Agenda and minutes

The Mayor will ask the Service Manager (Legal) to announce any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Richardson.

The retiring Mayor will announce that the next item of business is the election of Mayor for the ensuing year and will call for nominations.

Councillor Mrs S Stamp will move,

"That Patrick Chung, a Councillor of the Borough, be and is hereby elected Mayor for the ensuing year."

Councillor J Griffiths will second.

The retiring Mayor will ask if there are any other nominations.

The retiring Mayor will then put the motion to the vote and, on its being carried by a show of hands, will declare that Councillor Patrick Chung is elected Mayor.

Musicians from King Edward VI School to play whilst:

The retiring Mayor will rise.  All other Members of the Council will rise simultaneously.

The new Mayor will then move to a position behind the Mayor's Chair.

The Mayor’s Officer will remove the Chain of Office and Robe from the retiring Mayor and hand the Robe to him, whilst the Sword Bearer will remove the Chain of Office and Robe from the outgoing Deputy Mayor. The retiring Mayor and Mayor’s Officer will then robe the new Mayor.

The Mayor’s Officer will next hand the Chain to the retiring Mayor who, with the assistance of the Mayor’s Officer, will place it on the new Mayor.

The new Mayor will then occupy the Mayor's Chair, and the retiring Mayor will then occupy the chair vacated by the new Mayor.

Simultaneously with the robing of the new Mayor, the Chain of Office will be removed from the retiring Mayoress, Mrs Diane Everitt, and placed on the new Mayoress, Mrs Anna Chung.

The retiring Mayoress and Mrs Anna Chung will then exchange places.

All Members of the Council will now sit.

The new Mayor will then sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, and rising, will read the terms thereof before passing it to the Service Manager (Legal) for her signature.

The Mayor will then acknowledge his election.

On the motion of Councillor Stamp, seconded by Councillor Griffiths, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Patrick Chung, a Councillor of the Borough, be and is hwewby wlwxrws Mayor for the ensuing year.

The Mayor took the Chair, signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and acknowledged his election.

The Mayor will announce that he will be appointing as his Chaplain Reverend Canon Matthew Vernon, Sub-Dean of St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

The Mayor announced that he would be appointing as his Chaplain the Reverend Canon Matthew Vernon, Sub-Dean of St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

The Mayor will announce that he has arranged for the Civic Service this year to be held at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, on Sunday 19 July 2015 at 3.30 pm.

The Mayor announced that he had arranged for the Civic Service to be held at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, on Sunday, 19 July 2015 at 3.30 pm.

Councillor J Griffiths will move,

"That the Council, in recognising the most able and diligent manner in which the retired Mayor, Councillor Robert Dale Everitt, has carried out the duties of Mayor of the Borough during the past year, record its thanks and deep appreciation of his services as Mayor, and the Council further record its appreciation of the gracious work of the retired Mayoress, Mrs Diane Everitt.”

Councillor C Springett will second.

The Mayor will then put the motion to the vote and, on its being carried by a show of hands the Mayor will then present Councillor Robert Dale Everitt with his past Mayor's Badge. Robert Dale Everitt will then acknowledge his year in office.

On the motion of Councillor Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Springett, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That the council, in recognising the most able and diligent manner in which the retired Mayor, Councillor Robert Dale Everitt, has carried out the duties of Mayor of the Borough during the past year, records its thanks and deep appreciation of the gracious work of the retired Mayoress, Mrs Diane Everitt.

Having been presented with his Past Mayor’s badge, Councillor Everitt replied to the Vote of Thanks.

Having announced this item as the next business, the Mayor will call for nominations.

(Due to the timing of the Borough Council elections on 7 May 2015 and the date in which this agenda is statutorily required to be published, the principal nomination for the election of Deputy Mayor for 2015/2016, together with the proposer and seconder of the motion WILL FOLLOW.)

Upon the nomination being proposed and seconded, the Mayor will then ask for any other nominations.

