Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

The existing Mayor, Mrs Ann Isherwood, will provide opening remarks and report on her Mayoral year.

The retiring Mayor, Mrs Ann Isherwood, provided an update on the civic engagements that she had attended since the previous meeting of Council and discussed the highlights of her year serving as the Mayor of the Borough of Redditch.   Mrs Isherwood thanked Members, Officers, the public and her family for the support that they had provided to her during the year.  Former Councillor, Tom Baker-Price, was also thanked for supporting her in his capacity as Deputy Mayor during the 2022/23 municipal year.  In addition, Mrs Isherwood thanked Mr Oli Glover-Waters for serving as her Mayoral cadet.

Members were advised that Mrs Isherwood had attended 320 official engagements and travelled 2,605 miles whilst serving as the Mayor of the Borough of Redditch.  In total, she had raised £13,375 in support of her charity, Touchstones Support.

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.

Nominations for the position of Mayor of the Borough of Redditch for the 2023/24 municipal year were received on behalf of Councillors Salman Akbar and Juma Begum. 

On being put to the vote, Councillor Salman Akbar was elected Mayor of the Borough for the forthcoming year. He made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office verbally and then was invested with the Chain of Office.  Councillor Akbar 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 Salman Akbar 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 former Councillor, Ann Isherwood, for her excellent service to the town as Mayor in the 2022/23 municipal year.

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

Nominations for the position of Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Redditch for the 2023/24 municipal year were received on behalf of Councillors Karen Ashley and Monica Stringfellow.

On being put to the vote, Councillor Karen Ashley was elected Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Redditch for the forthcoming year.  She made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office verbally and was then invested with the Deputy Mayor’s Badge of Office.

RESOLVED that

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

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of Council held on Monday 27^th February 2023 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Mayor.

To consider Announcements under Procedure Rule 10:

a)           Mayor’s Announcements

b)           The Leader’s Announcements

c)           Chief Executive’s Announcements.

a)          The Mayor’s Announcements

The Mayor advised that his wife, Mrs Abia Akbar, would be his Mayoral consort.  Members were informed that the Mayor would confirm at the following Council meeting which charities he would be supporting and whether he would be nominating a chaplain to serve during his Mayoral year.

b)          The Leader’s Announcements

The Leader thanked former members of the Council who had stood down or who had not been returned at the local elections held in May 2023.  He also welcomed all new Members who had been elected to the Council at the local elections.

c)          The Chief Executive’s Announcements

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

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.

The Leader’s Appointments will be published in a supplementary pack for this meeting.

The Leader presented his appointments to the Executive Committee for the 2023/24 municipal year.

RESOLVED that

the appointment by the Leader of the Deputy Leader, of Members to the Executive Committee and to the individual Portfolios be noted.

The covering report and Appendix 3 to the report are attached to this agenda pack. Appendices 1 and 2 to the report will follow in a supplementary pack.

Members considered the Council’s political balance and nominations from the political groups to the Council’s various Committees and Panels.

During consideration of this item, the Leader advised Members of an amendment to the nominations to the Electoral Matters Committee, whereby Councillor Peter Fleming, rather than Councillor Luke Court, was being nominated to serve as Vice Chair of the Committee during the 2023/24 municipal year.

1)          the Political balance of the Committees of the Council be agreed;

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

3)          appointments by political group leaders to the places on each Committee etc. be noted;

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

5)          appointments to Working Groups and other bodies be agreed; and

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

Members considered a report setting out proposed appointments to various outside bodies, which were tabled at the meeting (Appendix 1).

During consideration of this item, nominations were received on behalf of Councillors Alex Fogg and Sid Khan to serve as the Council’s Armed Forces Champion during the 2023/24 municipal year.  On being put to the vote, Members agreed that Councillor Alex Fogg should be appointed to serve as the Armed Forces Champion during the 2023/24 municipal year.

RESOLVED that

1)          the Council makes appointments to the bodies listed in the appendix to the report; and

2)          Councillor Alex Fogg be appointed to serve as the Council’s Armed Forces Champion during the 2023/24 municipal year.

Members considered a report relating to the content of the existing Officer Scheme of Delegations, which contained a list of powers delegated to officers by the Council.  Council was advised that this report was considered at the Annual Council meeting each year and that no new delegations were proposed for Members’ consideration.

During consideration of this item, concerns were raised by some Members about the scale and volume of powers that had already been delegated to Officers at the Council.  Whilst it was acknowledged that some powers needed to be delegated to officers to ensure the smooth operation of Council business, concerns were raised that there was a risk that this could become too extensive.

RESOLVED that

the current version of the Officer Scheme of Delegations be agreed.

To note any decisions taken in accordance with the Council’s Urgency Procedure Rules (Part 9, Paragraph 5 and/or Part 10, Paragraph 15 of the Constitution), as specified.

(None to date).

The Mayor confirmed that no urgent decisions had been taken since the previous Council meeting.

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.)

There was no urgent business for discussion on this occasion.