Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Chamber, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3YU
Contact: Claire Skoyles: Democratic Services Officer
Email: claire.skoyles@westsuffolk.gov.uk
Items
No. |
Item |
203. |
Welcome and introduction
Minutes:
The Chair opened the
meeting and welcomed all persons present in the Conference Chamber.
She explained the rationale behind the precautionary health and safety measures that remained in
operation for this meeting which aimed to reduce and restrict the
transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
(Councillor Paul
Hopfensperger left the meeting during the consideration of this
item and returned during the consideration of agenda item
4.)
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204. |
Election of Chair of the Council for 2022 to 2023
The outgoing Chair will call for nominations
for the election of Chair for the ensuing year.
Following the seeking of other nominations, a
vote will be taken on the nomination of the Chair.
The retiring Chair will acknowledge their year
in office, before inviting the incoming Chair to take the
chair.
The incoming Chair will apply the Chain of
Office, take the chair and sign their Declaration of Acceptance of
Office, in the presence of the Monitoring Officer.
Minutes:
The outgoing Chair called for nominations for
the election of Chair for the 2022 to 2023 civic year.
Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the
Council, nominated Councillor Mike Chester, which was duly seconded
by Councillor Robert Everitt.
There being no other nominations, the motion
was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was
Resolved:
That Councillor
Mike Chester be elected Chair of West Suffolk Council for the 2022
to 2023 civic year.
The retiring Chair acknowledged her year in
office which included paying tribute to fellow councillors,
officers, volunteers in the community particularly during the
COVID-19 pandemic and the work of the charities she had chosen to
support during her term of office. Special recognition was given to
Ruth Pusterla, Personal Assistant to the Civic Office and to
Councillor Mike Chester, Vice Chair for 2021 to 2022.
Councillor Marks then invited Councillor
Chester to apply the Chain of Office and take the chair. The
incoming Chair signed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office
before passing to the Monitoring Officer for her signature.
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205. |
Chair's announcements
To receive announcements (if any) from the
Chair, which will include acknowledging their forthcoming year in
office.
Tributes will be paid to the retiring Chair,
together with making a presentation of their past Chair’s
badge.
Minutes:
The Chair acknowledged his forthcoming year in
office, which included graciously thanking fellow councillors for
his appointment and announcing the charity he wished to support
during 2022 to 2023, namely, the GeeWizz Charitable Foundation, a small low cost
charity founded in 2015 and based in Fornham St Martin, Bury St Edmunds. Their mission
was to support children and young adults, across Suffolk and
Norfolk, who were learning disabled or neurodivergent, had a
life-limiting illness or cancer, as well as supporting Sarcoma
Cancer research and many capital projects.
The Chair then welcomed members to formally
join him in paying tribute to the retiring Chair, Councillor
Margaret Marks, for her outstanding contribution and dedicated
service to the Council during her term of office in 2021 to 2022,
and prior to that as Vice Chair for two years following the
creation of West Suffolk Council on 1 April 2019.
Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the
Council; together with Councillor Ian Shipp, Leader of the
Independent Group; and on behalf of Councillor Diane Hind, Leader
of the Labour Group, Councillor David Smith, each paid their own
tribute to Councillor Marks.
The Chair then presented Councillor Marks with
her Past Chair’s Badge.
|
206. |
Apologies for absence
To receive announcements (if any) from the
officer advising the Chair (including apologies for absence).
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received from
Councillors Trevor Beckwith, Mick Bradshaw, John Burns, Max Clarke,
Jason Crooks, Diane Hind, Elaine McManus, Sarah Pugh and Nick
Wiseman.
Councillor Aaron Luccarini was also unable to
attend the meeting.
The Chair reported with great sadness that
Cliff Hind, husband of Councillor Diane Hind, and former Bury St
Edmunds Town Councillor, had very recently died. Members joined
Councillor Chester in expressing their deepest sympathies to
Councillor Hind, and their family and friends during this extremely
difficult time.
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207. |
Election of Vice Chair of the Council for 2022 to 2023
The Chair will make a nomination for the
election of Vice Chair of the Council for the ensuing year.
Following the seeking of other nominations, a
vote will be taken of the nomination of Vice Chair.
The incoming Vice Chair will apply the Chain
of Office, acknowledge their forthcoming year in office, and sign
their Declaration of Acceptance of Office, in the presence of the
Monitoring Officer.
