Agenda and minutes

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 Paul Hopfensperger will move,

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

Councillor Frank Warby 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 Terry Clements 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 Sword Bearer will remove the Chain of Office and Robe from the retiring Mayor and hand the Robe to the Mace Bearer. Subsequently, with the assistance of the Mace Bearer, the Sword Bearer will remove the Chain of Office and Robe from the outgoing Deputy Mayor.  The Sword Bearer will then robe the new Mayor.

The Sword Bearer will next hand the Chain to the Mace Bearer who, with the assistance of the Sword Bearer, 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 Consort’s Badge will be removed from the retiring Mayor’s Consort, Mr Paul Rynsard, and the Chain of Office will be placed on the new Mayoress, Mrs Vivienne Clements.

The retiring Mayor’s Consort, and Mrs Vivienne Clements 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 (Democratic Services) for her signature.

The Mayor will then acknowledge his election.

On the motion of Councillor Paul Hopfensperger and seconded by Councillor Frank Warby, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That Terry Clements, a Councillor of the Borough, be and is hereby elected Mayor for the ensuing year.

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

To receive announcements (if any) from the officer advising the Mayor (including apologies for absence)

Apologies for absence were received from the following Councillors for the parts of the meeting as indicated:

• Part I (Ceremonial Business) only: Councillors John Burns,  David Nettleton and Jim Thorndyke
• Part II (Procedural Business) only: Councillor Bob Cockle
• Both Parts I (Ceremonial Business)  and II (Procedural Business): Councillors Trevor Beckwith, Simon Brown, Jeremy Farthing, Paula Fox, Jane Midwood, Clive Pollington, David Roach and Anthony Williams.

Councillor Peter Thompson was absent from Part I, but present for Part II.

It was noted that Councillor Burns was present in the auditorium; however, as he was filming the proceedings, he could not take part in the vote on the motions proposed during Part I (ceremonial business).

(a)     Appointment of Mayor's Chaplain

The Mayor will formally announce that he will be appointing as his Chaplain, The Venerable Dr David Jenkins, Archdeacon of Sudbury.

(b)     Civic Service

The Mayor will announce that he has arranged for the Civic Service this year to be held on Sunday 4 June 2017 at St Edmundsbury Cathedral at 3.30 pm.  At 3.00 pm, the civic procession will be led by a parade of TS St Edmund (Mayor’s Own) Sea Cadet Corps, to commemorate their admission to the Honorary Freedom of the Borough.

(a)     Appointment of Mayor's Chaplain

The Mayor announced that he would be appointing as his Chaplain the Venerable Dr David Jenkins, Archdeacon of Sudbury.

(b)     Civic Service

The Mayor reported that he had arranged for the Civic Service this year to be held at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, on Sunday 4 June 2017 at 3.30 pm.  At 3.00 pm, the civic procession will be led by a parade of TS St Edmund (Mayor’s Own) Sea cadet Corps, to commemorate their admission to the Honorary Freedom of the Borough.

Councillor Robert Everitt will move,

"That the Council, in recognising the most able and diligent manner in which the retired Mayor, Councillor Julia Wakelam has carried out the duties of Mayor of the Borough during the past year, record its thanks and deep appreciation of her services as Mayor, and the Council further record its appreciation of the gracious work of the retired Mayor’s Consort, Mr Paul Rynsard.”

Councillor John Griffiths 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 Julia Wakelam with her past Mayor's Badge. Julia Wakelam will then acknowledge her year in office.

On the motion of Councillor Robert Everitt, seconded by Councillor John Griffiths, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

That the Council, in recognising the most able and diligent manner in which the retired Mayor, Councillor Julia Wakelam, has carried out the duties of Mayor of the Borough during the past year, record its thanks and deep appreciation of her services as Mayor, and the Council further

record its appreciation of the gracious work of the retired Mayor’s Consort, Mr Paul Rynsard.

The retiring Mayor acknowledged her year in office.

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

Councillor Betty McLatchy will move,

“That Councillor Margaret Marks be and is hereby elected Deputy Mayor for the ensuing year.”

Councillor Tony Brown will second.

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 Sword Bearer and the Mace Bearer robe the new Deputy Mayor and invest the new Deputy Mayor with the Chain of Office. Simultaneously, the new Deputy Mayor’s Consort, will be invested with her 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 (Democratic Services) for her signature.

The new Deputy Mayor will then formally acknowledge her election.

On the motion of Councillor Betty McLatchy, seconded by Councillor Tony Brown, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

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

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

The Mayor announced presentations to Mrs Vivienne Clements, the Mayoress; Mr Paul Rynsard, the retiring Mayor’s Consort; and Mrs Elaine McManus, the Deputy Mayor’s Consort.

(At 1.12pm, the Mayor then announced the conclusion of the ceremonial business of the Council and an adjournment for a civic reception. The procedural business in Part II of the Agenda commenced at 2.00 pm.)

