Agenda and minutes

Election of Councillors

The Lord Mayor noted that there had recently been local elections in the City and he asked the Monitoring Officer to report on the matter.

The Monitoring Officer informed Council that elections had been held on 4 May 2023. A full list of election results and the Members so elected had been published. The Monitoring Officer also reported that each Councillor had made the necessary Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

The Monitoring Officer also noted that elections were held on 4 May 2023 for the City Mayor. Full details of the election results and the person so elected had been published. He therefore presented the City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby.

The Lord Mayor asked the City Mayor to introduce the newly elected Labour Councillors.

The City Mayor introduced the following new Councillors to the Lord Mayor and Council:

Councillor Stephen Bonham                       Humberstone and Hamilton

Councillor Raffiq Mohammed                     Stoneygate

Councillor Molly O’Neil                                Western

Councillor Mohinder Singh Sangha            Troon

Councillor Manjula Sood                             Stoneygate

Councillor Surti                                            Stoneygate

Councillor Zaman                                        Fosse

The Lord Mayor asked Councillor Bajaj to introduce the newly elected Conservative Councillors.

Councillor Bajaj introduced the following new Councillors to the Lord Mayor and Council:

Councillor Shiltal Adatia                              Belgrave

Councillor Nags Agath                                Abbey

Councillor Charleigh Barnes                       Abbey

Councillor Yogesh Chauhan                       Belgrave

Councillor Bhupen Dave                             Rushey Mead

Councillor Jaiantilal Gopal                          Belgrave

Councillor Jenny Joannou                           Evington

Councillor Dilip Joshi                                   North Evington

Councillor Geeta Karavadra                       Rushey Mead

Councillor Ravi Mahesh                              North Evington

Councillor Abdul Razak Ozman                  Thurncourt

The Lord Mayor asked Councillor Kitterick to introduce the newly elected Green Councillors.

Councillor Kitterick introduced the following new Councillors to the Lord Mayor and Council:

Councillor Mick Gregg                                Castle

Councillor Liz Sahu                                     Castle

The Lord Mayor asked Councillor Porter to introduce the newly elected Liberal Democrat Councillors.

Councillor Porter introduced the following new Councillors to the Lord Mayor and Council:

Councillor Zuffar Iqbal Haq                         Evington

Councillor Scott Kennedy Lount                 Aylestone

The Lord Mayor passed his warmest congratulations to all newly elected Councillors.

City Mayor

Following a request, the Lord Mayor invited the City Mayor to make a statement regarding the start of the electoral term.

The City Mayor referred to the Council’s scrutiny function. He noted that the current system had remained unchanged for 12 years and had not developed in that time. He stated that it was very important that the scrutiny system start as soon as possible, but the structures needed to meet the needs of the Council. He noted that the current scrutiny commissions size would preclude all Liberal Democrat and Green Councillors from taking part, and only enable a single councillor from one those groups on the Overview Select Committee. He said that he wanted to have discussions with other political groups to ensure full representation and would be writing to all group leaders to arrange this. Therefore, it was not planned to establish scrutiny committees at this meeting.

The City Mayor also referred to the role of the City Mayor, noting that it was entirely legitimate for the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

Moved by Councillor Singh-Johal, seconded by the City Mayor and carried:

That Councillor Dr Susan Barton be elected to the Office of the Lord Mayor of the City for the coming year.

Councillor Dr Susan Barton, Lord Mayor of Leicester took the Chair.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Russell and carried:

That Councillor Manjula Sood be elected to the office of High Bailiff for the coming year.

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Russell and carried:

That Councillor George Cole be appointed Deputy Lord Mayor for the coming year.

The Lord Mayor informed Council that she had appointed Reverend Tony Leighton, Master of Wyggestons as her spiritual adviser for the coming year.

Moved by Councillor Dempster, seconded by the City Mayor and carried:

I’m really pleased to be moving this motion of thanks, not only to Councillor Cole, but also the Lady Mayoress, Denese and the Lord Mayor’s daughter and consort, Serenah. This has been a momentous year in terms of the Lord Mayor’s Office. We’ve had in Councillor Cole, the first Black, African Caribbean Councillor as Lord Mayor of this city and that really matters, not only for our Black communities but for all our communities, because it says to us, there may be obstacles in our way, but we can succeed. We have in Councillor Cole, a role model that we all look up to and we can say to ourselves that we can succeed.

What a year that it’s been, it started off with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and it ended with introducing the Duke of Edinburgh to volunteers at the African Caribbean Centre. In between, the Lord Mayor, the Lady Mayoress and Consort have been tireless in meeting residents, attending meetings and events, young people, old people, across this city. They’ve also been fundraising for the Sickle Cell Society and also raising awareness for Prostate Cancer.

I’ve known Councillor Cole since before he was a Councillor, for over 12 years, so I knew, perhaps I’m biased, I knew his year as Lord Mayor would be a credit to our city. He has ably been supported by Denese and Serenah and they have all exceeded my expectations, and it has been a wonderful year and they have made our city so proud. I really look forward to working with you Councillor Cole, in your ward and as Deputy Lord Mayor. Thank you to George, to Serenah, to Denese on behalf of us all in this chamber and all the residents in this city, thank you very much for all you’ve done.

Moved by Councillor Halford, seconded by the City Mayor:

I move that the technical resolution regarding the formation of the Regulatory Committees and Health and Wellbeing Board, as printed on the Council Script in italics, be approved.

Technical Resolution – Regulatory and Health and Wellbeing Board

(i)    That the;

Health and Wellbeing Board

Planning and Development Control Committee

Licensing and Public Safety Committee and

Licensing Sub-Committees

all be established in accordance with the existing Terms of Reference the size of each being in accordance with the lists attached at Appendix A to the meeting script (and attached to the minutes at Appendix A) and to note that:

(a)             The size of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee be expanded from 15 places to 16 places.

(b)          The size of the Planning and Development Control Committee be expanded from 10 to 11 places.

(ii)   That the Chairs and Vice-Chairs (as appropriate) of the bodies listed in part (i) above be in accordance with the lists circulated to all Members (and attached to these minutes at Appendix A); and

(iii)  That matters related to the establishment of Scrutiny Committees and any other Council Committees be deferred to the next ordinary meeting of Council to be held on 6 July 2023.

AN AMENDMENT

A friendly amendment was proposed by the City Mayor to (iii) to read:

(iii)   That matters related to the establishment of Scrutiny Committees and any other Council Committees be deferred to the next ordinary meeting of Council to be held on 6 July 2023or to an earlier meeting if possible.

The friendly amendment was accepted by Council.

The amended motion was put to the vote and carried.

The City Mayor asked Council to note that he had appointed Councillor Manjula Sood to join the existing members of the Executive. The City Mayor also undertook to report any changes to Executive portfolios on the Council website as soon as possible.

Moved by Councillor Halford, seconded by the City Mayor and carried:

That the cycle of meetings of the Planning and Development Control, Licensing and Public Safety Committees, Licensing Enforcement Sub-Committee and the Health and Wellbeing Board be confirmed as set out in Appendix B to the script and attached to these minutes.

Moved by Councillor Halford, seconded by the City Mayor and carried:

That the Annual Meeting in 2024 be held on 16 May 2024, that Council meet on Wednesday 21 February 2024 to consider the estimates for 2024/25, and that ordinary meetings of Council be held on the dates indicated on the Council Script, ie:

6 July 2023

28 September 2023

23 November 2023

21 February 2024

The Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 18.35pm.