Agenda and minutes

Councillor Williams.

To elect the Mayor (Chairman of Council) for the Municipal Year 2016-17.

The Mayor (Duncan Smith) to call on Councillor Harman to move the motion proposing Councillor Chris Ryder as Mayor.

Councillor Harman will propose “that Councillor Chris Ryder be, and is hereby, elected Mayor of the Borough of Cheltenham and Council Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year”.

The Mayor will call upon Councillor Barnes to formally second the motion.

The Mayor, will thereafter put to the Council the motion “that Councillor Chris Ryder be, and is hereby, elected Mayor of the Borough of Cheltenham and Council Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year”.

The Mayor will invite Councillors to give a show of hands to indicate their support.

The Mayor will congratulate Councillor Ryder on her appointment and invite her to take her place in the chamber (he will still be wearing the chain until he hands it over to the new Mayor at the inauguration ceremony).

The Head of Paid Service will ask the newly elected Mayor to sign a declaration of acceptance of office of Council Chairman 2016-17 (this is not read out).

From this point onwards Councillor Ryder will chair the meeting.

The outgoing Mayor, Duncan Smith, called on Councillor Harman to move the motion proposing Councillor Chris Ryder as Mayor.

Councillor Chris Ryder was proposed for the office of Mayor by Councillor Harman and seconded by Councillor Barnes.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that Councillor Chris Ryder be, and is hereby, elected Mayor of the Borough of Cheltenham and Council chairman for the ensuing year.

The Head of Paid Service invited the Mayor to sign a Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Council chairman for the ensuing municipal year 2016-17.

Councillor Chris Ryder took the chair. She took the opportunity to welcome new members to the Council and she also thanked retiring Members Jacky Fletcher and Andrew Chard for their service to the council.

To elect the Deputy-Mayor (Vice-Chairman of Council) for the ensuing Municipal Year 2016-17.

The Mayor will call upon Councillor Flynn to move the motion to appoint Councillor Sudbury as Deputy Mayor.

Councillor Flynn will propose “that Councillor Sudbury be, and is hereby, elected Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Cheltenham and Council Vice-Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year”.

The Mayor will call upon Councillor Walklett to formally second the motion.

The Mayor to put the motion to Council “that Councillor Sudbury be, and is hereby, elected Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Cheltenham and Council Vice-Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year”.

The Mayor will invite Councillors to give a show of hands to indicate their support.

Upon being carried, the Mayor will congratulate Councillor Sudbury on his/her appointment.

The Head of Paid Service will ask the newly elected Deputy Mayor to sign a declaration of acceptance of office of Council Vice-Chairman 2016-17 (this is not read out).

Councillor Flynn proposed Councillor Klara Sudbury for the office of Deputy Mayor, seconded by Councillor Walklett.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that Councillor Klara Sudbury be, and is hereby, elected Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Cheltenham and Council vice-chairman for the ensuing year.

The Head of Paid Service invited the Deputy Mayor to sign a Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Council vice-chairman for the ensuing municipal year 2016-17.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2016 were approved and signed as a correct record.

The Mayor reminded Members that two extraordinary meetings of Council had been convened with regard to the Joint Core Strategy, namely Thursday 30 June at 6 pm and Wednesday 14 September 2016 at 6pm.

The Mayor also reminded Members of her inauguration ceremony at the Town Hall on Wednesday 18 May and hoped as many Councillors would be in attendance as possible to represent their wards.

The Mayor will invite a proposer and seconder for Leader of the Council. After a vote the Mayor will invite the newly appointed Leader to address the Council and announce the Deputy Leader and the membership of the Cabinet.

Councillor Jordan was proposed as the Leader of the Council by Councillor Rowena Hay and seconded by Councillor Jeffries.

Upon being put to the vote the proposal was unanimously CARRIED.

The Mayor invited the Leader to address Council.

The Leader congratulated the Mayor and Deputy Mayor on their respective appointments and thanked colleagues for his appointment. He welcomed all new Members and thanked those who had not been re-elected                                             for their contributions to the Council during their years of service. He paid tribute to Councillor Jon Walklett who was stepping down from his role as Cabinet Member Corporate Services.

