Agenda and minutes

The Mayor welcomed all present to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sid Khan and Craig Warhurst.

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, Mr Salman Akbar, will provide opening remarks and report on his Mayoral year.

The Mayor welcomed all newly elected Councillors to the Council and thanked former Councillors for their service.  He also thanked Council officers for their hard work. 

The Mayor referred to his year in office as being an honour and privilege and thanked his deputy, Karen Ashley, for her support.  He referred to the highlights of his year in office, including visits to care homes and schools.  In particular, he recalled the 800^th year of freedom celebrations in Auxerre, Redditch’s twin town.  The Mayor thanked Peter Martin from his chosen charity Drop the Knife and announced that £7,329 had been raised for this during the year.  He also thanked his family for their support during the year.

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.

Councillor Joe Baker proposed, Councillor Juliet Barker Smith seconded that Councillor Juma Begum be elected Mayor.  There were no further nominations, so Councillor Juma Begum was elected Mayor of the Borough for the forthcoming year.  She made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and was invested with the Chain of Office. 

Councillor Begum thanked the outgoing Mayor, Salman Akbar, for his service to the Borough over the last year. 

RESOLVED that

Councillor Juma Begum be elected Mayor for the Borough of Redditch to serve until the next Annual Meeting of the Council.

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

Councillor Joe Baker proposed, Councillor Andy Fry seconded that Councillor Joanna Kane be elected Deputy Mayor. 

There were no further nominations, so Councillor Kane 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 Joanna Kane be elected Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Redditch to serve until the next Annual Meeting of the Council.

RESOLVED that

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 26^th February 2024 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Mayor.

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.

a)    The Mayor’s Announcements

The Mayor thanked her family and Councillors for their support and looked forward to representing the Council during the year.  Her charity would be Disability Support Project and she would arrange various events during the year to support this.  The Mayor’s consorts would be her sons and daughter in law. 

b)    The Leader’s Announcements

Councillor Dormer announced that following the election he was standing down as Leader of the Council.  He thanked all those who had supported the Council during his tenure as Leader and highlighted the efforts of the officers of the Council.

c)     The Chief Executive’s Announcements

On behalf of the Officers of the Council, the Chief Executive congratulated the Mayor on her election.

Further to the local elections 2024 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.

Following the outcome of the recent local elections and change in political administration of the Council, it was necessary to elect a Leader.  Councillor Bill Hartnett proposed, Councillor Sharon Harvey seconded that Councillor Joe Balker be elected Leader of the Council.

RESOLVED that

Councillor Joe Baker be elected Leader of the Council for the ensuing four years.

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.

Councillor Joe Baker thanked his predecessor, Councillor Matt Dormer, and the former Mayor and Deputy Mayor for their work during their terms of office. 

Councillor Baker informed the Council of the following Portfolio appointments:

Councillor Sharon Harvey – Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Climate Change.

Councillor Juliet Barker-Smith – Leisure.

Councillor Bill Hartnett – Housing.

Councillor Sid Khan – Environmental Services.

Councillor Jane Spilsbury – Performance.

Councillor Monica Stringfellow – Community Services and Regulatory Services.

Councillor Ian Woodall – Finance.

Councillor Jen Snape – Executive Member without Portfolio.

The Council considered a report setting out proposed changes to the Council’s constitution.  Many of these changes were proposed at a meeting of the Constitutional Review Working Party (CRWP) held on 7^th March 2024. 

Councillor Joe Baker proposed, Councillor Bill Hartnett seconded and it was

RESOLVED that

1)    The current version of the Officer Scheme of Delegations is agreed;

2)    The introduction to the constitution be reduced in length;

3)    The Articles, the Information Security Policy and the Members’ ICT Policy be removed from the Council’s constitution;

4)    The Shareholder Committee Terms of Reference be amended as set out at Appendix B to the report;

5)    Authority be delegated to officers to determine applications for licences to use vehicles as hackney carriages or private hire vehicles where the vehicle does not meet the Council’s required criteria in respect of the age of the vehicle;

6)    The Council Procedure Rules be amended to clarify that Questions on Notice cannot be asked on the subject of specific Licensing or Planning applications at Council meetings;

7)    The Audit, Governance and Standards Committee Procedure Rules be amended to require the Monitoring Officer’s report to be provided for the Committee’s consideration on a quarterly basis;

8)    The Joint Arrangements in the constitution be updated to remove referrals to the Joint WRS Board, West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP);

9)    The Best Practice for Handling Member Enquiries Guidance be added as an appendix to the Protocol for Relations Between Councillors and Officers section of the constitution; and

10)The proposed terms of reference for the Employment Appeals Committee be approved.

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

A report on the proposed political balance of the Council’s Committees and appointments to them and various Working Groups was presented for Councillors’ consideration.

It was proposed by Councillor Joe Baker, seconded by Councillor Sharon Harvey and

RESOLVED that

1)              the Political balance of the Committees of the Council be agreed as set out at Appendix 1;

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

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

4)              appointments to Working Groups and other bodies listed in Appendix 2 be agreed; and

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

Councillors considered appointments to various Outside Bodies and it was

RESOLVED that

Council makes appointments to the bodies listed in the appendix to the report.

The covering report and associated appendices were considered by Members at the Licensing Committee meeting held on 4^th March 2024. The minute extract in relation to this item is also included in this agenda for Members’ consideration.

Councillors considered recommendations from the Licensing Committee meeting on 4^th March 2024, relating to updating the statement of licensing policy.  This had followed a period of public consultation and consideration of responses to it.

It was proposed by Councillor Sharon Harvey, seconded by Councillor Monica Stringfellow and

RESOLVED that

the revised Statement of Licensing Policy shown at Appendix 3 of the Public Reports pack for the Licensing Committee on 4^th March 2024 be approved and published to take effect on 1st June 2024.

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).

Members were advised that no urgent decisions had been taken since the previous meeting of the Council.

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.)

Ther was no urgent business for consideration on this occasion.