Agenda and minutes

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

Nominee                                Proposer                                Seconder

Councillor P Oliver        Councillor Janet Hunter              Councillor M Thirlaway

The nomination was approved by 48 votes to 0 votes.

Resolved that Councillor P Oliver 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 P Oliver 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 B Burdis              Councillor T Mulvenna       Councillor W Samuel

The nomination was approved by 48 votes to 0 votes.

Resolved that Councillor B Burdis 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 D Drummond, was moved by Councillor N Craven and seconded by Councillor W Samuel.

In the position of Chair of Council, Councillor Drummond had been an effective Chairman that was firm but fair. During his time in office, he has demonstrated he had great pride in his role and this acknowledged his commitment to the community in North Tyneside. This had been evident with his support and participation to the Armed Forces, Holocaust and Workers Memorials, in addition to his work supporting his charities SPARCS, a charity that provided a range of accessible and affordable activities for autistic people and those with related conditions and their families within the local community and the Cat and Dog Shelter 

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 17 March 2022 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 Transport);

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

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

j)       to consider any applications received  ...  view the full minutes text for item C9/22

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 G Westwater 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 L Arkley 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 Authority’s Code of Conduct for Elected Members and Co-opted Members (“the Code of Conduct”) and Arrangements for Dealing with Allegations of Breaches of the Code of Conduct for Members and Co-opted Members (“the Local Arrangements), Contract Standing Orders and Officer Delegation Scheme.

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 the report and refer the approved changes to the Elected Mayor for her consent in accordance with Article 16 of the Constitution, with the inclusion of the following additional amendments:

(a)  In relation to Contract standing orders

Add the wording “in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member” to new section 21 (7) to read,

“ (7) Any extension to a contract shall be agreed in writing by the Chief Executive, Assistant Chief Executive or Directors of Service in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.”

(b)  In relation to the Officer Delegation Scheme

1)    That all delegations that were held by the Director of Law and Governance be held by the Assistant Chief Executive.

2)    That delegations EHL82 to EHL101 and EHL117 to EHL123 that related to Gambling, Alcohol and Sex Establishment Licensing be delegated to the Director of Regeneration and Economic Development, rather than the Director of Public Health.

The motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 56 votes to 0 votes.

To consider a summary report of the work undertaken by the various scrutiny committees during 2021/22.

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 2021-22. 

The Chair of the Overview, Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee for 2021/22, 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 response of the local authority and partner agencies to the changing circumstances of the pandemic throughout the year and plans for the continued recovery and future development of services for North Tyneside residents.

Training from the Local Government Association had been provided to Scrutiny Chairs and Deputy Chairs, with additional local authority financial training being available to all members.

Scrutiny had also had involvement in the review of the Authority’s Scrutiny processes conducted by the Centre of Public Governance to evaluate how to be more effective, make any improvements and follow good scrutiny practice. It was stated that once the report of the review was received, further training would be provided to scrutiny members to ensure they had the skills, knowledge and confidence to be a good critical friend. 

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 2021/22.

Councillor Carl Johnson presented the Annual Report of Standards Committee for the 2021/22 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 3 occasions and dealt with a variety of matters which are detailed in the Work Programme for 2021/22 at Annex 1 to the report.  In addition, the Standards Sub-committee met on 3 occasions.

Over the last year, the Standards Committee set up a working group to complete a review the Code of Conduct and the Local Arrangements for Dealing with Complaints under the Code of Conduct.  As a result, a revised Code of Conduct and Local Arrangements and were recommended to Council on the basis that they will ensure that good governance and ethical standards continue to reflect best practice.

The Committee would consider its work programme for 2022-23 at its first meeting of the new municipal year in June 2022.

The Annual Report was considered by the Standards Committee at its meeting on 7 April 2022. 

Council received the report.

The Chair thanked the Council for the privilege on being appointed Chair of Council and stated that she would do her best to be worthy of the role.

Once all arrangements had been finalised she would provide information to the charities that she intended to support in the coming year.

The Elected Mayor expressed her delight of the news that following a recent inspection from Ofsted, Norham High School had been rated ‘good’ in all areas.

The Mayor stated that the rating was the result of major improvements that had been made at Norham High School over the past four years and that the school was once again a great place for local children to learn and thrive.

She praised the new Head Teacher, the staff, governors, parents and council staff for their work and commitment to providing the best possible education.

The Elected Mayor also congratulated the new Leader and Deputy Leader of the Conservative group and stated she looked forward to working with them in the coming year.

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 2022/23 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, the appointment of co-opted members on the Audit Committee and the appointment of representatives to serve on outside bodies that exercised non-executive functions for the 2022/23 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 2021/22 municipal year on the basis of the number of seats indicated

2.     The allocation of seats on committees and sub committees, and also the Constitution Task Group and the Members Support Group, and the monitoring officer be informed of nominations of members to each by 12 noon on Friday 20 May 2022.

3.     the following nomination 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, the Elected Mayor is Chair of the Appointments and Disciplinary Committee.

5.     The Authority’s Constitution requires that the two co-opted members of the Audit Committee shall fulfil the roles of Chair and Deputy Chair of the Committee. Mr Kevin Robinson currently serves as Chair of the Committee, with Mr Malcolm  ...  view the full minutes text for item C17/22