Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome

Minutes:

The Mayor welcomed all those present to the meeting.

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Tom Baker-Price, Brandon Clayton, Gemma Monaco and Mike Rouse.

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 Juliet Brunner, will provide opening remarks and report on the Mayoral year.

Minutes:

Councillor Brunner advised that she had been proud to serve as Mayor during 2018/19.  She paid tribute to her chaplain, Canon Garth Nathaniel of St Peter’s Church, Ipsley and his wife, Jennifer, and thanked them for all their support during the year.  In recognition of their service Councillor Brunner presented them with a token of appreciation.

 

The Mayor extended her thanks to the RAF Air Cadets who had supported her during her Mayoral year.  This included Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin Hudson and Corporal Samantha Rist.  Members were advised that during the year Chief Warrant Officer Hudson had been promoted to the position of the Lord Lieutenant’s cadet.  The Mayor also thanked the 216 Redditch Squadron’s cadets for their service and support during the civic dinner earlier in the year.

 

Tribute was paid by the Mayor to her consorts, Mrs Angie Heighway, Mrs Gay Hopkins, and Councillor Brunner’s daughter, Arlene.  Particular thanks were extended to the Mayor’s husband, Mr Mark Brunner, for his support during the year.

 

Members were informed that there were many happy memories that Councillor Brunner would take from her year as Mayor of the Borough of Redditch.  Particular highlights included: the medal presented by the 37 Signal Regiment to the Mayor in recognition of her support for the armed forces, an accolade that was only presented to five people every year;  attending the events commemorating the centenary year of the end of World War One; visiting the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch on Christmas day and celebrating the festivities with patients; the Astwood Bank Carnival; the social media based cheer for the England Football team in the World Cup in 2018; and the Queen’s Garden Party in May 2019. 

 

Councillor Brunner advised that she had raised over £4,000 for her Mayoral charities.  These charities, Bowel Cancer UK, the Royal British Legion and Sandycroft, were also thanked for their support during the year.

 

Finally Councillor Brunner concluded by thanking the Mayor’s Secretary, Susan Lisle, and her assistant, Sarah Carroll, for their help during the year.

 

5.

Election of the Mayor for 2019/20

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 Roger Bennett was elected Mayor of the Borough for the forthcoming year, following which he made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and was then invested with the Chain of Office by the outgoing Mayor, Councillor Juliet Brunner.  Councillor Bennett 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 Roger Bennett 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 Juliet Brunner for her excellent service to the town over the last 12 months as Mayor.

6.

Election of Deputy Mayor for 2019/20

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 Gareth Prosser 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 Roger Bennett.

 

RESOLVED that

 

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

 

7.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that

 

the minutes of the meeting of Council held on Monday 15th April 2019 be held as a true and correct record and signed by the Mayor.

8.

Announcements

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

 

a)           Mayor’s Announcements

 

b)           The Leader’s Announcements

 

c)           Chief Executive’s Announcements.

 

 

Minutes:

a)        Mayor’s Announcements

 

Councillor Bennett advised that he was proud to have been elected as Mayor of the Borough of Redditch.  He advised Members that he came from a humble background and grew up in the West Country.  He worked for a logistics company from 1967 to 1993 and progressed up the organisation during those years, eventually securing the position of Divisional Managing Director.  Councillor Bennett advised Members that he was from an army background; his father had served in the army and his son was currently serving in the army.  The Mayor noted that he had first been elected as a Councillor for the Borough of Redditch seven years previously and he had been elected as a County Councillor in 2017.

 

Members were informed that the Mayor would be supporting three charities in 2019/20; the League of Friends for the Alexandra Hospital, BluWave Community Transport, and the Redditch Mental Health Action Group (MHAG).  The Reverend Paul Lawlor had been invited to act as the Mayor’s Chaplain during the year.  Members were advised that Lance Corporal Keisha Kazi, of the Mercian Regiment, would be the Mayor’s cadet during 2019/20.

 

During consideration of this item the Mayor invited representatives of the Royal British Legion to present gifts to the previous Mayor, Councillor Juliet Brunner, in recognition of her support during the year.

 

The Mayor concluded his announcements by thanking his wife for her continuing support over 26 years of a very happy marriage.

 

b)        The Leader’s Announcements

 

The Leader of the Council advised that the review of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) was continuing and the outcomes would be reported to Council in due course. 

 

c)         Chief Executive’s Announcements

 

The Chief Executive explained that it had not been possible to provide seating for the public in the whole of the civic suite that evening as the other committee rooms were in the process of being used for the European elections.  Members were advised that more public seating would be available for future meetings.

9.

Returning Officer's Report pdf icon PDF 58 KB

Minutes:

The Council received the Returning Officer’s report in respect of the Borough Council elections held on 2nd May 2019.

 

RESOLVED that

 

the Returning Officer’s report be noted.

 

10.

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 1 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 1 attached to these Minutes be noted.

 

11.

Appointment of Committees, Panels etc. and their Chairs and Vice Chairs pdf icon PDF 78 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, which were tabled at the meeting.

 

RESOLVED that

 

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

 

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 etc. be noted;

 

5)      the Council appoints Chairs and Vice-Chairs to the Committees and other bodies as set out in Appendix 2 to the minutes;

 

6)      appointments to Working Groups and other bodies listed in the appendix be agreed; and

 

7)      the terms of reference for the Committees as set out at Appendix 2 to the report be confirmed.

 

12.

Outside Bodies pdf icon PDF 64 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

During consideration of this item Councillor Bill Hartnett advised that the Labour group were nominating Councillor Yvonne Smith to sit on Worcestershire County Council’s Redditch Highways and Transportation Forum Members’ Discussion Group.

 

RESOLVED that

 

appointments to the places on each of the Outside Bodies, as detailed in Appendix 3 attached to these Minutes, be agreed.

13.

Constitution Updates - Including Scheme of Delegations pdf icon PDF 59 KB

The appendices to this report can be viewed in the Additional Papers 1 pack for this meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report which provided an update on changes made to the Scheme of Officer Delegations during the year in response to legislative changes and the introduction of new operating arrangements for Leisure and Cultural Services.  The report also set out changes to the procedure notes for the Audit, Governance and Standards, Licensing and Overview and Scrutiny Committees which reflected the introduction of public speaking arrangements as agreed by Members in 2018/19.

 

RESOLVED that

 

1)        the current version of the Officer Scheme of Delegations is agreed as set out at Appendix 1 to the report;

 

2)        the procedure rules for the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee, updated to include reference to public speaking at meetings of the Committee, be approved;

 

3)        the procedure rules for the Licensing Committee, updated to include reference to public speaking at meetings of the Committee, be approved; and

 

4)        the procedure rules for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, updated to include reference to public speaking at meetings of the Committee, be approved.

14.

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.

 

15.

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 was no general urgent business for consideration on this occasion.

 

Appendix 1 Leaders' appointments and Executive 2019 pdf icon PDF 63 KB

Additional documents: