Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ghei and Nelson.

To elect a Mayor of the London Borough of Hillingdon to hold office from 10 May 2012 until his or her successor becomes entitled to act as Mayor.

i)                    The retiring Mayor, Councillor O’Connor, to provide a summary of her year in office.

ii)                   Nominations for Mayor invited by the retiring Mayor – election (if necessary)

iii)                 Retiring Mayor declares the result

The Mayor thanked the Council for the opportunity that she had been afforded over the last 12 months.  She and her escorts had personally attended 813 of the 953 mayoral events conducted during the year and she provided Council with some brief highlights of the mayoral year. 

The Mayor thanked everyone that had been involved in fundraising for her charities: MIND, Riverside (Acute Unit), Woodlands (Alzheimer's and Dementia Unit) and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).  She advised that £64,300 had been raised so far and that money was still coming in.  In addition to raising funds, the Mayor had used the mayoral year to raise awareness of mental illness and educate people to reduce the stigma attached to it. 

During her term of office, the Mayor had given out 256 volunteer pins to volunteers from a range of organisations.  She had also encouraged school children to attend the Citizenship Ceremonies held in the Council Chamber.  As well as the Council being able to learn a lot from them, these pupils then went back to school and gave presentations at their assemblies about their experience.

The Mayor thanked the following for their support and hard work during the course of her mayoralty: her family and friends; her Escorts (Miss Meares, Mr O’Connor and Mr McCarthy); Mr Arthur Preston; Father Philip Blandford and the church community; the Mayoral team; and the Council’s events team.   

Nominations were invited for a Mayor to hold office for the 2012/2013 municipal year.  Councillor Markham was nominated by Councillor D Mills and seconded by Councillor O’Brien.  Councillor R Mills spoke in support.  There were no further nominations. 

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Markham be elected as Mayor for the municipal year 2012/2013. 

The Council adjourned for robing of the new Mayor at 7.50pm and reconvened at 8.01pm.

i)                    The newly elected Mayor to make and sign the declaration of acceptance of office

ii)                   The Head of Democratic Services to declare the election of the Mayor to be complete.

The newly elected Mayor signed the declaration of acceptance of office. 

To receive the Mayor’s appointment in writing of a Councillor of the Borough to be Deputy Mayor for the coming year.

The Mayor informed the Council that he had appointed Councillor Kauffman as Deputy Mayor and advised that his Mayoress for the forthcoming year would be Mrs Rosemary Markham.

RESOLVED:  That the Deputy Mayor and the Mayoress for the year be noted. 

To receive announcements from the new Mayor

The Mayor thanked the Council for the honour of being appointed as Mayor for such an exciting, diverse and dynamic Borough.  He advised Members that his charities for the year would be Shooting Star Children’s Hospice (which cared for more children from Hillingdon than any other London borough), Hillingdon Young Carers and Age UK Hillingdon.  Furthermore, the Mayor intended to support all voluntary organisations and charities in Hillingdon, particularly those volunteers that gave so much to the Borough. 

i)                    Vote of thanks to the outgoing Mayor to be moved and seconded

ii)                   Presentation of Past Mayor’s and Past Mayor’s Escorts badges

Councillor Puddifoot moved a vote of thanks to the retired Mayor, Councillor O’Connor, and her Escorts, Miss Elizabeth (Lily) Meares, Mr Paul O’Connor and Mr Tim McCarthy.  This was seconded by Councillor Curling.  Councillors Corthorne, Gilham, Khursheed and Retter spoke in support.

The Mayor (Councillor Markham) presented the Past Mayor’s badge to Councillor O’Connor and Past Mayor’s Escort badges to Miss Meares, Mr O’Connor and Mr McCarthy.

RESOLVED:  That the vote of thanks to the outgoing Mayor, Councillor O’Connor, be agreed.

To note the appointment by the Leader of the Council of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet for 2012/2013

Councillor Puddifoot advised Members that the Deputy Leader and Cabinet positions would be filled as follows:

Councillor Puddifoot moved the recommendations as set out on the Order of Business.  The motion was seconded by Councillor Simmonds and, following debate (Councillor Curling), it was:

RESOLVED:  That:

(i)                 the Urgency decisions detailed in the report be noted;

(ii)               the changes to the cabinet scheme of delegation, as set out in the report, be noted; and

(iii)             the changes to the Constitution, as set out in the report, be agreed.