The Mayor will then put the motion to the vote and, on its being carried by a show of hands, the musicians from King Edward VI School will play whilst the Mayor’s Officer and the Mayor robe the new Deputy Mayor and, with the assistance of the Mayor’s Officer, invest the new Deputy Mayor with the Chain of Office. Simultaneously, the new Deputy Consort, will be invested with the Badge of Office.

All Members of the Council will then sit.

The new Deputy Mayor will then sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and pass it to the Service Manager (Legal) for her signature.

The new Deputy Mayor will then formally acknowledge his/her election.

On the motion of Councillor Hind, seconded by Councillor Rushen and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Wakelam be and is hereby elected Deputy Mayor for the ensuing year.

The Deputy Mayor signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, and acknowledged her election.

Councillor Mrs S Stamp will move,

"That the Council record its sincere and deep appreciation of the services of Councillor Patrick Chung, as Deputy Mayor of the Borough, and of the help and support given by the Deputy Mayoress, Mrs Anna Chung."

Councillor J Griffiths will second.

The Mayor will then put the motion to the vote and, upon its being carried by a show of hands, will invite the retired Deputy Mayor to reply and acknowledge the Vote of Thanks.

On the motion of Councillor Stamp, seconded by Councillor Griffiths, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That the council record its sincere and deep appreciation of the services of Councillor Patrick Chung, as Deputy Mayor of the borough, and of the help and support given by the Deputy Mayoress, Mrs Anna Chung.

The retired Deputy Mayor acknowledged the Vote of Thanks.

The Mayor will call for nominations for the election of Leader of the Council, and this item of business will be determined by the normal voting process.

The term of office of the Leader of the Council will expire at the next post election annual meeting of the Council unless determined before then in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

On the motion of Councillor Everitt, seconded by Councillor Marks, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Griffiths be elected Leader of the Council.

Councillor Griffiths, Leader of the Council, welcomed the newly elected Councillors and paid tribute to those who had not been re-elected or who had chosen not to stand again.

Having regard to the provisions of the Constitution, the Mayor will invite the newly appointed Leader of the Council to announce:

(a)     up to nine Members whom s/he will be appointing to form the Cabinet;

(b)     the name of a Member of the Cabinet to act as Deputy Leader; and

(c)     the Portfolios, and which Members of the Cabinet will be Portfolio Holders.

(Note: In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the appointment of Members to the Cabinet announced in this way will take immediate effect. Otherwise, the Leader will give written notice to the Service Manager (Legal) (as the proper officer) of the Members of the Cabinet as soon as practicable after the Annual Meeting. Such appointments made in that way will take effect two working days after the receipt of such notice by the Service Manager (Legal).)

Councillor Griffiths, Leader of the Council, informed the Council that the Membership of the Cabinet would consist of the following Cabinet Members and their portfolios:

Councillor Griffiths also informed the Council that Councillor Mildmay-White would act as Deputy Leader of the Council.

(a)     The Council will need to formally approve the formula for the allocation of seats to the political groups on those Committees which are required by law to be politically balanced, namely:

(i)                  Development Control;

(ii)                 Licensing and Regulatory;

(iii)                Overview and Scrutiny;

(iv)               Performance and Audit Scrutiny;

(v)                 Joint Officer Appointments;

(vi)               Joint Officer Appeals;

(vii)              Mayoral Advisory; and

(viii)             Treasury Management.

(b)     The Council is invited to appoint to the West Suffolk Joint Standards Committee which is not required to be politically balanced.

(c)     The Council is invited to approve the formula for the allocation of seats on the Democratic Renewal Working Party in accordance with the political balance of the Council.

Report COU/SE/15/017 TO FOLLOW.

The Council considered Report COU/SE/15/017 (previously circulated) which detailed the results of a Political Balance Review as at 19 May 2015 and gave analysis of the number of Members on the Committees.