Minutes:
The Chair nominated Councillor John Augustine
for the election of Vice Chair for the 2022 to 2023 civic year,
which was duly seconded by Councillor Richard Rout.
There being no other nominations, the motion
was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was
Resolved:
That Councillor
John Augustine be elected Vice Chair of West Suffolk Council for
the 2022 to 2023 civic year.
The Chair invited Councillor Augustine to
apply the Chain of Office and acknowledge his year in office.
Councillor Augustine then signed his Declaration of Acceptance of
Office before passing it to the Monitoring Officer for her
signature.
(Councillor Paul
Hopfensperger returned to the meeting during the consideration of
this item.)
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208. |
Appointment of Cabinet members
Having regard to the provisions of the
Constitution, the Chair will invite the Leader of the Council to
announce (if practicable):
a. Up to nine members
whom he will be appointing to form the Cabinet (alongside the
Leader)
b. The name of a member
of the Cabinet to act as Deputy Leader
c. The portfolios, and
which members of the Cabinet will be portfolio holders
Minutes:
The Chair called upon Councillor John
Griffiths, Leader of the Council to make his announcements.
Councillor Griffiths began by thanking his
fellow portfolio holders for their sterling work and continued
support before paying tribute to Councillor Sara Mildmay-White who
had decided to step down from her role as Deputy Leader of the
Council for reasons fully supported by Councillor Griffiths.
Councillor Griffiths thanked Councillor
Mildmay-White profusely for her friendship, wise counsel and
insightfulness, which together with the care and commitment she had
for West Suffolk’s communities, had made her an outstanding
deputy leader, role model and a champion for all of the
district.
Not only had she served as Deputy Leader but
also Portfolio Holder for Housing and Strategic Health. A
challenging role to do on its own, but one she excelled in. This
included reducing rough sleeping, helping prevent people becoming
homeless and overseeing the Council’s successful Barley Homes
company which was building and selling homes, creating affordable
homes and income for the Council.
Whilst stepping down as Deputy Leader,
Councillor Griffiths was delighted to announce that Councillor
Mildmay-White would continue in her role as Portfolio Holder for
Housing and Strategic Health.
Councillor Griffiths then announced the role
of Deputy Leader would be a joint appointment of Councillors Sarah
Broughton and Joanna Rayner. Both Councillors Broughton and Rayner
would also continue in their roles as Portfolio Holders for
Resources and Property, and Leisure, Culture and Community Hubs
respectively.
No further changes would be made to the
Cabinet at this stage, which was duly noted by Council.
Upon invitation by the Leader and duly called
upon by the Chair, Councillor Sara Mildmay-White placed her thanks
on record to the Leader for his and her fellow councillors’
faith in her for the significant number of years she had been
appointed as Deputy Leader for both West Suffolk Council and the
former St Edmundsbury Borough Council. She felt it was a huge
privilege to not only serve as Deputy Leader, but also to support
West Suffolk’s communities in her role as portfolio holder
and as a councillor. She was delighted to support both Councillors
Broughton and Rayner in their appointment as joint Deputy Leaders,
and very much looked forward to continuing her role as Portfolio
Holder for Housing and Strategic Health.
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209. |
Review of the political balance and appointment to committees 2022 to 2023 (Report number: AGM/WS/22/001) PDF 137 KB
Report number: AGM/WS/22/001 TO
FOLLOW
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Council considered this report, which sought
approval for the political balance and the allocation of seats to
committees for 2022 to 2023.
Members confirmed that they had received
copies of the report which had been circulated following the
distribution of the agenda for the meeting.
Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the
Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council,
including that the Constitution required that at each Annual
Meeting, Council would decide which committees to establish for the
municipal year, the size and terms of reference for those
committees, the allocation of seats and substitutes to political
groups in accordance with the political balance rules and to
receive or arrange the delegation of nominations and appointment of
councillors to serve on each committee.
Committees and the terms of reference for
those committees were included in Part 3b, section 2 of the
Council’s Constitution. A link to
this could be found within paragraph 2.2 of the report.
Following careful consideration of the rules
on calculating political balance, Council was requested to approve
the number of seats and terms of reference for the
committees. This included an amendment
to increase the membership of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny
Committee to a total of 13 members.
This amendment was proposed following a review and careful
calculation of the political balance and overall distribution of
seats.
