Minutes:
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 to have discussions about the Council’s governance structures, but undertaken in a reasonable time frame. He noted that this issue couldn’t be discussed immediately due to the recent discussions at Council and the relevant six month rule, but he noted it was still a topical issue. He intended that a report be brought to Council at a future meeting, as early as possible to enable a full debate with options for different models in order to inform any future decisions to apply after members had served their current terms.