To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council, held on 26 March 2014.

The minutes of the Council meeting, held on 26 March 2014, were approved as a correct record.

Nominations were invited for the election of Mayor for the Municipal Year 2014-15.

It was proposed by Councillor J. Kent, and seconded by Councillor B. Rice, that Councillor Liddiard be elected Mayor of the Borough and Chairman of the Council for the Municipal Year 2014-15.

It was further proposed by the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Gledhill, and seconded by Councillor Halden, that Councillor Ojetola be elected as Mayor.

The Leader of the Opposition asked that a requisition vote be conducted for this item, and in accordance with Procedure Rule 20.7, five Members stood and requested that the vote to the appointment of the Mayor be recorded.

The result of the vote in respect of the Mayor for the municipal year 2014-15 was as follows:

Votes in favour of Councillor Steve Liddiard:

Councillors Clare Baldwin, Charles Curtis, Tony Fish, Oliver Gerrish, Sue Gray, Yash Gupta, Terence Hipsey, Victoria Holloway, Cathy Kent, John Kent, Martin Kerin, Aaron Kiely, Steve Liddiard, Val Morris-Cook, Bukky Okunade, Barbara Rice, Gerard Rice, Sue Shinnick,  Andy Smith, Philip Smith, Richard Speight, Michael Stone and Lynn Worrall (23).

Votes in favour of Councillor Tunde Ojetola:

Councillors Mark Coxshall, Robert Gledhill, Garry Hague, James Halden, Shane Hebb, Barry Johnson, Tom Kelly, Charlie Key, Brian Little, Sue Little, Sue MacPherson, Ben Maney, Tunde Ojetola, Barry Palmer, Maureen Pearce, John Purkiss, Joy Redsell, Andrew Roast, Pauline Tolson, Simon Wootton (20).

Abstentions:

Councillors Chris Baker, Jan Baker, Roy Jones, Maggie O’Keeffe-Ray, Robert Ray and Graham Snell (6).

The Mayor declared that Councillor Liddiard had been duly elected as Mayor of the Borough and Chairman of the Council for the Municipal Year 2014-2015.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Liddiard be duly elected as Mayor of the Borough and Chairman of the Council for the Municipal Year 2014-2015.

Councillor Liddiard signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and also received the chains of office.

The Mayor then made a short speech thanking the Council for the honour of being elected as the Mayor of Thurrock.

The Mayor presented Councillor Fish and his Mayoress, Mrs Sue Bradish, with their past mayor’s badge and past consort’s badge.

The Mayor also presented Mrs Wendy Curtis with a token of appreciation for the work that she undertook during the municipal year as Deputy Mayor of Thurrock.

The Leader of the Council then paid tribute to the out-going Mayor, Councillor Tony Fish, who had attended almost 400 events during his year as Mayor.

These sentiments were echoed by the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the Independent Group and Councillor Coxshall, who all paid tribute to the positive work of Councillor Tony Fish throughout his Mayoral year.

Councillor Fish spoke to give thanks to those who had assisted him in his Mayoral year, paying particular tribute to the out-going Deputy Mayor Mrs Wendy Curtis, the Member Services team, the Mayor’s drivers, the Mayors Chaplain, Reverend Darren Barlow, and to all Members of the Council for giving him the honour of being elected as the Mayor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

To receive additional items that the Mayor is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Mayor informed Council that he had not agreed to the consideration of any items of urgent business.

Nominations were invited for the election of Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2014-2015.

It was proposed by Councillor J. Kent, and seconded by Councillor B. Rice, that Councillor Gray be appointed Deputy Mayor of Thurrock for 2014-2015.

It was then proposed by Councillor Gledhill, and seconded by Councillor Halden, that Councillor Ojetola be appointed Deputy Mayor of Thurrock for 2014-2015.

Councillor Gledhill and four other Members stood and, in accordance with Procedure Rule 20.7, requested that the vote to the appointment of Deputy Mayor be recorded.

The result of the vote in respect of the Deputy Mayor for the municipal year 2014-15 was as follows:

Votes in favour of Councillor Sue Gray:

Councillors Clare Baldwin, Charles Curtis, Tony Fish, Oliver Gerrish, Sue Gray, Yash Gupta, Terence Hipsey, Victoria Holloway, Cathy Kent, John Kent, Martin Kerin, Aaron Kiely, Steve Liddiard, Val Morris-Cook, Bukky Okunade, Barbara Rice, Gerard Rice, Sue Shinnick,  Andy Smith, Philip Smith, Richard Speight, Michael Stone and Lynn Worrall (23).

Votes in favour of Councillor Tunde Ojetola:

Councillors Mark Coxshall, Robert Gledhill, Garry Hague, James Halden, Shane Hebb, Barry Johnson, Tom Kelly, Charlie Key, Brian Little, Sue Little, Sue MacPherson, Ben Maney, Tunde Ojetola, Barry Palmer, Maureen Pearce, John Purkiss, Joy Redsell, Andrew Roast, Pauline Tolson, Simon Wootton (20).

