Agenda and minutes

Election of Councillors

The Monitoring Officer informed Council that elections had been held on 2 May 2019. A full list of the 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 2 May 2019 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 City Mayor introduced the following new Councillors to the Lord Mayor and Council:

Councillor Ruma Ali                            Humberstone and Hamilton

Councillor Lindsay Broadwell             Western

Councillor Stephan Gee                     Thurncourt

Councillor Melissa March                   Knighton

Councillor Jacky Nangreave              Westcotes

Councillor Karen Pickering                 Eyres Monsell

Councillor Sharmen Rahman             Stoneygate

Councillor Manjit Kaur-Saini               Abbey

Councillor Nita Solanki                       Belgrave

Councillor Mahendra Valand              Belgrave

Councillor Geoff Whittle                      Knighton

Attack in Sri Lanka

The Lord Mayor reflected upon recent attacks in Sri Lanka where people lost their lives due to attacks taking in places of worship and hotels. He also noted that retaliatory attacks had also taken place. He noted that such acts of hate and intolerance had no place in today’s society and invited the meeting to stand for a minute’s silence in remembrance of the victims of the violence and its aftermath.

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

That Councillor Annette Byrne be elected to the Office of Lord Mayor of the City for the coming year.

Councillor Annette Byrne, Lord Mayor of Leicester took the Chair.

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

That Councillor Paul Westley be elected to the office of High Bailiff for the coming year.

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

That Councillor Deepak Bajaj be appointed Deputy Lord Mayor for the coming year.

The Lord Mayor informed Council that she had appointed Father Martin Hardy as her Spiritual Advisor.

The Lord Mayor asked Father Martin to read a prayer, which he duly did.

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

Thank you, my Lord Mayor. I’m happy to propose this vote of thanks, I’ll try not to go on for too long because I know you all want to get to the samosas at City Hall.  Ross Grant, what a rubbish Lord Mayor, not!  Actually, Ross has been a terrific Lord Mayor. As first citizen of Leicester he has presided with due and impressive dignity over many civic occasions, especially when he got his new hat. His team have organised a programme of most enjoyable events, happy to say I was invited to many, afford myself of several cups of tea and slices of cake in the Lord Mayors parlour, served by the ever-reliable Chris, but I have to say that one of the most impressive was the Lady Mayoress’s coffee morning. I’ve never seen so much delicious cake and high-quality coffee consumed by so many famous and worthy celebrities in so little a space of time, and of course it did raise a large sum for Ross’s charity, the Laura centre.  Thanks are due also to Yasmin and Zara and Harris for their support, and it was delightful to see the children running around in that space in the tea room, but perhaps the most impressive thing from my point of view has been Ross’s chairing of the Council meetings. Right from the start he was authoritative, firm and fair.  He really does deserve credit for this.  Taking year 9 for the last period on a Friday afternoon for Personal and Social Education would be a walk in the park compared to controlling us rabble. He even enforced the five minute rule, I should know, I was one of the first to suffer, when he wouldn’t allow me to continue giving the City Mayor statistics on the length of time taken to get a real person on the phone when ringing the City Council. Don’t worry Peter, I will return to this, and I hope Annette will let me finish. Seriously though, Ross is that most special of Councillors, someone who rises above and beyond tribal party politics to put the interests of his constituents first. Pragmatic, industrious, consultative, sharing the compassionate side of Conservatism all too rare at the moment, so it has been easy for me to work constructively with him for Knighton, and it has been an absolute privilege.  I have to keep saying to myself: ‘Don’t mention the election’, but it is witness to Ross’s integrity that so many people have paid tribute to him upon the loss of his seat, due not through any lack of dedication on his part, but to the unpopularity of the government, and forgive me for saying it, Labour’s hard work in the campaign. I’m just very glad, on Ross’s behalf, that he was given the opportunity to be Lord Mayor, to add to an already splendid record of service by the way he has conducted himself this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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

I moved that the technical resolution regarding the formation of the Overview Select Committee and Scrutiny Commissions and Regulatory and Council Committees as printed on the Council Script in italics, be approved.

Technical Resolution – Scrutiny Committee, Commissions & Regulatory and Council Committees

(i)    That the:-

·         Overview Select Committee

·         Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission

·         Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission

·         Economic Development, Transport and Tourism Scrutiny Commission

·         Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission

·         Heritage, Culture, Leisure and Sport Scrutiny Commission

·         Housing Scrutiny Commission and

·         Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission

all be established in accordance with the existing Terms of Reference, the size of each being in accordance with the lists circulated to all Members (available at the meeting and attached to these minutes at Appendix A), it being noted that any remaining places will be filled in accordance with relevant procedures and in consultation with the relevant Members.

(ii)   That the

·         Audit and Risk Committee

·         Health and Wellbeing Board

·         Standards Committee

·         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, except for the Health and Wellbeing Board (where an amended Terms of Reference is attached to these minutes at Appendix B), the size of each being in accordance with the lists circulated to all Members (available at the meeting and attached to these minutes at Appendix A), it being noted that the remaining places will be filled in accordance with relevant procedures and in consultation with the relevant Members.

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

(iv)            That the Employees Committeebe established with the Terms of Reference and size as specified within the Council’s Constitution, with the process for the appointment of Chair and membership being in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

The City Mayor asked Council to note the Executive appointments as detailed in the list available at the meeting (and attached to these minutes at Appendix A.)

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

that the cycle of meetings of the Scrutiny, Regulatory and Council Committees be confirmed as set out in the schedule of meetings (available at the meeting and attached as Appendix C to these minutes.)

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

That the Annual Meeting in 2020 be held on 21 May 2020, that Council meet on Wednesday 19 February 2020 to consider the estimates for 2020/21, and that ordinary meetings of Council be held on the dates indicated on the Council Script, ie:

13 June 2019

3 October 2019

14 November 2019

23 January 2020

19 March 2020

Close of Meeting

The Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 6.02pm.