Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Cooke, Holliday and Williams.

The outgoing Mayor wished to update Council on her recent engagements. These are attached as an appendix to these minutes.

To elect the Mayor (Chairman of Council) for the Municipal Year 2018-19.

The Mayor (Klara Sudbury) to call on Councillor Coleman to move the motion proposing Councillor Bernard Fisher as Mayor.

Councillor Coleman will propose “that Councillor Fisher be, and is hereby, elected Mayor of the Borough of Cheltenham and Council chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year”.

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

The Mayor will thereafter put to the Council the motion “that Councillor Bernard Fisher 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 Fisher on his appointment and invite him to take his place in the chamber (she will still be wearing the chain until she hands it over to the new Mayor at the inauguration ceremony).

The Chief Executive will ask the newly elected Mayor to sign a declaration of acceptance of office of Council Chairman 2018-19 (this is not read out).

From this point onwards Councillor Fisher will chair the meeting.

The outgoing Mayor, Councillor Klara Sudbury, called on Councillor Coleman to move the motion proposing Councillor Fisher as Mayor.

Councillor Bernard Fisher was proposed for the office of Mayor by Councillor Coleman and seconded by Councillor Barnes.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that Councillor Bernard Fisher 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 2018-19.

Councillor Bernard Fisher took the chair.

To elect the Deputy Mayor (Vice-Chairman of Council) for the ensuing Municipal Year 2018-19.

The Mayor will call upon Councillor Wheeler to move the motion to appoint Councillor Whyborn as Deputy Mayor.

Councillor Wheeler will propose “that Councillor Whyborn 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 McKinlay to formally second the motion.

The Mayor to put the motion to Council “that Councillor Whyborn 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 the motion being carried, the Mayor will congratulate Councillor Whyborn on his 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 2018-19 (this is not read out).

Councillor Wheeler proposed Councillor Roger Whyborn for the office of Deputy Mayor, seconded by Councillor McKinlay.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that Councillor Roger Whyborn 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 2018-19.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 March were approved and signed as a correct record.

The Mayor thanked Members for electing him as Mayor.

The Leader congratulated Councillors Fisher and Whyborn on their appointments as Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively. He wished to put on record his thanks to Councillor Whyborn for his contribution as Cabinet Member Corporate Services and to Councillor Sudbury for chairing Council meetings as Mayor and for her contributions she had made to the town during her term of office.

The Leader also wished to recognise the contributions of the retiring Members and to those Members who had not been reelected, namely Chris Nelson and Adam Lillywhite.

On behalf of the Conservatives Councillor Harman congratulated both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor on their appointments and Councillor Sudbury for her role as Mayor. He also took the opportunity to welcome all new Members to the chamber and looked forward to working with them.

The Leader confirmed the following appointments to Cabinet :

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member Housing-Councillor Pete Jeffries

Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment- Councillor Chris Coleman

Cabinet Member Finance- Councillor Rowena Hay

Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles-Councillor Flo Clucas

Cabinet Member Corporate Services-Councillor Alex Hegenbarth

Cabinet Member Development and Safety-Councillor Andrew McKinlay

He explained that there would be no major transformation of Cabinet due to the number of key projects ongoing, such as the Cheltenham Transport Plan, the new Cemetery and Crematorium, development at Leisure@, works on the High Street, Housing Investment and the Cyber Park which he believed benefitted from consistency. There would be some minor adjustments within these portfolios and 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 Chris Mason was appointed as Chair of Overview and Scrutiny and Councillor Klara Sudbury was appointed as Vice Chair.

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 Victoria Atherstone was appointed as substitute.

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

Councillor Martin Horwood was appointed to the Gloucestershire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Substitute to be advised at a later date.

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 Jonny Brownsteen was appointed to the Police and Crime Panel.

Councillor Peter Jeffries was appointed as substitute.

To appoint to the following advisory panels and working groups :

a)    Treasury Management Panel

b)    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.

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

Councillor Dennis Parsons was appointed Chair of the Constitution Working Group.

To appoint Member Champion for the following:

-       Mental Health (currently 3 Members)

Councillors Garth Barnes, Martin Horwood, David Willingham and Louis Savage were appointed as Mental Health Member Champions.

None.

None.

None.

The Selection Council will be followed by separate meetings of the Audit Committee, Planning Committee, Licensing committee, Appointments and Remuneration Committee, JNC Disciplinary Committee, JNC Appeals Committee, Treasury Management Panel, the Constitution Working Group and the Asset Management Working Group. Each meeting will have the following standard agenda :

Agenda

Apologies

Declarations of Interest

To appoint the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee/Panel

NB In previous years the Mayor has proposed that the Chairs and Vice-Chairs where necessary be elected by Council rather than by individual committees in separate meetings. This would need a show of hands from Members in support.

The Mayor informed that a constitutional change was made last year to enable any subsequent changes to Chair and Vice Chair of committees be agreed by the relevant committee.