Abstentions:

Councillors Chris Baker, Jan Baker, Roy Jones, Maggie O’Keeffe-Ray, Robert Ray and Graham Snell (6).

The Mayor announced that Councillor Sue Gray had been duly elected as Deputy Mayor of the Borough and Vice-Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2014-2015.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Sue Gray be appointed Deputy Mayor of the Borough and Vice-Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2014-15.

Councillor Gray signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and also received the chains of office.

Councillor Gray then made a short speech to accept the honour of being appointed as Deputy Mayor.

To receive any declaration of interests from Members.

Councillor B. Little declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Agenda Item 10, as he was the Chairman of the William Palmer College Educational Trust.

The Mayor was pleased to announce that Patricia Forrester had agreed to be his Mayoress. Patricia Forrester was asked to step forward and receive the Consort’s Chain.

The Mayor then asked the Deputy Mayor to announce who her Consort would be.

The Deputy Mayor was pleased to announce that her partner, Tony Lane, would be her consort. Mr Lane was asked to step forward and receive the Consort’s Chain.

The Mayor announced that his main charity for the Mayoral year would be Thurrock Community Chest.

Furthermore, the Mayor announced that his Mayoral Chaplain would be Reverend Darren Barlow.

The Mayor then invited the Leader of the Council to make any announcements he wished to make.

The Leader of the Council congratulated Councillor Liddiard on receiving the honour of Mayor and acknowledged his positive contributions to serving the borough for many years, as an officer of the Council, a volunteer with many local charities and local groups and then as a Ward Councillor for Tilbury St. Chads.

The Leader also paid tribute to the work of Mrs Wendy Curtis during her term of office as the Deputy Mayor.

He also acknowledged that in tight political situations, the vagaries of politics came to the fore but that he hoped Councillor Tunde Ojetola understood that he was held in high esteem across the Chamber and that if times and conditions were different, there could have been a different outcome at the meeting.

The Leader explained that he needed to formally advise Members that he had circulated a written statement which set out the appointments he had made to the Cabinet, the details of each portfolio and that Councillor Barbara Rice would be the Deputy Leader of the Council. The written statement was included in the supplementary information booklet that was circulated immediately prior to the meeting.

He also welcomed the 7 new Members of Council who had recently been elected and, regardless of the political parties they represented, acknowledged the importance of their role in representing their constituents.

The Leader recognised that the year ahead would be challenging, as it was a difficult task to balance the budget and mitigate the effects of spending cuts, and feared that tough decisions lay ahead. He also called on residents to have their say on the Thames River Crossing proposals via the online petition which was currently open on the Council’s website.

He summarised the positive developments of the past year including robust partnership working to improve transport infrastructure across Thurrock, including Lakeside, Purfleet, Grays Town Centre, and in particular the road widening of the A13.

The Leader of the Council proposed the recommendations as printed in the report.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the proposal, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the Overview and Scrutiny Committees listed in paragraph 3.2 of the report be established for the 2014-15 municipal year, with their terms of reference being those set out in Chapter 4 of the Constitution.

2.         That the Committees listed in paragraph 3.4 of the report be established for the 2014-15 municipal year, with their terms of reference being those set out in Chapter 5 of the Constitution.

The Leader introduced the report, which requested the Council to confirm the calculations relating to the allocation of seats on committees and also to appoint the nominations made by political groups to committees. In addition, the report also requested the Council to appoint the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of certain committees.

The nominations made to Committees for the municipal year 2014-15, together with the nominations for the positions of Chair and Vice Chair, were set out in a booklet circulated to Members immediately prior to the meeting.

Councillor Gledhill informed the Chamber that he felt that Opposition Group Members should hold the positions of Chair on each of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in order to provide effective challenge. He expressed the view that the only way to hold the Council into account was to have Opposition representation on all Overview and Scrutiny Committees and felt that the UKIP Group should have had a seat on all 6 Overview and Scrutiny Committees, whereas they were only strictly entitled to a seat on 5 of the Committees.

As a result Councillor Gledhill proposed that the Conservative Group would leave one seat vacant on the Cleaner, Greener and Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which the UKIP Group could nominate to if they so wished. He advised that this move enabled the UKIP Group to be represented on all 6 of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

The Mayor informed the Chamber that he wished to take a single vote on recommendations 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4, followed by a separate vote on each of the contested appointments and finally a vote on those appointments that had not been contested.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of recommendations 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 whereupon the Mayor declared these to be carried.

Councillor Gledhill advised Members that he had made an error in the paperwork containing his nomination for the Chair of the Licensing Committee and that this ought to have read that Councillor Maney had been nominated to the positions available.

The Mayor then called for a separate vote to be undertaken in respect of each of the contested nominations for Chairs of Committees.

