Agenda and minutes

1.                  To elect the Mayor for the ensuing year.

[The Local Government Act 1972 provides as follows with regard to election of Mayor:-

Schedule 2, paragraphs 2(1) and 13(3) – The Mayor shall be elected annually by the Council from among the Councillors.

Schedule 2, paragraph 3(1) – The election of the Mayor shall be the first business transacted at the Annual Meeting of the Council.

Schedule 2, paragraph 3(3) – In the case of an equality of votes, the person presiding at the meeting shall give a casting vote in addition to any other vote he/she may have.

The Mayor called for Nominations for the Office of Mayor for the Municipal Year 2010/11.

Councillor Cooke moved and Councillor Khan seconded that Councillor Eddie Griffith be elected Mayor.

RESOLVED:

1.      That Councillor Eddie Griffith be elected Mayor for the Municipal Year 2010/11.

2.      The Mayor made and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, which was witnessed by Councillors Cooke and Khan.

3.      The Mayor then addressed the Council, gave thanks for his election and outlined his objectives for his year of office.

4.      The Mayoress, Mrs Hazel Griffith was then invested with her Badge of Office.

5.      The Mayor informed the Council that he would also be supported during his year of office by Elwyn Griffith and Janice Richards.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Amin and Peacock.

See Minutes 10, 11, and 12.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/orif it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

Members were asked by the Mayor to declare any personal interest in respect of items on the agenda.  In accordance with Part 2 of the Members Code of Conduct set out in the Council Constitution, any Member disclosing a personal interest which was also prejudicial would be asked to withdraw from the Chamber during consideration of the item and neither were they to seek to improperly influence a decision on the said item.

No declarations were made.

Copies of the Minutes of the last meeting having been circulated were taken as read.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 March 2010 be signed as a true record.

[The Local Government Act 1972 provides as follows with regard to the appointment of Deputy Mayor:-

Schedule 2, paragraph 5(1) – The Mayor may appoint a Councillor of the Borough to be Deputy Mayor, and the person so appointed shall, unless he/she resigns or becomes disqualified, hold office until a newly elected Mayor becomes entitled to act as Mayor (whether or not he/she continues until that time to be a Councillor).

Schedule 2, paragraph 5(2) – The appointment of a Deputy Mayor shall be signified to the Council in writing and be recorded in the minutes of the Council.]

The Chief Executive reported that the Mayor had signified in writing the appointment of Councillor Gina Adamou as Deputy Mayor for the ensuing year.

Councillor Adamou was invested with her Badge of Office. The Deputy Mayor’s Consort , Andreas Adamides was then invested with his badge of office.

A vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor and Consort and the retiring Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayoress was moved by Councillor Claire Kober and seconded by Councillor Robert Gorrie.

The retiring Mayor was presented with a badge marking her year of office. The Leader also presented the retiring Mayor with a photograph album.

RESOLVED:

That the Council extend to the retiring Mayor, Councillor Bernice Vanier, the retiring Mayor’s Consort Mr Vernon King,  Deputy Mayor, Councillor Eddie Griffith, the retiring Deputy Mayoress Hazel Griffith, its sincere thanks and appreciation for the services they had rendered to the Borough during the past year.

The retiring Mayor addressed the Council.

The Mayor was to announce that Reverend Geoffrey Seabrook from St Mary’s with St George, would be his Chaplain for the coming year. As the Chaplain was unable to attend, the Mayor welcomed Father Patrick Henderson who came forward and received the Chaplain’s Badge on Reverend Seabrook’s behalf.

The Mayor announced that he had chosen the Whittington Hospital Cardiac Unit for his Special Fund for 2010/11.  The Mayor advised that he would be giving further details on the charity and fundraising events on his Mayor’s webpage, and making further announcements about fundraising events at a later date.

Councillor Cooke proposed that Councillor Claire Kober be elected Leader of the Council for four consecutive Municipal Years from 2010 to 2014.

Councillor Reith seconded.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Claire Kober be elected Leader of the Council for four consecutive Municipal Years from 2010 to 2014.

(List of Committees, Sub-Committees and other bodies to be appointed, with Chairs and Vice Chairs indicated, to be tabled).

The Mayor agreed to the admission of this report as urgent business.  Appointments had only recently been finalised at Party Group Meetings and needed approval to permit committees to be convened.

Councillor Cooke moved an amendment that the number of Councillor members of the Standards Committee be referred to the Constitutional Review Working Group for consideration.

The amendment was carried nemine contradicente.

Councillor Wilson moved a further amendment, that Councillor Winskill be appointed Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Councillor Whyte seconded.

