Agenda and minutes

The Mayor welcomed all those present to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Joe Baker, Wanda King and Gemma Monaco.

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, Councillor Juma Begum, will provide opening remarks and report on her Mayoral year.

The Mayor of the Borough of Redditch in 2024/25, Councillor Juma Begum, commented that it had been an honour and a privilege to serve as the Mayor.  The year had been very busy but it represented an opportunity to give back to the local community.  There had been a number of highlights during the year, including meeting the High Sheriff for Worcestershire, the Astwood Bank Carnival and a visit to Buckingham Palace.  The Mayor had attended the Remembrance Sunday commemorations in November 2024, and she commented that she had received invaluable support from the Royal British Legion and the Mercian Regiment.  The Mayor also highlighted that she was proud to have held the first Bangra themed civic event attended by the Mayors and Chairmen from neighbouring authority areas as well as representatives of Redditch.

During her Mayoral year, Councillor Begum had raised £4,632 for her charities, Redditch Disability Support Project and the Primrose Hospice.

For her final civic duty, the Mayor had hosted a visit from the Mayor of Gruchet-le-Valasse, twin town of Redditch.  During this visit, the Mayor of Gruchet-le-Valasse had presented a Mayoral ribbon to the Mayor of Redditch which had been a great honour.

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.

A nomination for the position of Mayor of the Borough of Redditch for the 2025/26 municipal year was received on behalf of Councillor Joanna Kane. The nomination was proposed by Councillor Juliet Barker Smith and seconded by Councillor Paul Wren.

There being no other nominations, on being put to the vote, Councillor Joanna Kane was elected Mayor of the Borough for the forthcoming year. She signed the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and then was invested with the Chain of Office.  Councillor Kane 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 Joanna Kane 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 Juma Begum for her excellent service to the town as Mayor in the 2024/25 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.

A nomination for the position of Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Redditch for the 2025/26 municipal year was received on behalf of Councillor David Munro.  The nomination was proposed by Councillor Ian Woodall and seconded by Councillor Rita Rogers.

There being no other nominations, on being put to the vote, Councillor David Munro was elected Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Redditch for the forthcoming year.  He signed the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and was then invested with the Deputy Mayor’s Badge of Office.

RESOLVED that

Councillor David Munro 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 extraordinary meeting of Council held on 17^th March 2025 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)                   Chief Executive’s Announcements.

The following announcements were made at the meeting:

a)          The Mayor’s Announcements

The new Mayor commented that it was a privilege to have been appointed the Mayor of the Borough of Redditch.  Members were informed that the Mayor’s husband, Mr John Kane, would be her consort during her Mayoral year.  Council was informed that the Mayor’s charity would be the Primrose Hospice.  The work of the hospice was highly valued by the Mayor, following receipt of end-of-life care by her mother-in-law at a hospice.  The Very Reverand Canon Brian McGinley would be appointed as the Mayor’s Chaplain for the year ahead.

All Members were invited to attend a community mass at Mount Carmel Church on 17^th June 2025.

b)          The Chief Executive’s Announcements

The Chief Executive highlighted that all Members had been invited to attend a briefing on the subject of Local Government Reorganisation, which was due to take place on 22^nd May 2025.

Members are invited to appoint a member of the Council to hold the office of Leader of the Council for the ensuing three years.

The Leader will report any Leader’s Announcements at this stage.

Following the resignation of the previous Leader of the Council since the previous Council meeting it was necessary for Council to appoint a new Leader.  A nomination was proposed for Councillor Sharon Harvey to be appointed Leader of the Council for the ensuring three years.  The nomination was proposed by Councillor Jane Spilsbury and seconded by Councillor Juma Begum.

RESOLVED that

Councillor Sharon Harvey be appointed the Leader of the Council for the ensuing three 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.

The Leader thanked Members for appointing her to the position of Leader of the Council for the ensuing three years.  A detailed list of the Leader’s appointments were tabled at the meeting (Appendix 1) and the Leader and confirmed the following portfolio appointments:

·             Councillor Sharon Harvey – Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Environmental Services (in addition to her role as Leader)

·             Councillor Jane Spilsbury – Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Performance, Engagement and Governance

·             Councillor Juliet Barker Smith – Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Recreation

·             Councillor Juma Begum – Portfolio Holder for Community Spaces and the Voluntary Sector

·             Councillor Bill Hartnett – Portfolio Holder for Housing

·             Councillor Jen Snape – Portfolio Holder for Climate Change and Biodiversity

·             Councillor Monica Stringfellow – Portfolio Holder for Community Services and Safeguarding Responsibilities

·             Councillor Ian Woodall – Portfolio Holder for Finance

The Leader presented a report which detailed the political balance and proposed nominations to Committees that had been made by group leaders in accordance with the political balance. 

