Agenda item

The nominations for chairs and vice chairs of committees and the nominations to the Local Government Association General Assembly were circulated. 

 

After debate (Councillors Stephanie Cryan, Jasmine Ali, Victoria Mills), the report was put to the vote.

 

There were 22 contested positions.

 

The position of chair of appointments committee was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor James McAsh be appointed chair of appointments committee.

 

The position of vice-chair of appointments committee was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Victor Chamberlain be appointed vice-chair of appointments committee.

 

The position of chair of audit, governance and standards committee was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Colin Boyle be appointed chair of audit, governance and standards committee.

 

The position of vice-chair of audit, governance and standards committee was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Graham Neale be appointed vice-chair of audit, governance and standards committee.

 

The position of chair of licensing committee was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Jane Salmon be appointed chair of licensing committee.

 

The position of vice-chair of licensing committee was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Kath Whittam be appointed vice-chair of licensing committee.

 

The position of chair of overview and scrutiny committee was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Richard Macmillan be appointed chair of overview and scrutiny committee.

 

The position of chair of planning committee A was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Kath Whittam be appointed chair of planning committee A.

 

The position of chair of planning committee B was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Kath Whittam be appointed chair of planning committee B.

 

The position of chair of planning committee (smaller applications) was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Richard Taylor be appointed chair of planning smaller applications committee.

 

The position of vice-chair of planning committee (smaller applications) was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Jane Salmon be appointed vice-chair of planning smaller applications committee.

 

The position of neighbourhood champion north west was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor David Noakes be appointed neighbourhood champion north west.

 

The position of deputy neighbourhood champion north west was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Hellen Benavides be appointed deputy neighbourhood champion north west.

 

The position of neighbourhood champion north east was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Adam Hood be appointed neighbourhood champion north eas0074.

 

The position of deputy neighbourhood champion north east was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Jane Salmon be appointed deputy neighbourhood champion north east.

 

The position of neighbourhood champion west central was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Vanessa Threadgold be appointed neighbourhood champion west central.

 

The position of deputy neighbourhood champion west central was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Rebecca Corn be appointed deputy neighbourhood champion west central.

 

The position of neighbourhood champion east central was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Alexandra Austin be appointed neighbourhood champion east central.

 

The position of deputy neighbourhood champion east central was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Ryan Cox be appointed deputy neighbourhood champion east central.

 

The position of neighbourhood champion south was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Eloise Waldon-Day be appointed neighbourhood champion south.

 

The position of deputy neighbourhood champion south was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor George Grime be appointed deputy neighbourhood champion south.

 

The position of chair of constitutional steering panel was put to the vote, and it was agreed that Councillor Eloise Waldon-Day be appointed chair of constitutional steering panel.

 

The substantive motion was carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  That council assembly noted the appointment of political group leaders, deputies and whips.

 

LABOUR GROUP

 

Leader  Councillor Sarah King

Deputy Leader  Councillor Evelyn Akoto

Chief Whip  Councillor Bill Williams

 

GREEN GROUP

 

Leader  Councillor James McAsh

Deputy Leader  Councillor Reginald Popoola / Councillor Claire Sheppard

Group Business Manager   Councillor Eloise Waldon-Day

 

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GROUP

 

Leader  Councillor Victor Chamberlain

Deputy Leader  Councillor Rachel Bentley

Chief Whip  Councillor David Watson

 

2.  That council assembly noted the political balance of the council as follows:

 

Table 1a) Political balance after the elections on 7 May 2026

 

Group	Members	%
Labour	29	46.03
Green	22	34.92
Liberal Democrat	12	19.05
Total	63	100.00

 

Table 1b) Political balance before the elections on 7 May 2026

 

Group	Members	%
Labour	45	71.43
Liberal Democrat	11	17.46
Green and Independent Alliance	6	9.52
Independent members (not a group)	1	1.59
Total	63	100.00

 

3.  That council assembly noted that for the purpose of calculating the allocation of seats on committees, only political groups with greater than one member are considered.

 

4.  That council assembly noted changes to proportionality and agrees the change to the allocation of seats on committees following the local election on 7 May 2026. The new allocation is set out at paragraph 5 of the report, in Tables 2, 3 and 4.

 

5.  That council assembly established the following committees for the coming municipal year 2026-27.

 

Table 2: Ordinary Committees - Total number of seats 42

The below tables are based on the committees as agreed by council assembly (and the council as licensing authority, for the licensing committee) on 17 May 2025.

