Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interests in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

Any Member with an affected Interest in a matter must disclose the interest to the meeting.  There is no requirement to withdraw from the meeting when the interest is only an affected interest, but the Monitoring Officer should be notified of the interest, if not previously notified of it, within 28 days of the meeting.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on 26 February and 11 March 2020.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council meetings held on 26 February and 11 March 2020 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

It was proposed by Councillor Bettison OBE, and seconded by Councillor D Birch, that Councillor Ms Merry be elected Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest for the Municipal Year 2020 – 2021.

There being no further nominations it was

RESOLVED that Councillor Ms Merry be elected Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest for the 2020 - 2021 Municipal Year.

Councillor Ms Merry made the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Mayor and thanked Members of the Council for her election. The Chief Executive confirmed he would organise for the declaration to be signed when it was safe to do so.

THE MAYOR, COUNCILLOR MS MERRY, IN THE CHAIR

In her acceptance speech Councillor Ms Merry reflected that wearing the Mayoral Badge of Office and representing the wards and residents of Bracknell Forest was an honour. She also thanked Councillor Mrs McKenzie for being such an inspiration during her year as Mayor. Councillor Ms Merry acknowledged the challenges ahead for the borough during the national health crisis. She recognised the everyday activities of key workers and residents who were doing their bit to make a difference where it is most needed, exemplified neighbourliness and put others before themselves. She concluded by promising to support residents, key workers organisations - profit and off non-profit and the uniformed services during her mayoral year. 

Councillor Bettison OBE delivered a vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor, Councillor Pauline McKenzie.

The retiring Mayor, Councillor Mrs McKenzie, had already been provided with the badge of Immediate Past Mayor. In her response she thanked Members of the Council for their support during the last year. She reflected that it had been a most humbling experience with many varied invitations from businesses and organisations across Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey. She expressed her enjoyment at meeting the borough’s young people who she considered a real credit to their parents, foster carers and teachers. She highlighted the Lexicon where communities came together to showcase what it had to offer and embraced different cultures and traditions. Councillor Mrs McKenzie thanked the officers who had provided guidance and in particular her husband, Roy, who had been by her side throughout. She concluded by congratulating the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor and encouraged them to enjoy every minute.

It was proposed by the Mayor and seconded by Councillor Bettison OBE that

Councillor Gbadebo be appointed Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest

for the Municipal Year 2020 – 2021.

There being no further nominations, it was

RESOLVED that Councillor Gbadebo be appointed Deputy Mayor of the Borough of

Bracknell Forest for the Municipal Year 2020 - 2021.

Councillor Gbadebo made the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Deputy Mayor.The Chief Execuitive confirmed that he would arrange for this to be signed as soon as it was safe to do so.

The Deputy Mayor thanked the Council for his appointment and said he was looking

forward to supporting the Mayor to represent the Council across the borough.

Thank You

The Mayor thanked volunteers, key workers, NHS staff and the staff at Bracknell Forest Council for all their hard work during this time.

This report asks the Council to note:

a) the Members appointed by the Leader to serve on the Executive for the 2020/21 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 2019 - 2020 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 the Council to consider amendments to the Council Constitution, in particular to the Council and Committee Rules and Access to Information provisions.

The Council considered the report which sought approval to the Remote Meetings Protocol and Procedure Rules which made amendments to the Council Constitution, in particular to the Council and Committee Rules and Access to Information provisions.

On the proposition of Councillor Bettison OBE, Leader of the Council, seconded by Councillor Birch

it was RESOLVED that the Remote Meetings Protocol and Procedure Rules appended to the agenda report be approved.

This report asks the Council to agree:

a) the establishment and membership of Committees;

b) appointments to External Organisations;

c) the appointment of Council Champions.

On the proposition of Councillor Bettison OBE, 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 be agreed, as set out in paragraph 6 of the agenda report;

(ii)        the establishment of the Licensing and Safety Committee and the Overview and Scrutiny Commission, their size and allocation of seats be agreed, as set out in paragraph 6 of the agenda report;

(iii)       the establishment of Appeal Panels as required be agreed, as set out in paragraph 6 of the report;

(iv)       the membership of each committee, in accordance with political group(s) wishes be agreed as Annex A to the minutes;

(v)        appointments to external organisations be agreed as Annex B to the minutes;

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

Commuters’ Champion – Cllr Atkinson

Large Business Champion – Cllr Bhandari

Small Business Champion – Cllr Wade

Older People’s Champion – Cllr Ms Gaw

Voluntary Sector Champion – Cllr MJ Gibson