Agenda and minutes

To elect the Mayor.

It was proposed by Councillor Clapham, seconded by Councillor Galley and

Resolved:  That in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, Councillor Peter Callow be elected Mayor of the Borough of Blackpool for the municipal year 2015/2016.

The Worshipful the Mayor to a make a Declaration of Acceptance of the Corporate Office of Mayor.

Councillor Callow made a Declaration of Acceptance of the Office of Mayor according to the requirements of the law and thereupon took the Chair.

To appoint a Deputy Mayor.

It was proposed by the Mayor, Councillor Callow, seconded by Councillor Blackburn and

Resolved:  That in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, Councillor Tony Brown be appointed Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Blackpool, for the municipal year 2015/2016.

The Deputy Mayor to make a Declaration of Acceptance of the Corporate Office of Deputy Mayor.

Councillor Brown made a Declaration of Acceptance of the Office of Deputy Mayor according to the requirements of the law.

The Worshipful the Mayor to address the meeting.

The Mayor, Councillor Callow, addressed the meeting.

Councillors Blackburn and Williams, followed by Oberbürgermeister Herr Bernd Tischler who will congratulate the new Mayor on behalf of the people of Bottrop.

Councillors Blackburn and Williams congratulated Councillor Callow upon his election as Mayor.  Oberbürgermeister Bernd Tischler also offered his congratulations on behalf of the people of Bottrop.

To adopt a resolution of appreciation for the ex-Mayor (Mrs Val Haynes).

It was proposed by Councillor Mitchell, seconded by Councillor Jackson and

Resolved:

‘It is with great pleasure, that Blackpool Council places on record its appreciation of the duties so very ably and enthusiastically undertaken by Val Haynes, as Mayor of Blackpool.  Her dedication for the town, three times as Deputy Mayor, together with her many years of service on the Council have stood her in good stead for her year as Blackpool’s civic head.

The Blackpool Mayoralty again maintained its status as a busy one this year with a variety of civic engagements and as the town still attracts a large number of conferences.  The Mayor and Consort attended a variety of annual gatherings such as National Pensioners Convention, UK Bus Driver of the Year Awards, WMCIU, Royal Pigeon Racing Association and USDAW, to name a few.

Many ex-service and military organisations still hold their events in Blackpool and Val and Alan attended reunions of the Canal Zoners, the Royal Artillery Association, Aden Veterans, the Royal Air Force Association, the Parachute Regimental Association, a D Day Commemorative Service, the HMS Penelope Association and recently the VE Day Service and beacon lighting at the Cenotaph.

At the beginning of June, the Mayor and Consort attended the Royal Garden Party in London and combined this with an invitation to a ceremony in Hampshire in support of 12 Regiment Royal Artillery, who have Freedom of the Borough.

Blackpool Armed Forces Week, at the end of June, was again a great success attracting thousands of visitors to the town and the Mayor and Consort attended a variety of events during the week, amongst the highlights being the Flag Raising Ceremony at the beginning of the week and a Service and Parade on Sunday 29 June.

During her mayoral year, Val took great interest supporting in schools, scouts, guides, the Princes Trust and the Air Training Corps, attending or hosting many events involving young people.  Val also supported, through her attendance, many new ventures and enterprises in Blackpool along with invitations to dance festivals, the Pride Ball, Strictly Coming Dancing, Local Business Awards and many volunteer and carers events.

The opening of the various new enterprises in Bickerstaffe Square featured in Val’s mayoral year with state of the art Council Offices, a gym, supermarket and various shops and eateries.

In September, the Mayor and Consort headed a civic delegation for a visit to our twin town Bottrop for the Brezelfest and enjoyed a superbly hosted few days with Oberbürgermeister Tischler and the Bottrop Councillors.  Following on in October Val, Alan and Deputy Mayor Councillor Chris Ryan were invited by The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment to Neuve Chapelle in Northern France to represent the town at a First World War Commemorative Service.

Val took great pleasure in welcoming our new citizens to Blackpool at the many very popular Citizenship Ceremonies that were held throughout the year.  During this mayoral year also saw the Council Chamber and the Mayoralty hosting the Army Recruitment team  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The ex-Mayor (Mrs Val Haynes) to reply to the resolution of appreciation.

