To consider a revised final report from the Role of the Mayor Task and Finish Group.
(Report to follow)
Minutes:
The Role of the Mayor Task and Finish Group’s final report was presented by the Chair of the Group, Councillor Chalk. He explained that, at the request of the Committee, the report had been amended to include information about the costs that would be incurred if the recommendations were approved.
The Chair explained that he did not agree with recommendation 2: ‘we recommend that resources be made available for small receptions and semi informal engagements’. He felt that it was not appropriate for Officers of the Council to be involved in serving refreshments at informal Mayoral meetings.
Members asked what the current hospitality allowance was for the Mayor. Officers confirmed that the hospitality budget was set at £1,170 per year. The Chair suggested that if the Mayoral hospitality allowance was increased by approximately £1,000, this would provide future Mayors with extra resources to hire serving staff for functions if they so wished. The Committee agreed that a revenue bid should be submitted to request an additional £1,000 for the Mayoral hospitality allowance and that recommendation 2 be altered to reflect this suggestion.
Members discussed recommendation 3: ‘that the Council contact all representatives from the business sector in the town, informing them that it is possible for senior personnel within their business to be received by the Mayor’. Members felt that this recommendation might lead to the perception that the Mayor favoured some business organisations over others. It was suggested that the extra funds made available through the implementation of recommendation 2 should provide future Mayors with the resources to contact and entertain local businesses if that was something they wished to do. The Committee therefore agreed to remove recommendation 3.
Members also voiced concerns regarding recommendation 6: ‘we recommend that the Mayor’s Parlour be improved’. Members commented that the estimated cost of £12,000 to open up a terrace from the Mayor’s Parlour would be unlikely to cover the work that was needed. It was also felt that any potential health and safety implications of installing a balcony had not been fully investigated. However, Members agreed that the Mayor’s Parlour was in need of redecoration and approved the suggestion in the report that approximately £800 should be made available to undertake this redecoration. The Committee requested that recommendation 6 be rewritten to reflect these changes.
In addition, the Committee agreed to keep recommendation 1: ‘that a picture of the current Mayor be placed in a prominent position within the Town Hall’; recommendation 5: ‘that the Mayoral induction booklet be improved’; and recommendation 7: ‘the content of the Mayoral web pages be developed and extended’.
The Committee agreed that recommendation 4: ‘that a display cabinet be installed in the reception are in the Town Hall in which small items from Redditch’s history are displayed’ should not be approved.
Members raised general concerns about the Role of the Mayor Review exercise. It was felt by some Members that the exercise should not have been approved as a scrutiny review. Other Members commented that the Overview and Scrutiny function provided all non-Executive Councillors with an opportunity to influence all policy and protocol of the Council and that this had therefore been a suitable topic for further investigation.
RESOLVED that
1)
recommendation 2 be amended to incorporate the request to
` increase the Mayoral
hospitality budget by £1,000 in accordance with the preamble above;
2) recommendation 3 and 4 be removed as detailed in the preamble above;
3) recommendation 6 be amended to reflect the request that £800 be made available to redecorate the Mayor’s Parlour; and
4) the Executive Committee be asked to consider the recommendations of the Role of the Mayor Task and Finish Group, as amended by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and as detailed above.