Agenda and minutes

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

Nominee                                Proposer                                Seconder

Councillor B Burdis        Councillor T Mulvenna              Councillor F Lott

The nomination was approved by 46 votes to 7 votes.

Resolved that Councillor B Burdis 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 B Burdis 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 S Cox            Councillor I Grayson       Councillor P Earley

The nomination was approved by 44 votes to 7 votes.

Resolved that Councillor S Cox 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.

A vote of thanks for the retiring Chair, Councillor P Oliver, was moved by Councillor Janet Hunter and seconded by Councillor P Earley.

In the position of Chair of Council, Councillor Oliver had been an excellent Chair who has conducted Council meetings with professionalism.  During her time in office, she has demonstrated a great pride in her role and has worked hard to promote both the Council and the community in North Tyneside.   This has been evident in her participation in over 100 events and in representing North Tyneside at some important and emotional events over the year, including the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, the proclamation of the new Sovereign, and a Service of Commemoration for the late monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.  In addition, her work supporting her charity, True Colours Theatre, a charity that offers performing arts classes to children and young people of all abilities, providing a caring, warm and welcoming environment to allow children to grow in confidence without fear of judgement or stigma.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest. You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to 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 16 March 2023 be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Council received the following return of Councillors elected on 5 May 2022.

The Chair welcomed the newly elected and re-elected Members.

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 and Transport);

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 and Transport);

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 and  ...  view the full minutes text for item C9/23

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 Leader of the Labour Group.

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

3.     It was reported that Councillor J Wallace had been appointed as Leader of the Independent 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 L Arkley had been appointed as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group.

3.     It was reported that Councillor P McIntyre had been appointed as Deputy Leader of the Independent 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 Head of Law and Monitoring Officer and Head of Governance.

The annual review of the Constitution and associated documents ensured that they continued to be fit for purpose and provided a framework that ensured 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.

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 Monitoring Officer, 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 C Johnson and seconded by Councillor E Darke to:

·       approve the proposed changes to the Constitution set out in Appendix 1 to this report;

·       refer the approved changes to the Elected Mayor for her consent in accordance with Article 16 of the Constitution, other than those changes relating to Scrutiny Committees;

·       note that changes to the Constitution relating to the operation of Scrutiny Committees are approved by full Council under recommendation (a) above and under Article 16 of the Constitution do not therefore require the additional consent of the Elected Mayor.

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

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 2023/24 Municipal Year.

The Council was requested to consider the appointment of committees and 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 2023/24 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 2023/24 municipal year on the basis of the number of seats indicated:

2) the allocation of seats on committees/sub committees to political groups represented on the Council be as follows, and the Monitoring Officer be informed of nominations of members to each committee/sub-committee by 12 noon on Friday 19 May 2023.

3.     The following nominations of chairs and deputy chairs of committees/sub committees for the 2022/23 municipal year be approved.

4.     In accordance with the Authority’s practice, that the Elected Mayor is Chair of the Appointments and Disciplinary Committee.

5.     The continued appointment of Mr Malcolm Wilkinson and Dr Stuart Green as the two co-opted members on the Audit Committee be noted

6.     The appointment of Reverend Michael Vine as the Church of England Diocesan representative and Mr Stephen Fallon as the Roman Catholic Diocesan representative on the Overview and Scrutiny Coordination and Finance Committee be noted.

7.     It be noted that the Elected Mayor will appoint at least one Councillor onto the Health and Wellbeing Board for the 2023/24 Municipal  ...  view the full minutes text for item C13/23

To consider a summary report of the work undertaken by the various scrutiny committees during 2022/23.

The Council received the Annual Scrutiny Report that provided a summary of the work of the Overview, Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee and its sub committees during 2022-23.

The Chair of the Overview, Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee for 2022/23, Councillor Janet Hunter, presented the report that highlighted the involvement of scrutiny in policy development and the achievements of the Overview, Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee and its sub-committees through the various pieces of work undertaken during the year.

This included an on-going role in scrutinising the local authority and partner agencies coming out of the pandemic, and plans for the continued recovery and future development of services for North Tyneside residents.

Councillor Janet Hunter highlighted two particular areas of work – the all-party task and finish group review into Storm Arwen as requested by Full Council, and the all-party budget scrutiny meetings.

Councillor Janet Hunter was also pleased to report that, since receiving the positive report from the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny, we can begin to move forward to look at how we continue to improve our scrutiny processes to be that all important critical friend, and she looked forward to this continuing.

Councillor Janet Hunter thanked the Elected Mayor, members, co-opted members, officers, and representatives of partner organisations for their support and contributions to the scrutiny process over the past year.

The Council received the report.

To consider a report which summarises the work undertaken by the Standards Committee during 2022/23.

Councillor Frank Lott presented the Annual Report of Standards Committee for the 2022/23 municipal year.

The report set out the work undertaken by the Standards Committee and its Sub-Committee over the year.

The Committee had met on 4 occasions and dealt with a variety of matters which are detailed in the Work Programme for 2022/23 at Annex 1 to the report.  In addition, the Standards Sub-committee met on 2 occasions.

Councillor Frank Lott stated that in July 2022 two new Independent Persons had been appointed, Mr Dan Entwisle and Mrs Kerry Roffe, in additional to the re-appointment of Dr Stuart Green, and he placed on record the Committee’s gratitude to the Independent Persons for their valuable contributions.

Councillor Frank Lott highlighted that a number of complaints had been referred for investigation and the Committee had held one complaint hearing in relation to a breach of the Code of Conduct.

The Annual Report was considered by the Standards Committee at its meeting on 6 April 2023.  The Committee would consider its work programme for 2023-24 at its first meeting of the new municipal year in June 2023.

Council received the report.

There were no Chair’s announcements.

There were no Mayor’s announcements.