Mrs Haynes replied to the resolution of appreciation.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 11 March 2015 as a true and correct record.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the Council held on 11 March 2015 be signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

There were no announcements on this occasion.

To elect the Leader of the Council, to serve for a four year term of office, until the Annual meeting in 2019.

Motion:  Councillor Campbell proposed (and Councillor I Taylor seconded):

’That Councillor Blackburn be appointed Leader of the Council, to serve for a four year term of office until the Annual Council meeting in 2019.’

Motion carried:  The motion was submitted to the Council and carried.

To consider the attached report to appoint Committees of the Council.

Members received the report on the appointment of committees for the 2015/2016 municipal year.  As part of the report, they considered a review of the overview and scrutiny framework, and the proposal for two main scrutiny committees:  one focussed on resilient communities, including children and adult services and health, with the other based around tourism, the economy and jobs as well as scrutinising those responsibilities of the Leader of the Council.  Both scrutiny committees would have a greater focus on performance management in order to improve key outcomes and would also deal with any ‘call-in’ requests relating to their specific areas. 

The Council also considered the proposal for an Audit Committee with a core audit function as recommended by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, with the proposal for financial scrutiny to be undertaken by the Tourism, Economy and Resources Scrutiny Committee.

In relation to other committees (namely the Planning Committee, Appeals Committee, Standards Committee and Chief Officers Employment Committee) it was recommended for these to be reappointed according to their current terms of reference.  There were no proposals to make changes to the Health and Wellbeing Board other than to reflect the proposed Cabinet Member responsibilities and the appointment of a new Chairman.

A full schedule of committees was submitted to the Council based upon the political balance calculations and which contained the notified names of committee members, Chairmanship and Vice Chairmanship nominees.

Motion:  Councillor Blackburn proposed (and Councillor I Taylor seconded):

‘1.        To appoint two scrutiny committees namely:

·  Tourism, Economy and Resources Scrutiny Committee

·  Resilient Communities Scrutiny Committee

          in line with the political balance calculations at Appendix 12(a), (membership of nine and with a composition of six Labour and three Conservative), with the powers and duties as set out at Appendix 12(b), subject to the responsibility for discharging the statutory functions in terms of crime and disorder scrutiny being assigned to the Tourism, Economy and Resources Scrutiny Committee.

2.       That the Resilient Communities Scrutiny Committee also appoints the two diocesan co-opted representatives and the two governor co-opted representatives.

3.       That both scrutiny committees be assigned the power to deal with any ‘call-in’ requests initiated in line with Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution.

4.       That the Chairman position in both scrutiny committees be filled by a majority group councillor and the Vice Chairman/ Shadow Cabinet Member position be filled by an opposition councillor representative.

5.             To also appoint the following committees, in line with the political balance calculations and adjustments at Appendix 12(a) to the Council report.  These are:

·  Audit Committee (membership of nine and with a composition of six Labour and three Conservative), the revised purpose, powers and duties of this committee to be as set out in Appendix 12(c) to the Council report.

·  Appeals Committee (membership of seven and with a composition of five Labour and two Conservative)

·  Planning Committee (membership of seven and with a composition of five Labour and two Conservative)

·  Standards Committee (membership of seven and with a composition of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

To consider the attached report in connection with the scheme of delegation, for which the Council has responsibility.

The Council considered whether to make any changes to the scheme of delegation for which it had responsibility.

Motion:  Councillor Blackburn proposed (and Councillor Cain seconded): 

‘To agree that no changes are made to the scheme of delegation for which the Council has responsibility’.

Motion carried:  The motion was submitted to the Council and carried.

To consider the attached report in relation to the adoption of a programme of meetings for the remainder of 2015 and the calendar year 2016.

The Council considered a programme of meetings for the municipal year 2015/2016.

Motion:  Councillor Blackburn proposed (and Councillor Jones seconded):

’To approve the calendar of meetings and the start times of meeting as set out in Appendix 14(a) to the Council report.’

Motion carried:  The motion was submitted to the Council and carried.