Agenda and minutes

The following nomination was received for the Office of Chair of the Council for the ensuing year:

Nominee                                Proposer                                Seconder

Councillor W Lott                 Councillor B Pickard           Councillor C Johnson

The nomination was approved by 49 votes to 0 votes.

Resolved that Councillor W Lott be, and is hereby elected, Chair of the Council for the ensuing 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 W Lott in the Chair).

The following nomination was received for the Office of Deputy Chair of the Council for the ensuing year:

Nominee                                Proposer                                Seconder

Councillor D Drummond    Councillor W Samuel          Councillor S Day

The nomination was approved by 49 votes to 0 votes.

Resolved that Councillor D Drummond be, and is hereby elected, Deputy Chair of the Council for the ensuing 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.

(At this stage the Council adjourned to allow the newly elected Chair and Deputy Chair to receive their chains of office and return to the Council Chamber).

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

In the position of Chair of Council, Councillor Mulvenna had conducted himself with fairness and integrity. He had a strong belief in civic duty and pride and cared for the people and Borough. This was demonstrated by the amount of work he had undertaken to raise lot of money to support the local community. The Council and borough appreciated all the work he had accomplished during his period of office.

Councillor F Lott declared a non-registerable personal interest in Minute C01/05/19 in the light of his wife’s nomination for the position of Chair of Council.

Resolved that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 21 March 2019 be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Council received the following return of Councillors elected on 2 May 2019.

The Chair welcomed the newly elected and re-elected Members

The Mayor circulated details of the Cabinet membership, the portfolios of each member of the Cabinet and their key areas of responsibility.

The Mayor extended her thanks to the retiring Chair of Council, Councillor Tommy Mulvenna and his consort Maureen Mulvenna for all of their hard work over the last year.

The Mayor congratulated the new Chair of Council, Councillor Wendy Lott and Councillor Davey Drummond on his appointment as Deputy Chair.

The Mayor also welcomed newly elected Councillors Ken Barrie, Lewis Bartoli, Julie Cruddas, Les Miller, Erin Parker-Leonard, Paul Richardson and Matt Wilson onto the Council and thanked all of the officers whose work had ensured that the elections in North Tyneside had run smoothly.

The Mayor also thanked all those involved in the regeneration scheme at Spanish City and the Central Lower Promenade sea defence scheme and highlighted that both had received awards.

Finally the Mayor thanked all employees for their work in delivering the services to residents on a day to day basis and made the ambitious plans and vision for North Tyneside a reality.

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.

The following decisions would be delegated to Cabinet Members in 2019/20:

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 and Transport);

f) to consider any objections received, but not withdrawn, in relation to the proposed construction of road humps (Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment and Transport);

g) to approve any proposals directly related to the delivery of objectives in the approved Our North Tyneside Plan;

h) to approve the Member Development Programme (Deputy Mayor);

i) to consider any applications received for discretionary relief for Council Tax or Business Rates, considered only when exceptional circumstances apply, as set out in the Policy for the awarding of local taxation discretionary  ...  view the full minutes text for item C9/19

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

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

2.    It was reported that Councillor J Wallace 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 B Pickard had been appointed as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group

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

To consider proposed amendments to the Constitution and associated documents.

The Council received a report on the annual review of the Constitution and associated documents undertaken by the Monitoring Officer.

The report contained recommendations on proposed amendments to the main Constitution and Officer Delegation Scheme, to ensure they continued to be fit for purpose and provided a framework which ensured the efficient discharge of the Authority’s business by allowing for decision making at the appropriate level.

The Senior Leadership Team and Members of the Council had been requested to submit any proposed amendments to the Constitution and associated documents as part ofthe review. Proposals received had been submitted to the Constitution Task Group for consideration. The proposals that had been approved by the Task Group were detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Constitution and associated documents would continue to be kept under review and updated to reflect any changes in the organisational structure of the Council or any legislative changes. The Council had previously authorised the Head of Law and Governance, in consultation with the Chair of the Constitution Task Group, to make such changes when the power remained unaltered and these did not need to be reported to Council.

It was moved by Councillor F Lott and seconded by Councillor T Mulvenna that:

The Council approve the proposed changes to the Constitution and Officer Delegation Scheme set out in Appendix 1 to the report and refer the approved changes to the Elected Mayor for her consent in accordance with Article 15 of the Constitution.

The motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 58 votes to 0 votes.

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 2019/20 Municipal Year.

To consider a summary report of the work undertaken by the various scrutiny committees during 2018/19.

The Council received the Annual Scrutiny Report which summarised the work undertaken by Overview and Scrutiny and its key achievements during 2018/19.

In presenting the report, the Chair of the Overview, Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee for 2018/19, Councillor S Graham thanked everybody who had been involved in the Overview and Scrutiny process in the past year and encouraged all Members to become involved in the Scrutiny process in the coming year. Councillor Graham also invited Members to make any suggestions for further scrutiny.

With respect to the work scrutiny had been undertaken in reviewing the Lettings Policy, it was asked when the report would be published. It was stated that there was an on-going consultation regarding the Lettings Policy and once this was completed a report would be submitted to Cabinet. The Housing Sub Committee had received information on the review of the Lettings Policy and comments made by the Sub Committee were contained in the minutes of its meetings.

The Council received the report.

To consider a report which summarises the work undertaken by the Standards Committee during 2018/19.

The Council received the Annual Report of the Standards Committee which summarised the work undertaken by the Committee during 2018/19.

In presenting the report, the Deputy Chair of the Standards Committee for 2018/19, Councillor K Lee thanked the Committee Members, the Authority’s Independent Persons (Standards) and Officers who had worked with the Committee over the past year. On behalf of the Chair of the Committee, she also encouraged Members to think carefully before lodging standards complaints and to seek advice from Law and Governance where appropriate.

The Council received the report.

The Chair thanked those Members who had nominated her for the appointment of Chair and stated that her nominated charities would be announced in the near future.

The Elected Mayor made no further announcements.

The Common Seal of the Council will be affixed to all deeds.

Resolved that the Common Seal be affixed to all deeds and documents required for carrying into effect the various decisions of the Council made since its last meeting.