At this point and in accordance with Procedure Rule 20.7, Councillor Gledhill and four further Members stood and requested that the vote in respect of each appointment be recorded.

The Mayor moved to a recorded vote on each of the contested appointments of Chair.

The result of each vote is set out below:

(i)         Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee

The result of the vote was as follows:

Votes in favour of Councillor Morris-Cook:

Councillors Clare Baldwin, Charles Curtis, Tony Fish, Oliver Gerrish, Sue Gray, Yash Gupta, Terence Hipsey, Victoria Holloway, Cathy Kent, John Kent, Martin Kerin, Aaron Kiely, Steve Liddiard, Val Morris-Cook, Bukky Okunade, Barbara Rice, Gerard Rice, Sue Shinnick,  Andy Smith, Philip Smith, Richard Speight, Michael Stone and Lynn Worrall (23).

Votes in favour of Councillor Halden:

Councillors Mark Coxshall,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Chief Executive submitted a report in respect of the appointments required to be made to Outside Bodies, Statutory and Other Panels.

The nominations of the political groups to Outside Bodies, Statutory and Other Panels were circulated to Members at the meeting.

The Mayor informed the Chamber that appointments to the following outside bodies, statutory and other panels were contested:

·         Citizens Advice Bureau – Management Committee

·         Coalhouse Fort Project

·         East Thurrock Community Association

·         Impulse Leisure

·         Local Government Association

·         Mucking Charitable Trust

·         Thurrock Arts Council

·         Thurrock Play Network

·         Thurrock Sports Council

·         TRUST Management Board

·         West Tilbury Commons Conservators

·         William Palmer College Educational Trust

·         Adoption Panel

·         Fostering Panel

·         SACRE

Councillor Robert Ray informed the Mayor that he wished to withdraw the nominations made by the UKIP Group to the West Tilbury Commons Conservators, the Adoption Panel and the Fostering Panel.

The Leader of the Council informed the Mayor that he wished to withdraw the nomination of Councillor Gray to the Thurrock Play Network.

The Mayor called for a vote in respect of the nominations to Outside Bodies, Statutory and Other Panels that had not been contested. Members voted unanimously in favour of the nominations made, whereupon the Mayor declared these to be carried

The Mayor then called for a separate vote to be undertaken in respect of each of the contested nominations for appointments to Outside Bodies, Statutory and Other Panels.

The result of each vote is set out below:

(i)         Citizens Advice Bureau – Management Committee

            A vote was undertaken in respect of the nominations made for the appointment to the Citizens Advice Bureau Management Committee, whereupon 20 Members voted in favour of Councillor Wootton, 6 Members voted in favour of Councillor Snell and 23 Members abstained from the vote.

The Mayor declared Councillor Wootton duly appointed as the representative of the council on the Citizens Advice Bureau Management Committee.

(ii)        Coalhouse Fort Project

            A vote was undertaken in respect of the nominations made for the appointment to the Coalhouse Fort Project, whereupon 25 Members voted in favour of Councillor Cathy Kent, 21 Members voted in favour of Councillor Jones and 3 Members abstained from the vote.

The Mayor declared Councillor Cathy Kent duly appointed as the representative of the council on the Coalhouse Fort Project.

(iii)       East Thurrock Community Association

            A vote was undertaken in respect of the nominations made for the appointment to the East Thurrock Community Association, whereupon 25 Members voted in favour of Councillor Speight, 21 Members voted in favour of Councillor Jones and 3 Members abstained from the vote.

The Mayor declared Councillor Speight duly appointed as the representative of the council on the East Thurrock Community Association.

(iv)       Impulse Leisure

A vote was undertaken in respect of the nominations made for the appointment to Impulse Leisure, whereupon 20 Members voted in favour of Councillor Ojetola, 6 Members voted in favour of Councillor Chris Baker and 23 Members abstained from the vote.

The Mayor declared Councillor Ojetola duly appointed as the representative of the council on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Leader of the Council introduced the report. A copy of the schedule of meetings for 2014-15 was included in the Agenda at Appendix 1 to the report.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation to approve the calendar of meetings for 2014-15, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

RESOLVED:

That the Calendar of Meetings for 2014-15 be approved.

The Leader of the Council introduced the report.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation contained within the report, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

?

RESOLVED:

That the schedule of elections from 2015-18 and order of retirement of Councillors be noted.

The Leader introduced the report which included the recommendation of the Monitoring Officer, who was of the opinion to recommend that the engagement of the Independent persons should be set to continue until the Annual Meeting of the Council in 2016.

The Leader thanked the Independent Persons for their efforts over the past year.

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation contained within the report, whereupon the Mayor declared this to be carried.

RESOLVED:

That, for the purposes of section 28 of the Localism Act 2011, the Council agree to continue the appointment of Sarah Cooper-James, Fiona Fairweather and Fola Onaeko as its Independent Persons until the Annual Meeting of Council in 2016.