Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ray Graham and Pat Jackson. 

To elect a Mayor of the London Borough of Hillingdon to hold office from 14 May 2015 until his or her successor becomes entitles to act as Mayor.

i)          The retiring Mayor, Councillor Dann, 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 her Mayoress and Escort, her fellow Councillors, officers and the Borough's residents and volunteers for the support they had given her throughout her memorable year as Mayor.  She provided the Council with some brief highlights of her Mayoral year in which she was particularly proud to announce that she had raised over £94k for Michael Sobell House. 

Nominations were invited for a Mayor to hold office for the 2015/16 municipal year.  Councillor G Cooper was nominated by Councillor Yarrow and seconded by Councillor Simmonds.  There were no further nominations. 

RESOLVED: That Councillor George Cooper be elected as Mayor for the 2015/2016 municipal year.

The Council adjourned for robing of the new Mayor at 7.50pm and reconvened at 8.03pm.

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 John Hensley as Deputy Mayor and that his Deputy Mayoress would be his wife, Mrs Diane Hensley.

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

To receive announcements from the new Mayor.

The new Mayor thanked those present for the honour of electing him. He stated that Father Nicholas Schofield from Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Michael, Uxbridge would act as the Mayor's Chaplain and advised that he would be raising money for the following charities over the forthcoming year under the theme of 'Healthy and Happy in Hillingdon':

·         Harefield Hospital;

·         Hillingdon Autistic Care and Support (HACS);

·         Life Education Centres of Hillingdon;

·         Hillingdon Brain Tumour and Injury Group;

·         Uxbridge Child Contact Centre; and

·         Hillingdon South Society for Mentally Handicapped Children.

The Mayor's charity appeal would be formally launched on 1 July 2015 and the first fund raising event would be a Quiz Night on 8 July 2015. 

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

ii)             Presentation of Past Mayor's and Past Mayoress' badges.

Councillor Puddifoot moved a vote of thanks to the retired Mayor, Councillor Dann, her Mayoress, Mrs Rita Kilroy, and her Escort, Councillor David Yarrow.  This was seconded by Councillor Khursheed.  Councillors Bianco, Corthorne, Denys, Dhillon and Yarrow spoke in support.  It was noted that an additional £500 would be donated to the Mayor's charity on behalf of the Labour Group. 

The Mayor (Councillor G Cooper) presented a Past Mayor’s badge to Councillor Dann and Past Mayoress'/Escort's badges to Mrs Rita Kilroy and Councillor David Yarrow.

RESOLVED: That the vote of thanks to the Outgoing Mayor, Councillor Dann, be agreed.

(i)        AMENDMENT TO THE COUNCIL CONSTITUTION

Councillor Puddifoot moved the motion, which was seconded by Councillor Simmonds, and it was:

RESOLVED:  That the Head of Democratic Services be authorised to make the following amendments to the Constitution to give effect to the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015:

Article 4 - The Full Council

4.04         Terms of Reference

(k)   To confirm the appointment or dismissal of the Head of the Paid Service;

(l)    To confirm the dismissal of the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer

(Renumber the remaining provisions accordingly).

Part 3 - Scheme of Delegation to Officers:

Proper Officers for the Purposes of the Constitution:

9.    Officers who will issue and accept invitations from independent persons to constitute and administer a Panel in accordance with Section 102(4) of the Local Government Act 1972for the purposes of advising the Council on matters relating to the dismissal of the Head of the Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer or the Chief Finance Officer:

       Head of Human Resources and Head of Democratic Services.

Part 4 (F) Officer Employment Procedure Rules:

11.  Disciplinary Action Against the Council’s Statutory Officers (as prescribed by Schedule 3 of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015);

(a)   No disciplinary action in respect of the Council’s Chief Executive, its Monitoring Officer or its Chief Finance Officer (as defined in Regulation 2 of the Local Authorities [Standing Orders] [England] Regulations 2001), except action described in paragraph (b) below, may be taken by the Council, or by a Committee, a Sub-Committee, a Joint Committee on which the Council is represented or any other person acting on behalf of the Council, other than in accordance with the following procedure: a recommendation in a report made by a designated independent person under Regulation 7 of the above-mentioned Regulations (Investigation of alleged misconduct).

i)      The Head of Democratic Services and the Head of Human Resources acting on behalf of the Council will invite relevant independent persons to be considered for appointment to an Independent Panel, with a view to appointing at least two such persons to the Panel.

ii)     In paragraph i) “relevant independent person” means any independent person who has been appointed by the Council or, where there are fewer than two such persons, such independent persons as have been appointed by another authority or authorities as the Council considers appropriate.