 

Committee	Total	Lab	Green	Lib Dem
Committee 1 Appointments Committee	7	3	3	1
Committee 2 Planning Committee (Major Applications) A	7	4	2	1
Committee 3 Planning Committee (Major Applications) B	7	3	3	1
Planning Committee (Smaller Applications)	7	3	3	1
Committee 4 Audit, Governance and Standards Committee	7	3	2	2
Committee 5 Corporate Parenting Committee	7	3	2	2
Total	42	19	15	8

 

Table 3: Other committees - Total number of seats 26

 

Labour Group with 29 members will have 11.97/26 seats, Greens with 22 members will have 9.08/26 seats, and Liberal Democrats with 12 members will have 4.95/26 seats.

 

Committee	Total	Lab	Green	Lib Dem
Overview and Scrutiny Committee	11	5	4	2
Licensing Committee	15	7	5	3
Total	26	12	9	5

 

Table 5: Neighborhood areas

 

1.	Borough and London Bridge
2.	Bermondsey
3.	Rotherhithe
4.	Walworth
5.	Old Kent Road
6.	Camberwell
7.	Peckham
8.	Nunhead and Peckham Rye
9.	East Dulwich
10.	Dulwich

 

Note: The composition of neighborhood areas is set out in Article 8 of the constitution (see paragraph 43 of this report).

 

Health and wellbeing board

 

6.  That the health and wellbeing board be established as a committee of the council under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 with the membership set out in paragraph 41 of the report. 

 

7.  That it be noted that the leader of the council nominates the local authority membership. In accordance with committee procedure rules, the leader chairs the board unless he or she nominates another member to chair the board. The cabinet member for health and wellbeing has been appointed the chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board from 2022-2026.

 

8.  That council assembly considered whether it wishes to appoint chairs and vice chairs for the following committees:

 

Committees

·  Appointments committee

Chair: Cllr James McAsh

Vice-chair: Cllr Victor Chamberlain

 

·  Planning Committee (Major Applications) A

  Chair: Cllr Kath Whittam

  Vice-chair: Cllr Richard Livingstone

 

·  Planning Committee (Major Applications) B

  Chair: Cllr Kath Whittam

Vice-chair: Cllr Richard Livingstone

 

·  Planning Committee (Smaller Applications)

  Chair: Cllr Richard Taylor

Vice-chair: Cllr Jane Salmon

 

·  Audit, governance and standards committee

  Chair: Cllr Colin Boyle

Vice-chair: Cllr Graham Neale

 

·  Corporate parenting committee [see note 1 below]

  Chair: Cllr Rebecca Corn

Vice-chair: Cllr Victor Chamberlain

 

·  Overview and scrutiny committee

  Chair: Cllr Richard Macmillan

Vice-chair: Cllr Victoria Mills

 

·  Licensing committee

  Chair: Cllr Jane Salmon

  Vice-chair: Cllr Kath Whittam

 

Appointment of neighbourhood champions

 

9.  That council assembly appointed neighbourhood champions for the following neighbourhood areas:

 

NEIGHBOURHOOD CHAMPIONS

 

	Councillor	Neighbourhood area
1.	David Noakes	North-west
2.	Adam Hood	North-east
3.	Vanessa Threadgold	West-central
4.	Alexandra Austin	East-central
5.	Eloise Waldon-Day	South

 

10.  That council assembly established the following council panels (see paragraph 52 of the report):

 

Table 5: Panels - Total number of seats 13

Panel	Total	Lab	Green	Lib Dem
Council assembly business panel	5	2	2	1
Constitutional steering panel	5	2	2	1
Pensions advisory panel	3	1	1	1
Total	13	5	5	3

 

Note: This table is based on the panels established in 2025-26.

 

Appointments of chair to council assembly business

 

·  The Mayor chairs the panel.

 

Appointments of chair to constitutional steering panel

 

11.  That council assembly appointed a chair to the following panel:

 

·  Constitutional steering panel: Councillor Eloise Waldon-Day

 

Urgency committee

 

12.  That the role of the urgency committee between a municipal election and the annual meeting of council assembly, as agreed by council assembly on 26 March 2014, be noted as set out in paragraphs 54 and 55 of the report.

 

Appointments to Local Government Association (LGA) General Assembly

 

13.  That council assembly appointed three representatives and allocated the seven votes to representatives to attend the LGA General Assembly (see paragraphs 59 and 60 of the report).

 

Councillor James McAsh   4

Councillor Victor Chamberlain  2

Councillor Sarah King  1

 

Other appointments to joint committees/outside bodies

 

14.  That council assembly noted the cabinet and other committees will make appointments to all other outside committees and bodies for the municipal year 2026-27 as required by part 3Q of the constitution.

 

Date of council assembly

 

15.  That council assembly agreed to change the date of council assembly in July from 8 July 2026 to 15 July 2026 (see paragraph 55 of the report).