Agenda and minutes

A minute’s silence was observed in respect of the passing of both former Councillor Gordon and former Councillor Muriel Green (Alderwoman Green).

Councillor Gordon was a councillor for Cullercoats ward between 1976 and 1995 and St Mary’s Ward between 1997 and 1998.

Former Councillor and Alderwoman Muriel Green was a Councillor for Weetslade Ward between 1982 and 2023.

The following nomination then was received for the Office of the Chair of the Council for the 2024/25 Municipal year.

Nominee: Councillor S Cox

Proposer: Councillor I Grayson

Seconder: Councillor T Hallway

The nominations were approved: 49 Votes For, 7 Abstentions

Resolved that Councillor S Cox be, and is hereby elected, Chair of the Council for the 2024/25 Municipal Year and until the acceptance of Office by a successor.

The Chair made the formal declaration of acceptance of Office in pursuance of the Local Government Act 1972.

(Councillor S Cox in the Chair).

The following nomination was received for the Office of Deputy Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2024/25.

Nominee: Councillor N Huscroft

Proposer: Councillor F Lott

Seconder: Councillor J Webster                                                               

The nominations was approved: 49 Votes For, 7 Abstentions

Resolved that Councillor N Huscroft be, and is hereby elected, Deputy Chair of the Council for the 2024/25 Municipal Year and until the acceptance of Office by a successor.

The Deputy Chair made the formal declaration of acceptance of Office in pursuance of the Local Government Act 1972.

A vote of thanks for the retiring Chair, Councillor B Burdis, was moved by Councillor T Mulvenna.

It was stated by Councillor T Mulvenna that in the position of Chair of Council, Councillor B Burdis had shown exceptional leadership and patience in his role, despite dealing with personal trauma. Councillor T Mulvenna said that It was the measure of Councillor Burdis the man that he did so whilst conducting himself so well during this time. Councillor T Mulvenna stated Councillor Burdis dealt with all members on an equal basis regardless of political persuasion.

The Chair then gave his personal thanks to Councillor B Burdis and addressed the chamber on the matter of behaviour during Council meetings going forward. The Chair drew attention to the Council meeting of 14 March 2024 and the behaviour therein, he stated he would strive to ensure that expected standards are met, and he asked the members for their support to ensure this happens. As the Chair he hoped to run the meetings in an efficient, impartial and respectful manner for all members and officers, in order that members be seen treating their roles with the due respect by the watching community.

In future, Council meeting papers will include a guidance note issued showing a reminder of rules on conduct and attendance.

Members were reminded that while he encouraged debate the Chair’s interpretation of rules, procedures and decisions taken at Council are final. The Chair extended an invite to the leaders and deputy party leaders (as well as Councillor Wallace, as an independent) to meet to discuss ways to help improve behaviour and discuss expectations.

The Chair extended his congratulations, and best wishes going forward, to all the new and returning members.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation from the requirement to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

There were no Declarations of Interest reported.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 14 March 2024 be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair subject to it being noted that Councillor J Harrison attended the meeting but was not marked as such.

The Council received the following return of Councillors elected on 2 May 2024.

The Cabinet would consist of 9 Councillors and the Elected Mayor, as shown below.

Details of the Mayor's proposed approach to managing executive decision making, which included her delegation scheme of executive decision making to Cabinet Members, were also circulated.

a)   approving the Authority’s response to government consultation papers;

b)    approval of service specific plans;

c)    debt write off up to £50,000 in relation to Council Tax, Business Rates, Sundry Debts and Housing Benefit Overpayments (Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance and Resources);

d)    to approve responses to regional strategies that impact on the Borough;

e)    to determine Traffic Regulation Orders where any objections are not withdrawn (Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment);

f)       to consider any representations received in relation to the proposed construction of road humps and thereafter determine if road humps should be installed (Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment);

g)    to consider any representations received in relation to proposals to establish a pedestrian crossing and thereafter determine if a pedestrian crossing should be established (Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment);

h)    to approve any proposals directly related to the delivery of objectives in the approved Our North Tyneside Plan;  ...  view the full minutes text for item C9/24

To receive verbal reports as to the appointment of leaders of the individual political groups.

1.        It was reported that Dame N Redfearn DBE, Elected Mayor, had been appointed as the Leader of the Labour Group.

2.      It was reported that Councillor L Bones had been appointed as Leader of the Conservative Group.

To receive verbal reports as to the appointment of deputy leaders of the individual political groups.

1.        It was reported that Councillor C Johnson had been appointed as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group.

2.      It was reported that Councillor J Johnsson had been appointed as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group.

Council are asked to consider proposed amendments to the Constitution and associated documents.

Council received a report on the annual review of the Constitution and associated documents undertaken by the Head of Governance and the Head of Law (Monitoring Officer).

