Agenda and minutes

The retiring Mayor welcomed the newly elected Councillors to the Council. The new Councillors are:

James Bond, Gail Ganney, Alastair Hellyer, James Lake, Steve McNamara, Russ Platt, Craig Stanbury, Teresa Travell, Stan Tunstall and Flavia Wachuku.

To elect the Mayor for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

There will be a video presentation of the retiring Mayor presenting the Civic Awards.

Nominations were invited for the election of the Mayor of the Borough of Welwyn Hatfield for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

It was moved and seconded by Councillors D.Bell and S.Boulton that Councillor P.Hebden be elected. The retiring Mayor then asked if there were any other nominations. There being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor P.Hebden be elected Mayor of the Borough of Welwyn Hatfield for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

Councillor P.Hebden made the formal Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Mayor pursuant to Section 83 of the Local Government Act 1972.

(Councillor P.Hebden in the Chair)

The Mayor thanked Councillors D.Bell and S.Boulton for nominating him and expressed that it will be an honour to serve the residents of Welwyn Hatfield as the Mayor of the Borough, helping to support the residents return to normality and reinforcing the strong community spirit in the Welwyn Hatfield borough.

The Mayor also thanked Councillor R.Trigg for all of the excellent work he did during his time as Mayor.

The Mayor had already presented Councillor R.Trigg with his Past Mayor’s Medal and album of his time in office.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor T.Kingsbury, expressed his thanks to Councillor R.Trigg for his service as Mayor of the Borough and was joined by Councillors P.Zukowskyj, Liberal Democrat and Independent Group Leader and K,Thorpe, Labour Group Leader.

The retiring Mayor presented the Borough Civic Awards for 2020 and 2021 in partnership with Mears and the University of Hertfordshire.

The retiring Mayor presented the following awards for 2020:-

•   Ciara Brown in recognition of her hard work and founding a company called Universal Discoveries, which prepares tailored activities for school students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and maths, bringing science to under-represented groups or students from schools without the kind of expertise to nurture young talent in the area.

•   Fiona Montgomery in recognition of her hard work and delivering an inspiring, interactive lecture on Boccia, her national involvement with this sport played by athletes with severe physical impairments.

•   Janet Lewis in recognition for her long commitment to the Welwyn Garden City Society of St Vincent De Paul.

The retiring Mayor had already presented the 2020 Mears Community Award to Carol Hopkins and Lloyd Harrison in recognition for their hard work undertaken in organising community litter picks.

The retiring Mayor had already presented the University of Hertfordshire Young Person Award to Daisy Cooper for her contribution to Scouts and Beavers in Welwyn Hatfield.

The retiring Mayor presented the following awards for 2021:-

•   Ben Catchpole in recognition of his contribution to the local community and his humanitarian efforts have been outstanding.

•   Jonathan Mather in recognition for his continued commitment to Cricket through tireless dedication to the sport and cricketers of all ages.

•   John Roper in recognition of the work he has undertaken over many years for the community in both Welwyn village and Danesbury.

The 2021 The Mears Community Award was awarded to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

To appoint the Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

The Mayor invited nominations for the appointment of the Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

 It was moved and seconded by Councillors T.Kingsbury and F.Thomson that Councillor B.Fitzsimon be appointed. The Mayor, then asked if there were any other nominations. There being no other nominations, it was

RESOLVED:

That Councillor B.Fitzsimon be appointed Deputy Mayor for the Municipal Year 2021/22.

Councillor B.Fitzsimon made the formal Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Deputy Mayor pursuant to Section 83 of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Deputy Mayor thanked Councillors T.Kingsbury and F.Thomson for the nomination. The Deputy Mayor said it will be an honour to serve the people of Welwyn Hatfield again by assisting the Mayor in this office.

To receive apologies for absence, if any.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, space was strictly limited in the council chamber for the annual meeting.

The Mayor thanked the following Councillors for agreeing to not attend the meeting to enable the Council to meet social distancing requirements and accepted their apologies for absence;

Councillors M.Birleson, J.Boulton, L.Brandon, J.Cragg, A.Dennis, T.Jackson-Mynott, C.Juggins, S.Kasumu, R.Lass, S.Markiewicz, G.Michaelides, N.Pace, H.Quenet, J.Ranshaw, D.Richardson, P.Shah, J.P.Skoczylas, P.Smith, S.Thusu, T.Travell, S.Tunstall and J.Weston.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 17 March 2021 (previously circulated).

The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 17 March 2021 were approved as a correct record and noted by the Mayor.