iii)    Subject to paragraph iv), the Council must appoint to the Panel such relevant independent persons who have accepted an invitation issued in accordance with paragraph i) in accordance with the following priority order—

·       a relevant independent person who has been appointed by the Council and who is a local government elector;

·       any other relevant independent person who has been appointed by the Council;

·       a relevant independent person who has been appointed by another authority or authorities.

iv)  The Council is not required to appoint more than two relevant independent persons in accordance with paragraph iii) but may do so.

v)     The Panel must be appointed at least 20 working days before the meeting of the Council to consider whether or not to approve a proposal to dismiss the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer or Chief Finance Officer.

vi)   Before Full Council votes on whether or not to approve a dismissal, it must take into account, in particular—

·      any advice, views or recommendations of the Panel;

·      the conclusions of any investigation into the proposed dismissal; and

·      any representations from the Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer or Chief Finance Officer, as appropriate.

vii)  Any remuneration, allowances or fees paid by the Council to an independent person appointed to the Panel must not exceed the level of remuneration paid to the Standards Committee Independent Person.

In paragraph a) “disciplinary action” means ‘any action occasioned by alleged misconduct which, if proved, would, according to the usual practice of the Council, be recorded on the member of staff’s personal file, and includes any proposal for dismissal of a member of staff for any reason other than redundancy, permanent ill?health or infirmity of mind or body, but does not include failure to renew a contract of employment for a fixed term unless the Council has undertaken to renew such a contract.

(b)  The action mentioned in paragraph (a) above is suspension of the officer for the purpose of investigating the alleged misconduct occasioning the action; and any such suspension must be on full pay and terminate no later than the expiry of two months beginning on the day on which the suspension takes effect.

(ii)       APPOINTMENT OF CABINET

The appointment by the Leader of the Council of Councillor Simmonds as the Deputy Leader and the following Members as Cabinet Members for 2015/2016 was noted:

In addition, Members were asked to note that responsibility for Council Communications would become part of the Cabinet Portfolio of the Leader of the Council with effect from 14 May 2015.

(iii)      APPOINTMENT OF COUNCIL CHAMPION

Councillor Puddifoot moved the motion, which was seconded by Councillor Simmonds, and it was:

RESOLVED: That Councillor Haggar replace Councillor J. Cooper as Carer's Champion.

To determine 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.

It was noted that the membership of the Hillingdon Domestic Violence Action Forum was amended to show Councillor Haggar as a Member with Councillor Barnes as substitute.

The Committee Allocations and Membership 2015/2016 was moved by Councillor O'Brien, seconded by Councillor White, and it was:

ReSOLVED: That the appointment of Committees, Sub-Committees and their memberships, as set out at Minute Annex A, be approved.

To receive the annual report.

The Council received a report of the work covered by the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees in 2014/2015.  It was moved by Councillor Lewis, seconded by Councillor Riley, and:

RESOLVED:  That the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees’ Annual Report 2014/2015 be endorsed.

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

The Leader noted that, at last week's General Election, the UK had chosen who it was that they wanted to represent them for the next five years.  Irrespective of political stance, individuals stood as candidates in these elections because they wanted to make a difference.  The day after the election, Mr Cameron had thanked Mr Clegg and his party for the part they played in the coalition Government.  Mr Miliband had been magnanimous in defeat and had called Mr Cameron to wish him luck. 

Councillor Puddifoot paid tribute to Councillor Khursheed and congratulated him on surviving a leadership challenge.  He thanked Councillor Simmonds for being a first class Deputy Leader and the rest of the Cabinet for being a great team to captain. 

The Leader advised that the achievements of the Council had been as a result of the combined effort of all individuals which had resulted in a remarkable reputation in Hillingdon for excellent facilities and sound financial management.  He noted that, as a result, the Council was well placed to deal with the challenges that lay ahead with continued free weekly refuse and recycling collections, Council Tax continuing to be frozen and one of the largest schools programmes in London.  Hillingdon was the only council in the country that had rebuilt or refurbished all of its libraries.  In addition, the authority had built up a record level of cash reserves to deal with future challenges.

Irrespective of which side of the Chamber an individual sat, those present shared a 90% common vision for the Borough - it was the proposed delivery that differed.  The Leader congratulated Councillor Oswell on becoming Deputy Leader of the opposition and thanked the opposition Members for their contribution during the year. 

Councillor Puddifoot noted that continued strong political leadership and financial management in Hillingdon would ensure that the Council was in a position to achieve its aim of putting its residents first.