On the motion of Councillor Griffiths, duly
seconded by Councillor Carol Bull, it was put to the vote and with
the vote being unanimous, it was
Resolved:
That
1. The Committees for
the 2022 to 2023 municipal year and the terms of reference for
those committees as per the West Suffolk Council Constitution, Part
3b, section 2: “Responsibility for Council (non-executive)
Functions”, be approved.
2. An increase to the
membership of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee to a
total of 13 members, be approved.
3. The
political balance and allocation of seats and substitutes on
Committees as per Appendix A to Report number: AGM/WS/22/001, be
approved.
4.
Delegation be given for Group Leaders to nominate members from
their Groups to seats and as substitutes on Committees.
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210. |
Appointment of Chair and Vice Chair of scrutiny committees
In accordance with the Constitution, the
Council will appoint the Chair and Vice Chair of the:
a. Overview and
Scrutiny Committee
b. Performance and
Audit Scrutiny Committee
Minutes:
The next item of business was the appointment
of the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Overview and Scrutiny and
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committees for the 2022 to 2023
municipal year.
a.
Appointment of Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Councillor John Griffiths nominated Councillor
Ian Shipp as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which
was duly seconded by Councillor Margaret Marks.
There being no other nominations, the motion
was put to the vote, and with the vote being unanimous, it was
Resolved:
That Councillor Ian
Shipp be elected Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for
2022 to 2023.
b. Appointment
of Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Councillor John Griffiths nominated Councillor
Stephen Frost as Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee,
which was duly seconded by Councillor Ian Shipp.
There being no other nominations, the motion
was put to the vote, and with the vote being unanimous, it was
Resolved:
That Councillor
Stephen Frost be elected Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee for 2022 to 2023.
c.
Appointment of Chair of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny
Committee
Councillor John Griffiths nominated Councillor
Ian Houlder as Chair of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny
Committee, which was duly seconded by Councillor Victor
Lukaniuk.
There being no other nominations, the motion
was put to the vote, and with the vote being unanimous, it was
Resolved:
That Councillor Ian
Houlder be elected Chair of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny
Committee for 2022 to 2023.
d. Appointment
of Vice Chair of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee
Councillor John Griffiths nominated Councillor
Karen Richardson as Vice Chair of the Performance and Audit
Scrutiny Committee, which was duly seconded by Councillor Andrew
Smith.
There being no other nominations, the motion
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 2022 to 2023.
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211. |
Representation on outside bodies 2022 to 2023 (Report number: AGM/WS/22/002) PDF 127 KB
Report number: AGM/WS/22/002 TO
FOLLOW
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Council considered this report, which sought
approval for various member appointments to represent the Council
on outside bodies in 2022 to 2023.
Members confirmed that they had received
copies of the report which had been circulated following the
distribution of the agenda for the meeting.
Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the
Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council,
including that the Constitution required that at each Annual
Meeting, the Council reviewed its representations on outside
bodies.
Following the election in 2019 a comprehensive
process was undertaken to review the Council’s representation
and all members had an opportunity to submit to the Group Leader if
they would like to serve on an outside body. The Monitoring Officer confirmed the appointments
based on those nominations.
It was expected and anticipated that in most
cases, if not all, the current appointments at Appendix A to the
report would continue. However, should
councillors or Group Leaders wish to review appointments, delegated
authority was sought for the Monitoring Officer to confirm those
appointments following consultation with the Group Leaders.
Councillor Griffiths also drew attention to
the rationale behind each of the other recommendations contained in
the report before highlighting an administrative error to the
listing in Appendix A with regards to the Suffolk Police and Crime
Panel. Notification had recently been received from Suffolk County
Council that West Suffolk Council was entitled to two
‘full’ members on this Panel and up to two substitutes,
as appropriate, which inadvertently had inaccurately been reflected
in Appendix A. The representatives
would be confirmed with the County Council following the
meeting.
With this amendment, on the motion of
Councillor Griffiths, duly seconded by Councillor Sarah Broughton,
it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it
was
Resolved:
That
1. The 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 to Report
number: AGM/WS/22/002.
2. Where no
representative is nominated, the Monitoring Officer be given
delegated authority to seek nominations from other bodies and
individuals, to be approved by Council in due course.
3. It be noted 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. It be noted 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.
5. It be noted that the
nominations to the Suffolk County Council Health Scrutiny
Committee, be proposed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, for
subsequent confirmation by Council.
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In this section
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