On a vote there being 23 for and 32 against, the AMENDMENT was lost.

RESOLVED:

1.      That the process for appointing to Committees, Sub-Committees and Chairs/Vice Chairs be approved on the “slate” basis prescribed and that number of Councillor members of the Standards Committee be referred to the Constitutional Review Working Group for consideration.

2.      That the membership of committees, sub-committees and appointment of Chairs be agreed as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report subject to Resolution 1 above.

3.      That the Scheme of Delegation to Officers, as detailed in the                             Council’s Constitution at Appendix E, be confirmed with respect to                     non-executive functions.

The Mayor agreed to the admission of this report as urgent business.  Appointments had only recently been finalised at Party Group Meetings and needed approval to permit appointments to outside organisations to be made.

RESOLVED:

That the appointments to outside bodies be approved, as detailed in the Appendix to the report, subject to Councillor Canver being shown as the voting representative on the London Councils Transport and Environment Committee.

The Mayor agreed to the admission of this report as urgent business as it dealt with matters considered at Party Group meetings within the last few days. 

RESOLVED:

That the composition of the following political groups be noted:

The Labour Group

Leader:                       Councillor Claire Kober

Deputy Leader:         Councillor Lorna Reith

Chief Whip:                Councillor Matt Cooke

Chair:                          Councillor James Stewart

Vice Chair:                 Councillor George Meehan

Secretary:                  Councillor GMMH Rahman Khan

Assistant Whips:       Councillors Sheila Peacock  & Councillor Kaushika Amin

Group Treasurer        Councillor Sheila Peacock

Non-Executive Members      Councillors Bull, Demirci and Egan. 

Councillors:

            Adamou                     Dogus                         Stennett

            Adje                            Ejiofor                         Strickland

            Basu                           Gibson                        Vanier

Bevan                         Goldberg                    Waters              

            Brabazon                   Griffith                         Watson          

            Browne                    Mallett

            Canver                        McNamara

            Christophides            Rice            

            Diakides                    Stanton         

The Liberal Democrat Group

Leader:                       Councillor Robert Gorrie

Deputy Leader:         Councillor Richard Wilson

Chief Whip:               Councillor Monica Whyte

Deputy Whip              Councillor Matt Davies

Group Chair             Councillor David Beacham

Councillors:

Alexander                   Reid

Alison                         Schmitz              

Bloch                          Scott                

Butcher                      Solomon          

Engert                        Strang   

Erskine                       Weber

Hare                               Williams               

Jenks                          Winskill

Newton                          

Reece

To make provision for the Council having a full complement of 6 independent members on its Standards Committee for the 2010/11 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

1.      That approval be given to the appointment of James Darbyshire and Phillip Skinner to serve as Independent Members on the Standards Committee from May 2010 for four years (increasing the number of Independent Members of the Standards Committee to 6 for 2010/11); and

2.      That the term of office of Independent Member – Carol Sykes be extended for a further year to May 2011.

RESOLVED:

1.      That with effect from 25^th May 2010 the statutory responsibilities of the   section 151 officer be assigned to the Director of Corporate Resources;

2.      That the appointment of a consultant to the post of Lead Finance Officer on an interim basis be delegated to the Director of Corporate Resources and the Chief Executive in consultation with the Cabinet Member for       Resources and Chair of the General Purposes Committee, and that this will be pending a permanent appointment as detailed in the report;

3.      That the procedures for appointment and termination of employment in  Part 4 Section K of the Council’s Constitution be waived in relation to the Interim Lead Finance Officer post having regard to the reasons given in  paragraphs 6.5 and 6.11 of the report.

RESOLVED:

That the statement of members’ attendance for 2009/10 be approved.

RESOLVED:

That the allowances paid to each Member for 2009/10 be noted.

MOTION A (2010/11):

The Leader has given notice that she will move in the following terms:

“This Council welcomes the re-election of a Labour administration and adopts the Haringey Labour Party 2010 Manifesto as its policy for the next 4 years, and instructs the Chief Executive to incorporate the Haringey Labour Party 2010 Manifesto into all Borough plans as appropriate.”

MOTION A (2010/11):

It was moved by Councillor Kober and seconded by Councillor Reith that:

“This Council welcomes the re-election of a Labour administration and adopts the Haringey Labour Party 2010 Manifesto as its policy for the next 4 years, and instructs the Chief Executive to incorporate the Haringey Labour Party 2010 Manifesto into all Borough plans as appropriate.”

The Motion was then put to the meeting and on a vote there being 33 for and 23 against, the MOTION was declared CARRIED.