The annual review of the Constitution and associated documents makes sure that they continue to be fit for purpose and provide a framework that ensures the efficient discharge of the Authority’s business by allowing for decision making at the appropriate level.

The Constitution Task Group had considered the proposed changes received for consideration as part of the latest annual review, and the changes had been approved by the Task Group for progression to the Annual Council meeting at which a decision would be made.

The Constitution and associated documents will continue to be kept under review and updated to reflect any changes in the organisational structure of the Council or any legislative changes.  It is proposed that changes can be brought to Council meeting at any point during the year following consultation with the Constitution Task Group.

It was moved by Councillor  C Johnson and seconded by Councillor M Thirlaway to:

·         agree the proposed changes to the Constitution, including the proposed changes to the Contract Standing Orders and the Officer Delegation Scheme as set out in Appendix 1 to this report;

·         agree that in-year changes to the Constitution can be proposed to full Council for decision, following consideration by the Constitution Task Group, in addition to the annual review, and any changes to the Constitution made at that time; 

·         agree the proposed updated Financial Regulations, which have been developed following a continuous review of the Authority’s Financial Regulations which has taken place during 2023/24;

·         agree to refer the approved changes to the Constitution, including Contract Standing Orders, Officer Delegation Scheme and Financial Regulations to the Elected Mayor for her consent to such changes in accordance with Article 16 of the Constitution, other than the change relating to Scrutiny Committees, which does not require this consent.

The motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved unanimously.

Council are asked to consider the appointment of committees/sub-committees; the allocation of seats on committees/sub-committees to Political Groups; the appointment of chairs and deputy chairs of committees/sub-committees; and the appointment of representatives to serve on outside bodies that exercise non-executive functions for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.

The Council was requested to consider the appointment of committees / sub committees, Chairs and Deputy Chairs of those committees / sub committees, the allocation of seats to political groups on those committees / sub committees and the appointment of representatives to serve on outside bodies that exercised non-executive functions for the 2024/25 Municipal year.

It was moved by the Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn and seconded by Councillor C Johnson that :

1.            The following committees/sub committees be appointed for the 2024/25 municipal year on the basis of the number of seats indicated:

2.           The following nominations of chairs and deputy chairs of committees/sub committees for the 2024/25 municipal year be approved.

3.         The following nominations of appointments to Outside Bodies for the 2024/25 municipal year be approved.

Council are asked to consider a summary report of the work undertaken by the various scrutiny committees during 2023/24.

Council received the Annual Scrutiny Report for 2023/24 which provided a summary of the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee and its sub committees during 2023/24.

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee, Councillor J Montague, presented the report and advised that in May 2023 Council agreed a new committee structure for scrutiny in North Tyneside. This reflects good practice recommended by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny.

The report presented to Council was the first Annual Report under the new Scrutiny Committee structure. It provided a summary of the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee and its five sub committees during 2023/24. The report described the wide breadth of topics which have been considered under our scrutiny function over the last year.

Scrutiny is intended to support good decision-making by local authorities. Councillor J Montague said that the new committees have worked hard to develop scrutiny and to implement the good practice highlighted by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny in 2023/24. Councillor J Montague stated that In particular the committee has sought to develop focus as a critical friend. This should continue into 2024/25.  As Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination and Finance Committee, Councillor J Montague thanked elected members, co-opted members, officers and representatives of our partner organisations for their support and contributions to the scrutiny process over the past year.

The Council received the report, and agreed that it be noted.

Council are asked to consider a report which summarises the work undertaken by the Standards Committee during 2023/24.

Council received a report which summarised the work undertaken by the Standards Committee during 2023/24.

Councillor F Lott presented the Annual Report of Standards Committee for the 2022/23 municipal year, and placed on record the Committee’s gratitude to Independent Persons, Mr Dan Entwisle, Mrs Kerry Roffe and Dr Stuart Green, for their contributions.

At the time of writing the report there had been 18 code of conduct complaints received against members, with one having been received since then. Of those made in 2023/24, none were referred for full investigation.

Three complaints were carried over from 2022/23 into 2023/24 and in two of those cases the sub-committee found three where there had been breaches of the code and sanctions were imposed. On the third of these the sub-committee accepted the independent persons advice that there had been no breach of the code.

There are currently two outstanding complaints which will be included as part of the 2024/25 report.

During 2023/24, of the 7 requests to the monitoring officer to review the initial decisions, all were upheld.

The Council received and agreed to note the report.

There were no Chair’s announcements.

The Elected Mayor congratulated all members who were successful in the recent elections, and thanked all those who took part in the smooth running of the recent elections.

The Mayor gave a reminder to members of the importance of respect within the chamber, and thanked the outgoing Chair, Councillor B Burdis, for his time served as Chair and the work done for both his and Councillor C Burdis’ charity.

The Mayor also reminded members of her open door policy to them.