Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mrs Squirrell, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles  MP, Freewoman Jane Bennett, Freeman John Wyndham and Nick Alston, representing the 124 Essex Transport Squadron.

The Mayor congratulated and welcomed the five newly elected Councillors, Cllrs Bridge, Clarke, Mrs Fulcher, Mrs Middlehurst and Tumbridge and paid tribute to the five Members who had stood down.  He also congratulated those Members who had been re-elected and recounted the final events of his Mayor Year.

He presented cheques to his chosen charities – SNAP, Brentwood Philharmonic Orchestra and Brentwood Skatepark Association – and was delighted to announce that over £9,700 had been raised for these very worthwhile causes.

Annual Council elected a Mayor to serve for the ensuing Municipal Year.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Russell SECONDED that Cllr Mrs Noelle Hones should be Mayor and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that

Cllr Mrs Hones be installed as Mayor for the Municipal Year 2016/17.

Annual Council appointed a Deputy Mayor to serve for the ensuing Municipal Year.

Cllr Kerslake MOVED and Cllr Mrs Hones SECONDED that Cllr Will Russell be appointed Deputy Mayor and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that

Cllr Russell be appointed as Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2016/17.

No declarations of interest were received.

The Chief Executive will report the results of the elections.

Members were advised of the results of the Brentwood Borough Council Elections which took place on 5 May 2016.

The Chief Executive will report receipt of Notices served on him by Members under the provisions of the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990.

The Chief Executive advised Members that notices had been received from the Conservative, liberal Democrat and Labour Groups indicating that they wished to be treated as a political group on the Council and listing the membership of their group.  All the newly elected Members had joined a political group.

Annual Council designated a Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council.

The Constitution stated that it was the function of the Council to elect from its Members a Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council.

Cllr Kerslake MOVED and Cllr Trump SECONDED that Cllr Mrs McKinlay be designated as Leader of the Council and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that

Cllr Mrs McKinlay be designated Leader of the Council.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Faragher SECONDED that Cllr John Kerslake be designated as Deputy Leader of the Council and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that

Cllr Kerslake be designated Deputy Leader of the Council.

The Leader of the Council and others will make a statement in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 6.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay made her statement followed by statements being made by Cllrs Aspinell, Barrett and Keeble.

(Appendix A to follow)

The Council was requested to formally establish those committees it considered necessary to fulfil its functions in the ensuing municipal year, in accordance with the requirements of both legislation and the Council’s Constitution.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendations in the report and following a discussion a vote was taken on a show of hands and it was

RESOLVED

1.            That the Committees listed in Appendix A be appointed for the Municipal Year 2016/17.

2.            That the size of the Committees listed in Appendix A be agreed.

3.            That the Terms of Reference of the Committees listed in Appendix A be agreed.

4.            That the Council’s Monitoring Officer be authorised to make the necessary changes to the Constitution.

For clarity Appendix A is appended to these minutes.

(Appendices A, B and C to follow)

The Council was required to make appointments to those Committees that were established by Agenda Item 10 for the effective discharge of its functions.  Members were asked to:

a) approve the allocation of seats on Committees

b) receive the nominations from political groups to Committees

c) appoint Chairs and Vice-chairs of Committees

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendations in the report and it was

RESOLVED

1.            That the allocation of seats as set out in Appendix A be approved;

2.            That the nominations from the political groups to Committees as set out in Appendix B be approved;

3.            That the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Committees as set out in Appendix C be appointed.

For clarity, Appendices A, B and C are appended to these minutes.

