Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

It was proposed by Councillor Bettison, and seconded by Councillor Birch, that Councillor Virgo be elected Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest for the Municipal Year 2016 – 2017.

There being no further nominations it was

RESOLVED that Councillor Virgo be elected Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest  for the 2016 - 2017 Municipal Year.

Councillor Virgo was then invested with the Mayoral Chain of Office and then made and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Mayor and thanked Members of the Council for his election.

THE MAYOR, COUNCILLOR VIRGO, IN THE CHAIR

In his acceptance speech Councillor Virgo thanked colleagues for supporting his appointment and looked forward to celebrating the development of the Town Centre.

Councillor Bettison delivered a vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor, Mrs Dee Hamilton.

The retiring Mayor, Councillor Mrs Hamilton, in her response wished the new Mayor luck in his forthcoming year and thanked him for his support as her Deputy Mayor.

Councillor Mrs Hamilton thanked her fellow Councillors for their support during her Mayoral year attending events, making donations and sponsoring activities. She highlighted some of the significant fundraising events which contributed to her charity ‘Make-A-Wish UK’ such as donations from the Clothing Warehouse and itSMF UK; events organised by the staff of the Environment, Culture and Communities Department such as the Charity Golf Day, Quiz Night and the Bracknell Half Marathon. She thanked everyone at ‘Make-A-Wish UK’ for their support and to everyone who offered their support at events. Councillor Mrs Hamilton announced that she had raised £15,981.50.

Councillor Mrs Hamilton paid special thanks to her consort, Scott Hamilton for his unwavering support during the year.

Father Guy Cole accepted Councillor Mrs Hamilton’s thanks and gift for his work as Mayor’s Chaplain.

Councillor Mrs Hamilton thanked Sally Cathcart-Cunnison, Mayoral Support officer, for supporting her during her mayoral year.

Councillor Mrs Hamilton was presented with the badge of Past Mayor by the Chief Executive.

It was proposed by the Mayor and seconded by Councillor Bettison that Councillor Mrs McKenzie-Boyle be appointed Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest for the Municipal Year 2016 – 2017.

There being no further nominations, it was

RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs McKenzie-Boyle be appointed Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest for the Municipal Year 2016 - 2017.

Councillor Mrs McKenzie-Boyle was invested with the Deputy Mayoral Chain of Office and then made and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Deputy Mayor.

The Deputy Mayor announced that her husband, Bruce McKenzie-Boyle, would be her Consort for her term of office. The Deputy Mayor’s Consort was then invested with the Chain of Office. The Deputy Mayor thanked the Council for her appointment and said she was looking forward to supporting the Mayor to represent the Council across the borough.

ADJOURNMENT

The Council meeting was adjourned for 10 minutes to allow for photographs to be

taken.

Mayor’s Nominated Charity

The Mayor announced that his nominated charity for 2016 - 2017 was Sebastian’s Action Trust. He presented a short film which explained the work of the organisation. Jane Gates OBE, Chief Executive of Sebastian’s Action Trust, joined the meeting to explain that the organisation’s origins were in Bracknell Forest, that they were currently supporting 200 families in the borough and explained their ambitions for expanding the support the charity could offer. 

Mayor’s Civic Service

The Mayor announced that his Annual Civic Service was being held on 19 June 2016 at 2.30pm at The Church of Jesus Christ Ascot Priority, Ascot and formal invitations would be circulated shortly.  

Mayoral Charity Event

The Mayor invited everyone to attend his Charity Polo event which was being held on 9 July at the Berkshire Polo Clubs in Winkfield. A leaflet had been tabled with further information about how to purchase tickets.

Executive Member for Environment

CouncillorMrs Hayes reported that the Green Deal Community Scheme had been shortlisted for the Energy Efficiency & Retrofit Awards within the category for Regional Large Scale Project (>250K) of the Year. The outcome would be known by 24 May 2016.

Leader of the Council

CouncillorBettison, in Councillor Brunel-Walker’s absence, was pleased to announce that Bracknell had been awarded the accolade of 'Town of the Year' at the Thames Valley Property Awards as recognition of the successful town centre strategy that had been implemented and how the town was being enhanced.

This report asks the Council to note:

a)    the Members appointed by the Leader to serve on the Executive for the 2016/17 Municipal Year;

b)    the appointment of Executive Committees, Sub-Committees and Advisory Panels; and

c)    the appointments by the Leader to external organisations

Members of the Executive

The Leader of the Council announced that he had appointed the following Members

to the Executive for the 2016/2017 Municipal Year:

Delegation of Executive Functions

The Leader of the Council announced that the responsibility for the discharge of

Executive functions was as set out in Part 2, Section 5 of the Council’s Constitution.

Appointments to Executive Committees, Sub Groups and Advisory Panels

The Leader of the Council announced that he had made appointments to Committees of the Executive and its Advisory Panels (Annex A to these minutes).

Appointment of Members to External Organisations

The Leader of the Council announced that he had made appointments to external

organisations, whose functions solely related to the Executive (Annex B to these

minutes).

This report asks Council to agree:

a)    the establishment and membership of Committees;

b)    appointments to External Organisations;

c)    the appointment of Council Champions.

The Council considered the report to establish Committees and their membership, agree appointments to External Organisations and the appointment of Council Champions. The Leader, Councillor Bettison, advised that the revised annexe, as tabled, should be amended so that the membership of the Electoral Steering Group included Councillor Mrs Temperton and the membership of the Standards Framework Working Group included Councillor Phillip King OBE.

On the proposition of Councillor Bettison, Leader of the Council, seconded by Councillor Birch, it was:

RESOLVED that:

i)              the establishment of ordinary committees, their size and allocation of seats, agreeing a local variation to the proportionality rules, as set out in paragraph 6 of the agenda report;

ii)             the establishment of the Licensing and Safety Committee, the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and the Standards Committee, their size and allocation of seats, agreeing a local variation to the proportionality rules, as set out in paragraph 6 of the agenda report;

iii)            the membership of each committee, in accordance with Members’ wishes be as set out in Annex A appended to these minutes;

iv)           appointments to external organisations be as set out in Annex B appended to these minutes;

v)            the appointment of Council Champions in accordance with Part 1 Section 7 of the Constitution be as set out below:

Business Champion: Councillor Wade

Commuters’ Champion: Councillor Harrison

Older People’s Champion: Councillor Thompson

Voluntary Sector Champion: Councillor Finnie