Meeting documents

As Councillor Dr Matthews was a candidate in the election of Chairman she could not preside and vacated the chair for this item of business.

It was proposed by Councillor Naylor, seconded by Cllr Read that Councillor Dr Matthews be elected as Chairman for the ensuing municipal year 2018/19.

There being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED that Councillor Dr Matthews be elected Chairman of the Council for 2018/19

Councillor Dr Matthews made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and thanked the Council for her election.

It was proposed by Councillor Dr Matthews, seconded by Councillor Read that Councillor Pepler be appointed Vice-Chairman for the ensuing municipal year 2018/19.

There being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED that Councillor Pepler be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Council for 2018/19.

Councillor Pepler made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and thanked the Council for his appointment.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note that Councillor Nick Naylor was elected Cabinet Leader on 19 October 2017 to the date of the post-election Annual Council meeting to be held in May 2019, and to receive a report on the allocation of portfolio functions.

Council received a report on the Cabinet Leader’s Appointment of Cabinet Members. Members noted that Councillor Nick Naylor was elected Cabinet Leader on 19 October 2017 to the date of the post-election Annual Council meeting to be held in May 2019.

A report was tabled showing the SBDC Cabinet Portfolio’s 2018/19 and Councillor Naylor reported his Cabinet as follows:-

Cabinet Member for Resources – Councillor Barbara Gibbs

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development – Councillor John Read

Cabinet Member for Environment – Councillor Luisa Sullivan

Cabinet Member for Healthy Communities – Councillor Patrick Hogan

Cabinet Member for Customer and Business Support – Councillor Duncan Smith

The Leader paid tribute to the work of Councillor Paul Kelly who had decided to step down as Cabinet Member of Healthy Communities and asked for the Council’s thanks to be recorded.

The Leader gave a short speech which highlighted the challenges facing Local Authorities currently such as increasing demands on finances and the need to increase income and reduce costs. The five year shared service programme had helped reduce duplication and costs and improved service delivery. He then went on to refer to a number of issues that needed to be addressed in the year ahead:-

·       Social polarisation and homelessness – the need for appropriate accommodation for families and individuals. The Council had identified some appropriate accommodation for the homeless and gave an example of Bath Road in Burnham and Gerrards Cross Police Station. The Leader emphasised the importance of having accommodation in South Buckinghamshire rather than placing residents out of district.

·       The need to help an ageing population and ensure that they keep fit and well in healthy communities. The creation of a Country Park in Stoke Poges on the site of the former Golf Academy adds open space accessible to all.

·       The proposal to increase car parking capacity including at Station Road, Gerrards Cross to help shoppers, residents and local businesses. The next step for this proposal was to submit a planning application.

·       Housing and the Environment – having a robust Local Plan which sets out the long term development strategy of the area. The Council was also working with HS2 on its construction to ensure that any adverse impact was kept to a minimum.

·       The Council was on a journey of continuous improvement and had recently undertaken a Corporate Peer Challenge.

·       The Council was working with other District Councils in Buckinghamshire to support the two unitary model business case, despite the recent minded to decision by the previous Secretary of State for one unitary. The Leader encouraged residents and stakeholders to put forward their representations to the new Secretary of State, James Brokenshire by 25 May 2018.

The Leader concluded that the year ahead had many challenges and opportunities in which to help South Buckinghamshire develop and grow and that by working in partnership with other organisations South Buckinghamshire would continue to be a great place to work and live.

The Council considered a report setting out appointments to Committees, Groups, Joint Committees and Outside Bodies. Members noted that at the previous meeting they had agreed that a new Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee be established, consisting of Members from Chiltern and South Bucks, to discharge overview and scrutiny functions relating to the Chiltern and South Bucks Joint Committee. Therefore the number of seats to be allocated was 81 which included the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The following tableshows the proposed allocation of seats:

It was proposed by Councillor Naylor, seconded by Councillor Read and

RESOLVED

1.      To agree the establishment of the Committees listed as follows:-

2.      That the Council’s political balance be noted.

3.      That the appointments of Councillors to Committees and Policy Advisory Groups be agreed and note appointments to working and information groups as follows:-

*shows the Chairman and Vice Chairman who were elected and appointed following this Council meeting.

PAGs consist of the Portfolio Holder and up to 5 other Members including at least 1 O/S Member

REPRESENTATION ON JOINT COMMITTEES AND OTHER BODIES

REPRESENTATION ON WORKING AND INFORMATION GROUPS

4          To agree the appointments of Councillors to Outside Bodies relating to Council functions as follows, and that authority to make changes to appointments during the Municipal Year 2018-19 be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council.

Regulation 19 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meeting and Access to Information) Regulations 2012 requires a report to be submitted to the Council at least each year containing details of each urgent executive decision taken. The Regulations require a report to be submitted to the authority even if it is to report that no urgent executive decisions have been taken. In accordance with the Regulations, the Council was therefore asked to note that no urgent executive decisions have been taken since the last Annual Council held on 23 May 2017.

Following the completion of the above formal business, the following Committees met for the purposes of electing Chairmen and Vice Chairmen:-

Audit and Standards Committee

Governance and Electoral Arrangements Committee

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Licensing Committee

Planning Committee