Members were reminded that the Localism Act 2011 required all principal authorities to have arrangements in place to consider allegations of breaches of the Councillors Code of Conduct for that authority and the Code of Conduct for its associated parish councils and to make decisions on those allegations. In doing so, an authority must take account of the views of an Independent Person appointed by the authority under the Localism Act. The report before Members related to a proposal that Brentwood Borough Council confirmed the appointment of three Independent Persons to comply with the statutory requirements of the Localism Act 2011.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Aspinell SECONDED the recommendations in the report and following a discussion a vote was taken on a show of hands and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

1.            To confirm the appointment of Mr John Boylin, Mr Mike Hawkins and Mr Steve Marsh as the three Independent Persons to comply with the statutory requirements of Section 28(7) of the Localism Act 2011 for a period terminating post the first Council after municipal elections 2018.

2.            That a Brentwood Borough Council Independent Person be paid an annual allowance of £500 calculated on a pro-rata 12 monthly basis.

(Appendix A to follow)

Councillors were appointed to a number of outside organisations by Annual Council.  Many of the outside organisations supported and advanced the broad objectives of the Authority.  Representations came about either through the Authority initiating the appointment, or an organisation requesting a representative being nominated or a Charity Commission rule that a Council representative was appointed.  

The list of nominations for representatives on outside organisations was presented at the Annual Council meeting each year for Members’ approval. 

Appendix A had been published in the Supplementary Agenda which showed the proposed nominations for each organization and an updated version of Appendix A was tabled for Members’ information.  This revised list included three organizations where more nominations had been made than there were positions available and a vote was taken to determine the representatives.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED that the list of proposed representatives be approved en bloc except for those where a vote was to be taken.

The relevant organizations were:

Brentwood Community Print (2 representatives):  Proposed representatives were Cllr Mrs Pound, Cllr Barrell and Cllr Mrs Hubbard and following a vote on a show of hands, Cllrs Mrs Pound and Barrell were to be the proposed representatives.

Citizens Advice Bureau (2 representatives):  Proposed representatives were Cllr Tumbridge, Cllr Barrell, Cllr Chilvers and Cllr Mrs Fulcher and following a vote on a show of hands, Cllrs Tumbridge and Barrell were to be the proposed representatives.

SNAP (1 representative): Proposed representatives were Cllr Reed and Cllr Mrs Hubbard and following a vote on a show of hands, Cllr Reed would be the proposed representative.

Further to a discussion, Cllr Mrs McKinlay proposed that there should be an additional Liberal Democrat representative for the Brentwood Nighttime Action Group, the name of the representative to be decided after Annual Council.

A vote was taken on a show of hands and this course of action was approved unanimously.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendation in the report. During the discussion  Members acknowledged that a review of the Council’s representation on outside organizations would be beneficial.  Following a vote taken on a show of hands it was

RESOLVED

That the list of outside bodies and nominated representatives for 2016/17 published as Appendix A and updated at the meeting be approved.

For clarity the definitive list is appended to these minutes. 

(Appendix B to follow)

The Council operated a Members’ Allowances Scheme which was reviewed annually by the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP).  The IRP had reviewed the current scheme and had made recommendations for the 2016/17 municipal year.  Their report was before Members.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendations in the report and following a discussion and a vote taken on a show of hands  it was

RESOLVED

1.         That the report of the independent Remuneration Panel at Appendix A be noted.

2.         That the Members’ Allowances at Appendix B be agreed.

(Appendix A to follow)

The Constitution under Council Procedure Rule 2.1(r) provides that the Annual Meeting of the Council will consider an item of business to agree the date, time and place of ordinary meetings of the Council and its committees for the coming Municipal Year.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendation in the report and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That the Calendar of meetings for 2016/17 in Appendix A be approved.

For clarity the Calendar of Meetings is appended to these minutes.

Council was requested  to agree the Pay Policy 2016/17 as attached at Appendix A in accordance with Section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011.

Cllr Mrs McKinlay MOVED and Cllr Kerslake SECONDED the recommendation in the report and following a vote taken on a show of hands it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That the 2016/17 Pay Policy Statement as set out in Appendix A is agreed.

An item of business may only be considered where the Mayor is of the opinion that, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified in the Minutes, the item should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

------------------------------------------

The meeting ended at 9.20pm