Agenda item

Council assembly is asked to establish committees, community councils and panels for 2013/14.

(See pages 5 – 33 of the main agenda and appendix 1, nominations and responses to questions circulated at the meeting)

 

There were four questions on the report, the written responses to which were circulated on blue paper at the meeting.  Three supplemental questions were asked of the leader.  The questions and written responses are attached as Appendix 1 to the minutes.

 

The Mayor stated that in accordance with council assembly procedure rule 2.11(2), this being an officer report, the recommendations set out in the report were deemed to have been moved and were subject to amendment only.  He announced that there was one amendment to the report, therefore the amendment would be considered first and a separate vote would be taken on the amendment and any contested positions of chair or vice-chair.  The remaining recommendations would be considered as part of the substantive motion.

 

Councillor Anood Al-Samerai, seconded by Councillor Graham Neale, moved Amendment A.

 

Following debate (Councillors Victoria Mills, Adele Morris and Peter John), Councillor Graham Neale made a point of personal explanation.  The debate continued (Councillor Mark Gettleson).

 

At 8.35pm the Mayor announced that the guillotine had fallen.

 

Amendment A was put to the vote and declared to be lost.

 

The Mayor stated that two nominations had been received for the position of vice-chair of the planning committee, Councillors Darren Merrill and Adele Morris.  No further nominations were forthcoming, therefore the nominations were put to the vote and council assembly appointed Councillor Darren Merrill as vice-chair of the planning committee.

 

The substantive motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  That the appointment of political leaders, deputies and whips be noted as follows:

 

LABOUR GROUP

 

Leader  Councillor Peter John

 

Deputy Leader  Councillor Ian Wingfield

 

Chief Whip  Councillor Dan Garfield

 

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GROUP

 

Leader  Councillor Anood Al-Samerai

 

Deputy Leader  Councillor Adele Morris

 

Chief Whip  Councillor James Barber

 

CONSERVATIVE GROUP

 

Leader  Councillor Michael Mitchell

 

Deputy Leader  Councillor Lewis Robinson

 

Chief Whip  Councillor Toby Eckersley

 

2.  That the size and composition of the council’s regulatory and other committees be established in accordance with the number of seats each political group has on the council as a whole, as set out below

 

Ordinary Committees: Total number of seats 37

 

Committee		Total	Lab	Lib Dem	Con
Committee 1 Appointments Committee	7		4	3	0
Committee 2 Planning Committee	7		4	3	0
Committee 3 Standards Committee	9		5	3	1
Committee 4 Audit and Governance Committee	7		4	2	1
Committee 5 Corporate Parenting Committee	7		4	3	0
Total	37		21	14	2

 

Other committees: Total number of seats 29

 

Committee	Total	Lab			Lib  Dem	Con
Overview and scrutiny Committee	11	6		4		1
Licensing Committee	15	8	6			1
Health and Wellbeing Board	3	3		Nil		Nil
Total	29	17		10		2

 

Community councils:

 

·  Bermondsey and Rotherhithe

·  Borough, Bankside and Walworth

·  Camberwell

·  Dulwich

·  Peckham and Nunhead.

 

Note: Membership as set out in Article 5 of the constitution.

 

Appointment of chairs and vice chairs

 

3.  That the following be appointed as chairs and vice chairs for the committees and community councils outlined below:

 

Appointments Committee

 

Chair - Councillor Peter John

Vice-Chair - Councillor Ian Wingfield

 

Audit And Governance Committee

 

Chair - Councillor Mark Glover

Vice-Chair - Vacant

 

Corporate Parenting Committee

 

Chair: Councillor Dora Dixon-Fyle

Vice Chair: Councillor Eliza Mann

 

Health And Wellbeing Board

 

Chair - Councillor Peter John

Vice-Chair - Vacant

 

Licensing Committee

 

Chair - Councillor Renata Hamvas

Vice-Chair - Vacant

 

Overview & Scrutiny Committee

 

Chair - Councillor Cathy Bowman

Vice-Chair - Councillor Gavin Edwards

 

Planning Committee

 

Chair - Councillor Nick Dolezal

Vice-Chair - Councillor Darren Merrill

 

Standards Committee

 

Chair - Councillor Cleo Soanes

Vice-Chair - Councillor James Barber

 

Note:  Any vacant position will be considered at the first meeting of the committee.

 

 

Community Councils

 

Bermondsey and Rotherhithe

 

Chair - Councillor Graham Neale

Vice-Chair - Councillor Paul Kyriacou

 

Borough, Bankside and Walworth

 

Chair - Councillor Martin Seaton

Vice-Chair - Councillor Poddy Clark

 

Camberwell

 

Chair - Councillor Mark Williams

Vice-Chair - Councillor Dora Dixon-Fyle

 

Dulwich

 

Chair - Councillor Helen Hayes

Vice-Chair - Councillor Rosie Shimell

 

Peckham and Nunhead

 

Chair - Councillor Cleo Soanes

Vice-Chair - Councillor Althea Smith

 

Establishment of the council’s panels

 

4.  That the following council panels be established:

 

·  Council assembly business panel – The panel is chaired by the Mayor and also consists of one representative from each political group.  The panel acts as an advisory panel to the Mayor on council assembly, including the annual programme and the setting of themes for debate.  Groups can nominate a reserve to attend in the absence of a representative.

 

·  Constitutional steering panel – The panel is comprised of the whip and one other member from the Labour Group and the political whips of the other groups represented on the council. The panel is responsible for reviewing and recommending amendments to the constitution. It is also responsible for making recommendations to council assembly for the award of the Honorary Freedom of the Borough and Honorary Aldermen and to recommend changes to the members’ allowances scheme.  Groups can nominate a reserve to attend in the absence of a representative.

 

·  Pensions advisory panel – The panel has a composition of members, officers, independent advisors and a trade union representative.  The purpose of the panel is to advise the advice to the finance director when performing functions relating to the council’s pension scheme.

 

·  Voluntary bodies appointment panel – The panel has a composition of three Labour and two Liberal Democrat members.  The panel will be responsible for recommending the appointment of charity trustees to specific Southwark charities and recommending appointments to the position of school governor on local education authority secondary and special school governing bodies.

 

5.  That the following be appointed chair of the panels outlined below:

 

Constitutional steering panel

 

Chair: Councillor Dan Garfield

 

Voluntary bodies appointment panel

 

Chair: Councillor Ian Wingfield.

 

Appointments to Local Government Association General Assembly

 

6.  That three representatives with an allocation of five votes be appointed to the representatives to the LGA General Assembly as follows:

 

·  Councillor Peter John - 2 votes

·  Councillor Ian Wingfield – 1 vote

·  Councillor Anood Al-Samerai - 2 votes.

 

Other appointments to joint committees/outside bodies

 

7.  That it be noted that the cabinet and other committees will make appointments to all other outside committees and bodies for the municipal year 2013/14 as required by part 3S of the constitution. 

 

Urgency committee

 

8.  That the role of the urgency committee between a municipal election and the annual meeting of council assembly be reviewed in light of the post-election period in 2010 and the new executive arrangements.  Officers will report to the constitutional steering panel with proposals on future urgency arrangements.