(Councillor Bob Cockle left the meeting during the adjournment and did not return.  Councillors David Nettleton and Peter Thompson arrived during the adjournment for the start of Part II (Procedural Business) of the meeting.)

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

(a)     up to nine Members whom 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 (Democratic Services) of the Members of the Cabinet as soon as practicable after the Annual Meeting.)

Councillor  John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, announced that he would not be making any changes to the membership of the Cabinet nor the portfolios at the present time, and therefore the Cabinet would comprise the following:

Councillor Griffiths also informed that Councillor Sara Mildmay-White would continue in her role as Deputy Leader of the Council.

Report No: AGM/SE/17/001

Council considered Report No: AGM/SE/17/001, which detailed the outcome of the Political Balance Review as at 18 May 2017 and provided an analysis of the number of seats on the various committees required to be allocated to the Council’s political groups, based on the rules of proportionality where applicable.

Tabled before Members was an amended version of the report, which had been required to address the vacancy on the Council, which had arisen following the very recent death of Councillor Angela Rushen.

The table at Appendix 1 (Amended) showed those bodies that were required to be politically balanced and provided the exact entitlement to places of each Group. 

Council then considered that the allocation of seats and substitutes to political groups in accordance with the political balance rules, and the re-appointment of the existing membership or appointment of new membership, as applicable, to the various bodies listed in the report, would be made under delegated authority on the nominations of Group Leaders.

Appendix 2 contained the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the various bodies listed in the report, which were required by the Constitution to be reviewed at the Annual Meeting.  Following a recent review of the functions and responsibilities of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee, amendments had been proposed to the ToR for this Committee, and these were duly accepted by the Council.

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

RESOLVED: That

(1)     the Committees, Joint Committees and Working Party listed in Sections 1.2.1 to 1.2.3 of Report No: AGM/SE/17/001  (AMENDED) continue to operate for 2017/2018 in accordance with their existing number of seats and terms of reference (ToR), as amended to include revisions to the ToR for the Licensing and Regulatory Committee, 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, 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: AGM/SE/17/001 (AMENDED), be approved;

(4)     the allocation of seats on the West Suffolk Joint Standards Committee, as indicated in Section 1.2.2, be approved. This Committee is not required to be politically balanced;

(5)     whilst the Democratic Renewal Working Party is not required to be politically balanced, the allocation of seats is by custom and practice, undertaken on this basis.  Therefore, the allocation of seats to this Working Party, as indicated in Section 1.2.3, be approved; and

(6)     the Service Manager (Democratic Services) be requested to exercise their existing delegated authority to re-appoint or appoint as applicable, 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.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Council will appoint the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the:

(a)     Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

(b)     Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee.

(a)     Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

On the motion of Councillor John Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Tony Brown, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

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

(b)     Vice-Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

On the motion of Councillor John Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Diane Hind, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

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

Recognition was given to Councillor Jeremy Farthing, as the former Vice-Chairman of this Committee, for his work in this role in previous years.

(c)     Chairman of Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee

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

RESOLVED:

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

(d)     Vice-Chairman of Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee

On the motion of Councillor John Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Sarah Broughton, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED:

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

Report No: AGM/SE/17/002

Council considered Report No: AGM/SE/17/002, which sought approval for the appointment and re-appointment (where applicable) of Member representation on outside bodies.

At each Annual Meeting, the Council was required to receive, or arrange the delegation of, nominations of Councillors to serve on any outside body for which a new appointment or re-appointment was required.

Attached as Appendix A to the report was the list of outside bodies for the last civic year, 2016/2017.  This list provided the name of the organisations and the number of representatives in that year.

Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, drew attention to representation on the board of Suffolk County Council’s ‘Our Greenest County’, as contained in Appendix A.  He subsequently nominated Councillor Susan Glossop to replace Councillor Peter Stevens, the current representative, on this board.

The  Council considered the remaining existing and newly nominated representatives on outside bodies listed at Appendix A and agreed that the existing delegated authority of the Service Manager (Democratic Services) and Monitoring Officer  should be exercised to appoint or re-appoint, as applicable, the Borough Council’s representatives on outside bodies not covered by the provisions made in Recommendations (1), (2) and (3) for 2017/2018.

On the motion of Councillor John Griffiths, seconded by Councillor Peter Stevens, and duly carried, it was

RESOLVED: That

(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 (Democratic Services) and Monitoring Officer be requested to exercise their existing delegated authority to:

(a)     re-appoint the existing Borough Council’s representatives on outside bodies not covered by the provisions made in Recommendations (1), (2) and (3) above for 2017/2018, as detailed in Appendix A to Report No: AGM/SE/17/002; and

(b)     make new appointments to outside bodies, as applicable, in accordance with nominations put forward by the relevant Group Leaders or (if applicable) the nominating body or individual listed.