To decide the number and size of Council committees and allocate Members to serve on those committees based on the political balance of the Council where required.

Councillor G Cooper moved that the proposals on memberships, as set out on the lilac coloured sheets, subject to Councillor Graham replacing Councillor R Mills on North Planning Committee and Councillor Barker being added as a Planning Committee substitute, be agreed.  This was seconded by Councillor O’Brien. 

RESOLVED:  That the Members be appointed to the Committees as set out in Appendix A of the minutes.

To receive the annual report.

The Council received a report of the work covered by the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees in 2011/12.  It was commended by Councillor Lewis and seconded by Councillor O’Brien. 

RESOLVED:  That the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees’ Annual Report 2011/2012 be endorsed. 

In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, to receive, without comment, a statement by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Puddifoot.

The Leader noted that everyone in the Chamber was aware of the difficult financial position faced by Europe and indeed a large part of the western world.  As a country and as politicians, the causes of this could be debated and disagreed and the blame and responsibility could be apportioned – but it would not change what had happened.  This country was massively in debt and local authorities were continuing to see reductions in funding for services and facilities.

As a borough, Hillingdon was in a far stronger position than other local authorities which was as a result of a number of things: the right policies; a strong administration; good directors and heads of services; good management; and a frontline staff that any Council Leader would be proud of.

The Leader noted that this had not always been the situation and stated that, over the years that he had been Leader of the Council, he had witnessed a sea change in professionalism and performance at all levels of service delivery. He went on to note that, earlier in the week, the Council’s Chief Executive, Hugh Dunnachie, had announced his intention to retire at the end of the year.  The Leader stated that the Chief Executive would leave with the good wishes of the Council and with thanks for a job well done.

The Leader stated that the administration was passionate about putting residents first – but he believed that this was a driving force for every Member of Council, regardless of political party.  Although they might come at it from different directions, the Leader believed that all Members were there to serve the residents of the Borough in varying capacities, ranging from Cabinet Members to those of both parties who served on the Council’s planning, licensing and policy overview committees.  He also acknowledged that many of these Councillors did a huge amount of work in their wards.

As the new municipal year began, the Leader thanked all Members of Council for the service they gave as individuals to the Borough and its residents.  In his twelve years as Leader of the Council, he noted that there had been seven Leaders of the opposition.  He paid particular tribute to Councillor Mo Khursheed who had held that post for three of those years and noted that Councillor Khursheed had the respect of residents and most of the Conservative group and that he had a calm, professional and gentlemanly approach with a sense of reality rather than political knockabout.  The Leader believed that Councillor Khursheed was his own man and a man of integrity.  He went on to state that Councillor Khursheed had his respect and personal good wishes and noted that he had served his party and this Borough well.

With regard to the future for Hillingdon Council, the Leader announced that he had begun to formulate a plan to change the directorate structure last year, which, as well as resulting in fewer directors, would now also see a change in Chief Executive.  What the Leader had not envisaged was the degree of upheaval to Council responsibilities that would be occurring in the coming year: changes to benefits, housing, education, health and the Localism Act which would all necessitate a review of director responsibilities.

These changes would have a knock on effect on the Cabinet portfolios and the make-up of the Cabinet, which in turn would lead to a review of the policy and overview function.  Although the Council structure to date had served the organisation well, the Leader stated that the Council now needed to look to the next two years and beyond.  He went on to advise that he intended to bring a proposed new structure to Council in September with the schemes of delegation and the necessary changes to Cabinet and scrutiny functions being formalised at the November Council meeting, along with the appointment of the new Chief Executive.  It was anticipated that the new structure would function from 1 December 2012 and would be robust enough to take the Council through the next two years.

The Leader stated that the Mayor had tonight become the First Citizen of a Borough that was in a sound financial position with expertise and ability in place to continually adapt to the challenges that he was sure the Council would continue to face.