To note declarations of Members’ disclosable pecuniary interests, non-disclosable pecuniary interests and non-pecuniary interests in respect of items on the Agenda.

Councillors J.Bond, S.Boulton, P.Hebden, T.Kingsbury, F.Thomson and P.Zukowskyj declared non-pecuniary interests in items on the Agenda as appropriate as Members of Hertfordshire County Council.

To receive any announcements from the Mayor or the Head of Paid Service.

The Mayor made the following announcement:-

The Mayor announced that during his Mayoral year he would like to support local charities and will be announcing this soon.

To receive the Annual Report on Member Development.

Report of the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) providing a brief overview of Member Development which has taken place during the previous two years, whilst looking ahead to the forthcoming year.

Councillor F.Thomson thanked fellow Member Development Steering Group members for their commitment to the group for the past few years.

Councillor F.Thomson also thanked Officers in particular, the Governance Service Manager and the Corporate Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) for their commitment to ensuring that Member Development continued especially during the last year.

It was moved and seconded by Councillors F.Thomson and T.Kingsbury and

RESOLVED:

(1)     To note the Member Development Annual Report.

(2)     To note the training sessions held, in particular those that have helped facilitate the move to virtual meetings and information sharing, and the successful use of virtual platforms to deliver Member training sessions.

(3)     To note the objective going forward to fully utilise the Member Information Hubs, Member Handbook, internal expertise and other cost-effective Member development tools.

To consider the report of the Monitoring Officer on a review of the political proportionality of Member appointments to Committees.

The Mayor called on the Council to approve the review of political proportionality of Member appointments to Committees and changes to the allocation of seats.

It was moved and seconded by Councillors T.Kingsbury and D.Bell and

RESOLVED:

That the review of political proportionally of Member appointments to Committees, as set out in the schedule to the report, be approved.

The Mayor then asked the Council to note the appointments made by Councillor T.Kingsbury as Leader of the Council of the Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

That the appointment of the Cabinet by the Leader of the Council, as set out in the Agenda, be noted.

The Leader thanked Terry Mitchinson for his support and enthusiasm both as a Councillor and a Cabinet Member.

It was moved and seconded by Councillors T.Kingsbury and D.Bell and

RESOLVED:

That the membership of non-executive Committees with their respective Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, as set out in Agenda item 9b, be approved.

To appoint representatives to serve on outside bodies in 2021/22.

The appointment of representatives to serve on outside bodies in 2021/22.

The Council was asked to nominate members to sit on various outside bodies. There were nominations for a number of bodies where the number of nominations exceed the number of representatives required.

The Council therefore needed to first take a vote on the appointment to each of the bodies where this is the case.

Haldens Residents and Community Association (1 place)

Councillor A.Hellyer had the highest number of votes and will be nominated to sit on the Haldens Residents and Community Association.

Hertfordshire Groundwork Trust (1 place)

Councillor D.Richardson had the highest number of votes and will be nominated to sit on Hertfordshire Groundwork Trust.

Herts and Middlesex Trust for Nature Conservation Ltd. Stanborough Reedmarsh Nature Reserve (2 places)

Councillors D.Richardson and P.Smith had the highest number of votes and will be nominated to sit on the Herts and Middlesex Trust for Nature Conservation Ltd. Stanborough Reedmarsh Nature Reserve.

Ludwick Family Club Management Committee (2 places)

Councillors S.McNamara and S.Tunstall had the highest number of votes and will be nominated to sit on the Ludwick Family Club Management Committee.

Holwell JMI and Ludwick Nursery (1 place)

Councillor S.McNamara had the highest number of votes and will be nominated to sit on the governing body for Holwell JMI and Ludwick Nursery.

Peartree JMI (1 place)

Councillor F.Thomson had the highest number of votes and will be nominated to sit on the governing body for Peartree JMI.

Southfield School (1 place)

Councillor J.Lake had the highest number of votes and will be nominated to sit on the governing body for Southfield School.

The Mayor then called on the Council to confirm the appointments of Members to serve as representatives on outside bodies as shown in the Agenda and as agreed at the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the appointments of Members to serve as the Council’s representatives on outside bodies, as set on in Agenda item 10 and as agreed at the meeting, be approved.

To note the summary of attendances by Members at meetings during 2020/21.

Attendances by Members at meetings of the Council, Cabinet, Committees and Panels during the Municipal Year 2020/21 were set out in the Agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the list showing the number of attendances by Members at meetings of the Council, Cabinet, Committees and Panels during the Municipal Year 2020/21, as set out in the Agenda, be received.