delegations Document at pages  5 to 82 in which the amendments shown as tracked changes, and are asked to note that none of the amendments have the effect of extending the existing delegations.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that

 

the current version of the Officer Scheme of Delegations, as set out in the report to Council, be agreed.

15.

Urgent Business - Record of Decisions

To note any decisions taken in accordance with the Council’s Urgency Procedure Rules (Part 6, Paragraph 5 and/or Part 7, Paragraph 15 of the Constitution), as specified.

 

(None to date).

Minutes:

There were no urgent decisions to note.

16.

Urgent Business - general (if any)

To consider any additional items exceptionally agreed by the Mayor as Urgent Business in accordance with the powers vested in him by virtue of Section 100(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

 

(This power should be exercised only in cases where there are genuinely special circumstances which require consideration of an item which has not previously been published on the Order of Business for the meeting.)

Minutes:

There were no separate items of urgent business to consider at this meeting.

Mayoral Events Appendix 1 pdf icon PDF 179 KB

Additional documents: