Agenda and minutes

This being the first meeting of the West Suffolk Council, the outgoing Shadow Council Vice-Chair, Councillor Brian Harvey, opened the meeting.

Before commencing business, all Members were asked to stand in order to observe a minutes’ silence in remembrance of former Leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Ray Novak, who had sadly died the day before.

The outgoing Chair will call for nominations for the election of the Chair for the ensuing year.

The outgoing Chair will then make their remarks, to be followed by incoming Chair’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

The outgoing Shadow Council Vice-Chair then asked for nominations for the Chair of Council for 2019/2020.

Councillor John Griffiths nominated Councillor Brian Harvey and this was seconded by Councillor David Nettleton.

There being no other nominations and no objections, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Brian Harvey be elected Chair of West Suffolk Council for 2019/2020.

Councillor Harvey then received his Chain of Office and signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office before formally taking the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

The Chair will nominate their Vice Chair.

Incoming Vice Chair to make their Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

The Chair advised that the next item of business was the election of the Vice Chair for the ensuing year; accordingly he nominated Councillor Margaret Marks as Vice Chair and this was duly seconded by Councillor John Griffiths.

There being no other nominations and no objections, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Margaret Marks be elected Vice Chair of West Suffolk Council for 2019/2020.

Councillor Marks then came forward to the dais, received her Chain of Office and signed her Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

Before continuing with the business on the agenda, both Chair and Vice Chair of Council addressed the meeting and gave thanks to their fellow Members for their appointments.

Both looked forward to serving the West Suffolk Council in their roles and expressed great pride at being the first to be able to do so.  Praise was also given to the PA to the Chair/Vice Chair of the Council for all her ongoing support.

The Service Manager (Democratic Services) will announce any apologies for absence. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Terry Clements, Dawn Dicker, Roger Dicker, Elaine McManus and Peter Thompson. 

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

The term of office for 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. 

The Chair sought nominations for the Leader of West Suffolk Council.

Councillor Sara Mildmay-White nominated Councillor John Griffiths and gave thanks to him for the work he had undertaken in order to bring the two former Councils together as West Suffolk Council.  This was duly seconded by Councillor David Nettleton.

Upon being put to the vote and with 53 voting for the motion and with 6 against, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor John Griffiths be elected Leader of West Suffolk Council until the next post-election Annual Meeting unless determined before then in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

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

(a)         Up to nine Members whom they will be appointing to form the Cabinet (alongside the Leader)

(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.

The Leader thanked his fellow Members for his appointment as Leader of West Suffolk Council. 

He paid tribute to the Members of the two former Councils and reminded all present that West Suffolk was now the eighth biggest District Council in the UK; the formation of which presented fantastic opportunities for all.

The Leader stated that he looked forward to working with all Councillors and welcomed their contributions on all business of the Authority.

Council were then advised of the list of Members to be appointed to the Cabinet, the Deputy Leader and the portfolios; together with those Members providing support roles:

The Leader explained that there was the possibility of appointing one further Cabinet post which may enable flexibility going forward.

Council were also advised that key future workstreams for the Authority would include the Local Plan and the Strategic Plan.  The intention was for specific time-limited taskforces to be formed to help support these areas of work, in particular a rural taskforce and climate change taskforce, and Terms of Reference were currently being developed for these.

Report No: AGM/WS/19/001

The Leader presented this item and drew attention to the supplementary paper that had been circulated separately to the agenda and which contained the proposed allocation of Committee places to the Political Groups; having been developed in consultation with the three Group Leaders.

On the motion of the Leader, seconded by Councillor Diane Hind, who gave thanks to Democratic Services for all their work on the report, and with 58 voting for the motion and with 1 abstention it was

RESOLVED:

That:-

1.   The Committees and Sub-Committees listed in Paragraph 1.8 of Report No: AGM/WS/19/001 operate for 2019/2020 in accordance with the number of seats and Terms of Reference, as contained in Appendix C, subject to the membership of the Standards Committee being increased to 7 Members;

2.   The Council agrees the political balance and allocation of seats on Committees as per Appendix A;

3.   The Council agrees the political balance and allocation of substitutes on Committees as per Appendix B; and

4.   The Council notes that based on the agreed allocations, Group Leaders have up to 14 days in which to notify the Monitoring Officer of their nominations to Committee places, on which the Monitoring Officer will appoint Members to Committees.