He confirmed the following appointments to Cabinet :

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment- Councillor Chris Coleman

Cabinet Member Finance- Councillor Rowena Hay

Cabinet Member Healthy Living-Councillor Flo Clucas

Cabinet Member Corporate Services-Councillor Roger Whyborn

Cabinet Member Housing-Councillor Pete Jeffries

Cabinet Member Development and Safety-Councillor Andrew McKinlay

He explained that within these portfolios there had been minor adjustments but he would circulate the detailed Cabinet portfolio document over the coming days. He believed the new Cabinet represented a strong team for Cheltenham.

Note : Details of political group nominations to committees will be circulated separately on the day of the meeting.

With Council’s agreement the Mayor may propose that the nominations are agreed on bloc.

a)    Overview and Scrutiny Committee (must be non-Executive members)

b)    Audit Committee

c)    Planning

d)    Licensing

e)    Standards Committee (no substitutes)

f)     Appointments and Remuneration Committee

g)    JNC Disciplinary Committee

h)    JNC Appeals Committee

The appointments to the following Committees were approved in accordance with the nominations contained in the table circulated and now attached to these minutes for information.

a)     Overview and Scrutiny committee

b)     Audit Committee

c)      Planning

d)     Licensing

e)     Standards Committee

f)      Appointments and Remuneration Committee

g)     JNC Disciplinary Committee

h)     JNC Appeals Committee

Note : According to the Constitution the Chair shall not be a member of the political group which forms the Cabinet

Councillor Tim Harman was appointed as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Jordan nominated Councillor Walklett as Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and upon a vote was unanimously elected.

To appoint two Councillors (one Executive and one non Executive member)

Councillor Wendy Flynn was appointed as the non-Executive member to the 2020 Partnership Joint Committee.

Councillor Roger Whyborn was appointed as the Executive member to the 2020 Partnership Joint Committee.

To appoint one Councillor and a substitute, both non Executive members.

Councillor Paul McCloskey was appointed to the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Klara Sudbury was appointed as substitute.

To appoint one Councillor and a substitute, both non Executive members.

Councillor Steve Harvey was appointed to the Gloucestershire Health, Community and Care Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Mike Collins was appointed as substitute.

To appoint one Councillor and a substitute

Note:Whilst this appointment does not have to be a non-Executive member, appointing such a member should avoid a potential conflict of interest and facilitate 2 way feedback with O&S committee (see report to Council 14 May 2012)

Councillor Helena McCloskey was appointed to the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel.

Councillor Karl Hobley was appointed as substitute.

It was recognised that Councillor Chris Nelson had offered to be on this committee as a “top-up” Member for the purposes of political balance across the County but this was not a Council appointment.

To appoint to the following advisory panels and working groups :

a)    Treasury Management Panel

b)    Constitution Working Group

Councillor Paul Baker was appointed Chair of the Treasury Management Panel. Councillor Britter was appointed Vice Chair of the Treasury Management Panel.

Councillor Colin Hay was appointed Chair of the Constitution Working Group.

The appointments to the Treasury Management Panel and the Constitution Working group were then approved in accordance with the nominations contained in the table circulated (as amended) and now attached to these minutes for information.

There were none.

There were none.

There were none.

The Mayor advised members that in appointing Chairs and Vice chairs of committees and working groups there were a number of options as follows :

Option 1: Chairs and Vice chairs could be elected at the first meeting of the committee.

Option 2: Each committee could be asked today to elect their Chair and Vice-Chair today by effectively having separate meetings of each committee.

Option 3: is that the Chairs and Vice Chairs can be elected today by Council.

The Leader added that in the past once Council had elected the Chairs and Vice Chairs the Committee could not elect a Chair in its own right. He therefore explained that should Option 3 be adopted the following additional resolution is proposed which arose out of discussions at the Mayor’s briefing for this meeting:

i)              It be agreed that any changes to the Chair and Vice-Chair of any committee in the period up to the next Selection Council be approved by that committee and to authorise the Democratic Services Manager to amend the Constitution to enable this to happen. 

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED THAT

1.    any changes to the Chair and Vice-Chair of any committee in the period up to the next Selection Council be approved by that committee

2.    the Democratic Services Manager be authorised to amend the Constitution to enable this to happen. 

The Chairs and Vice Chairs of the following committees were elected and contained in the table attached to these minutes.

Audit Committee

Planning Committee

Licensing Committee

Standards Committee

Appointments and Remuneration Committee

JNC Disciplinary Committee

JNC Appeals Committee