The Council was required by law to allocate seats to the following Committees based on political balance:

The total allocation of seats on the Committees was:

On the motion of Councillor Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Thorndyke, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

(1) the Committees, Joint Committees and Working Party listed in Sections 1.2.1 to 1.2.3 of Report No: COU/SE/15/017 continue to operate for 2015/2016 in accordance with their existing number of seats and terms of reference, as contained in Appendix 2;

(2) the formula for the allocation of seats to the political groups on those Committees which are required by law to be politically balanced, as set out in paragraph 1.1.1 of Report No: COU/SE/15/017, be approved;

(3) the allocation of seats on the Committees which are required by law to be politically balanced, as indicated in Appendix 1 to Report No: COU/SE/15/017, be approved;

(4) the allocation of seats on the West Suffolk Joint Standards Committee, as indicated in Section 1.2.2 of Report No: COU/SE/15/017, be approved. This Committee is not required to be politically balanced;

(5) the allocation of seats on the Democratic Renewal Working Party, as indicated in Section 1.2.3 of Report No: COU/SE/15/017, be approved, whilst maintaining the political balance requirement;

(6) the Service Manager (Legal) be given delegated authority to appoint Members and substitute Members to those bodies set out in  recommendations (3), (4) and (5) above on the basis of nominations from the relevant Group Leaders.

(a)    Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

(b)    Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Council will appoint the Chairmen and Vice?Chairmen of the Overview and Scrutiny and the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committees.

(a) Overview and Scrutiny Committee

On the motion of Councillor Nettleton, seconded by Councillor Griffiths, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Hind be appointed as Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

On the motion of Councillor Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Nettleton, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Farthing be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

(b) Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee

On the motion of Councillor Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Patsy Warby, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Broughton be appointed as Chairman of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee.

On the motion of Councillor Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Mildmay-White, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Patsy Warby be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee.

Report COU/SE/15/018 TO FOLLOW.

The Council considered Report No. COU/SE/15/018 (previously circulated) which outlined previous outside body representations and sought delegated authority for the Service Manager (Legal) to appoint the Borough Council’s representatives on outside bodies and in accordance with nominations put forward by the relevant Group Leaders.

Appendix B to Report No. COU/SE/15/018 referred to the Gershom Parkington Memorial Trust which should not be confused with the main Gershom Parkington bequest itself. The Council had received a request for use of the Trust funds to support a specific project and, as the Charity had been inactive for many years, it needed to reconvene to determine this. The Trust could have up to 10 members, and although there was a quorum of three members remaining, it was suggested that appointing a further three trustees at this time would meet the objective of the Charity for the Borough Council to have a majority of the total membership. It was therefore suggested that an amendment be made to the recommendation at (5) that ‘up to four’ Borough Councillors be appointed.

On the motion of Councillor Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Mildmay-White, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

(1) Where the Council may send observers to meetings of outside bodies these will be appointed by the Cabinet.

(2) If deemed appropriate, the Council to explore the passing of  nominations to other organisations.

(3) Where the Council may make a nomination, but the nominee is not automatically appointed by the organisation, the nomination be made by the Cabinet.

(4) The Service Manager (Legal) be given delegated authority to appoint the Borough Council’s representatives on outside bodies not covered by (1), (2) and (3) above, in accordance with nominations put forward by the relevant Group Leaders or (if applicable) the nominating body or individual listed (as detailed in Appendix A to Report No: COU/SE/15/018).

(5) In relation to the appointments to the Gershom Parkington Memorial  Trust (as detailed in Appendix B):-

(a) To determine whether to appoint up to four any Borough Councillors to the four vacant trustee positions, through whatever process is agreed for appointing to other outside bodies under this report.

(b) To authorise a Director, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder responsible for the heritage collection, to appoint to any remaining vacancies, before the next meeting of the Trust takes place.

Report COU/SE/15/019 TO FOLLOW.

On the motion of Councillor Beccy Hopfensperger, seconded by Councillor Griffiths, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

(1) Council appoint those persons named in Appendix 1 to Report No: COU/SE/15/019 to Flempton cum Hengrave Parish Council temporarily until the holding of an election; and

(2) an Order to that effect be made in accordance with s91 Local Government Act 1972.