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

(a)         Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

(b)         Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee

The Chair explained that each of the appointments under this item would be taken and voted upon in turn.

(a)         Appointment of Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Victor Lukaniuk nominated Councillor David Nettleton and this was seconded by Councillor Sara Mildmay-White.

There being no other nominations, it was put to the vote and with 51 voting for the motion, 7 against and with 1 abstention it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor David Nettleton be elected Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2019/2020.

(b)         Appointment of Vice Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor David Nettleton nominated Councillor Simon Cole and this was seconded by the Leader who highlighted the fact that the Conservative Group had intentionally not made a nomination from the Group for the Chair of the Committee as the aim was to work across the Political Groups on scrutiny.

The Leader also gave thanks to Councillor Diane Hind who had previously served as the Chair of the St Edmundsbury Borough Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

There being no other nominations, it was put to the vote and with 55 voting for the motion and with 4 abstentions it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Simon Cole be elected Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2019/2020.

(c)         Appointment of Chair of Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee

The Leader nominated Councillor Ian Houlder and this was seconded by Councillor John Burns.

There being no other nominations, it was put to the vote and with 57 voting for the motion and with 2 abstentions it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Ian Houlder be elected Chair of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee for 2019/2020.

(d)         Appointment of Vice Chair of Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee

The Leader nominated Councillor Karen Richardson and this was seconded by Councillor Clive Springett.

There being no other nominations, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Karen Richardson be elected Vice Chair of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee for 2019/2020.

Report No: AGM/WS/19/002

The Leader presented this item which sought agreement of the Members’ Allowance Scheme recommended for approval by the West Suffolk Shadow Council in February 2019.

The Leader spoke on the vast amount of work undertaken by the Independent Remuneration Panel in developing the scheme.  He also advised Council that a review was to be undertaken during Autumn 2019 and he encouraged all Members to engage in the review.

Councillor David Nettleton made reference to the table setting out the rate of allowances in Schedule 1 of the report’s appendix which referred to a single Vice Chair of the Development Control Committee.

Councillor Nettleton explained that the volume of work in respect of the Development Control Committee was considerable and in light of this he proposed an amendment to the table to read “Vice Chair(s) of Development Control Committee” – therefore enabling the Committee to appoint two, who would each receive the SRA for the appointment.

The Leader welcomed the proposal which he considered sensible and moved the report’s recommendations inclusive of this amendment.  This was duly seconded by Councillor Jo Rayner.

Upon being put to the vote and with 58 voting for the motion and with 1 abstention, it was

RESOLVED:

That:-

1.   The Scheme of Allowances as attached to Appendix 1 of this report be agreed inclusive of the amendment to the table in Schedule 1 to read “Vice Chair(s) of Development Control Committee”; and

2.   The Independent Remuneration Panel undertake a further review within the financial year to evaluate whether the scheme is working as intended or requires further amendment.

Report No: AGM/WS/19/003

The Leader presented this item and spoke on the value of Council representation on outside bodies; for the organisations and Members alike.

He encouraged Members to put themselves forward for roles to their Group Leaders.

On the motion of the Leader, duly seconded by Councillor Margaret Marks and with 58 voting for the motion and with 1 abstention it was

RESOLVED:

That:-

1.   The Service Manager (Democratic Services) and Monitoring Officer be given Delegated Authority to appoint the Council’s representatives on outside bodies, in accordance with the nominations put forward by relevant Group Leaders, or the nominated body, or the individual listed, as detailed in Appendix A; and

2.   Where no representative is nominated, the Service Manager (Democratic Services) and Monitoring Officer be given Delegated Authority to seek nominations from other bodies and individuals, to be approved by Council in due course;

3.   The Council notes that where the outside organisation is discharging executive functions, or the Council is an observer on an organisation, these appointments will be made by Cabinet;

4.   The Council notes that it is intended to continue to review representation on outside bodies to ensure that it remains beneficial for the organisation and for the Council; and

5.   The Council notes that the nominations to the Suffolk County Council Health Scrutiny Committee, be proposed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on 13 June 2019, for subsequent confirmation by Council on 16 July 2019.