The recommendations detailed in the report were proposed by Councillor Sharon Harvey and seconded by Councillor Jane Spilsbury.

RESOLVED that

1)          the Political balance of the Committees of the Council be agreed as set out at Appendix 2 to the minutes;

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 3 to the minutes;

4)          appointments to Working Groups and other bodies listed in Appendix 3 be agreed; and

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

The covering report is attached to the main agenda together with a draft appendix. The final appendix to the report will follow in an additional papers pack.

Members considered a report detailing proposed appointments to outside bodies for the 2025/26 municipal year. 

The nominations were proposed by Councillor Sharon Harvey and seconded by Councillor Jane Spilsbury.

RESOLVED that

the nominations to outside bodies for 2025/26 be approved.

Council considered a report concerning the Scheme of Delegations in the constitution.  Members were advised that there was a constitutional requirement for Council to review the Scheme of Delegations each year and this took place at the Annual Council meeting.  However, Members were advised that there were no changes proposed to the Scheme of Delegations on this occasion.

The report was briefly debated and Members commented that there was support for the proposal detailed in the report.  However, it was also noted that some of the delegations to officers included in the Scheme of Delegations would be reviewed during the year to ensure that these supported the priorities that had been included in the new Council Plan.

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Sharon Harvey and seconded by Councillor Jane Spilsbury.

RESOLVED that

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

To consider the recommendations made by the Executive Committee at its meetings held on 11^th March 2025 and 13^th May 2025.

Executive Committee Minutes – 11^th March 2025

The Mayor explained that there was a typographical error at Minute Item No. 97 – Members’ Ward Budget Scheme - in the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 11^th March 2025.  The decision for this minute had been incorrectly recorded as a recommendation when in fact the decision had been resolved by the Executive Committee, in accordance with the proposals detailed in the report for the item that had been considered by the Committee.  This decision could be taken by the Executive Committee because the funding for the Members’ Ward Budget Scheme had been incorporated into the budget in February 2025 and therefore no change was required to be made to the Budget Framework by the Council.  For this reason, the subject was not due to be debated at the Council meeting.

Future Cemetery Provision

The report in respect of future cemetery provision in the Borough was presented for Council’s consideration.  Members were asked to note that the report proposed that the incorporation of burial plots should be taken on board as part of work on the new Local Plan, which was in the process of being developed. 

The report had been pre-scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee prior to discussion at the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 11^th March 2025.  The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was thanked for their hard work in reviewing the matter.

Consideration was given to the content of the report and reference was made to the proposed location of burial spaces and the exploratory work that would be undertaken in respect of this matter.  Members were advised that the recommendation to Council was solely in respect of the incorporation of burial site provision into the Local Plan process as all other items had been previously resolved by the Executive.  Questions were subsequently raised about how Members could influence discussions regarding the potential location of burial sites through the Local Plan process and the suggestion was made that this could be raised by Members at meetings of the Planning Advisory Panel (PAP).  Council was also asked to note that the sites that had been addressed in the report to the Executive Committee were at an early exploratory stage and there would be a need for further reports to the Executive Committee, which could be pre-scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee where required by Members.

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Sharon Harvey and seconded by Councillor Jane Spilsbury.

Redditch Council Plan

The Leader presented the Redditch Council Plan for Members’ consideration and in doing so highlighted that the content of the plan, including identification of Council priorities, had been considered over a number of months.  Included within the Redditch Council Plan was an overview of the Council’s priorities which included:

·             Economy, Regeneration and Prosperity

·             Green, Clean and Safe Redditch

·             Community and Housing

In considering the report, Members were asked to note that the Council Plan was designed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Primate Keeper Licences

Members considered a recommendation that had been made on the subject of Primate Keeper Licences at a meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 18^th March 2025. 

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Sachin Mathur and seconded by Councillor Sharon Harvey.

RESOLVED that

the fees applicable to Primate Keeper Licence applications, as detailed below, be approved by Council.

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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 informed that no urgent decisions had been taken since the previous meeting of 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.)

There was no urgent business for consideration on this occasion.