Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Shuttleworth and seconded by Councillor Swansborough that Councillor Candy Vaughan be elected as Mayor for the municipal year 2023/24.

It was accordingly:-

RESOLVED (unanimously) – That Councillor Candy Vaughan be elected Mayor for the 2023/24 municipal year and until the election of the Mayor at the next Annual Meeting of the Council.

Councillor Vaughan then signed her statutory declaration of acceptance of office as Mayor and took the chair.  In her speech of acceptance, the Mayor advised that she would be raising money for two charities in 2023/24 which would be Band of Brothers and The Old Bank Wellbeing Centre.

Councillor Vaughan thanked Councillor Rodohan and Barbara Rodohan for their excellent work as Mayor and Mayoress during the last year and congratulated them on the £22k raised for their charities.

The Head of Democratic Services advised that apologies had been received from Councillors Belsey and di Cara.

There were no declarations of interest made.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 February 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

It was proposed by Councillor Murray and seconded by Councillor Diplock that Councillor Amanda Morris be appointed as Deputy Mayor for the municipal year 2023/24.

RESOLVED (by 19 votes for, 0 against and 6 abstentions)– That Councillor Amanda Morris be appointed as Deputy Mayor for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Councillor Morris then made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office as Deputy Mayor.  In her speech of acceptance, the Deputy Mayor advised that Nick Reynolds would act as her consort for the year, and her daughter, Sophia Morris, who would accompany her to events when her official consort was unavailable.

The Mayor reported that her daughter, Nickie Foster, would act as the Mayor’s consort for the 2023/24 municipal year. 

The Mayor reported that Father Danny Pegg would serve as the Mayor’s Chaplain for the municipal year 2023/24.

To receive nominations and vote thereon. 

Note – The Leader is to be appointed to a 4-year term of office in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.  

It was proposed by Councillor Swansborough and seconded by Councillor Ewbank that Councillor Stephen Holt be elected as Leader of the Council.

This was debated by the Council.

RESOLVED (by 19 votes to 6)- That Councillor Holt be elected as Leader of the Council and Cabinet Chair for a 4-year term of office until May 2027, to continue until a new Leader is elected.

Councillor Holt gave a speech of acceptance for the role of the Leader of the Council.

To receive the report of the Chief Executive and Returning Officer.

The Council received the report of the Chief Executive and Returning Officer setting out the results of the elections held on 4 May 2023, and the Councillors elected until May 2027 as follows:

The report recommendations were proposed by Councillor Holt and seconded by Councillor Smart. 

Councillors congratulated all Councillors on their election and took time to thank and pay tribute to all those who had served the Council and stood down at this election including Councillors Babarinde, Choudhury, Dow, Freebody, Miah, Murdoch, Taylor, Tutt, Wallis and Whippy. 

Thanks were extended to the Returning Officer and his team for their work on the election.

RESOLVED (unanimously)- That the Returning Officer’s report be noted.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services.

The Council considered the report of the Head of Democratic Services, setting out political balance and the allocation of seats on Committees and Other Bodies prepared in consultation with Group Leaders.

Councillor Holt proposed and Councillor Bannister seconded the recommendations set out in the report and appendices, subject to a correction advised by Councillor Holt (which was tabled) to the representative for ‘Team East Sussex’, to be Councillor Holt, and substitute Councillor Swansborough.

RESOLVED (by 19 votes to 6):

1.     To approve the proposed number and allocation of seats and nominations as set out in Appendix 1, to Committees, Other Bodies and Outside Bodies, and to Chairs and Deputy Chairs;

2.    That the continuation of the following bodies be confirmed with terms of reference as set out in the Council’s Constitution, and that they have a fixed membership or to which members are appointed by the Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive or relevant Director as the need arises: Equality Steering Group, Council Panels, Recruitment Panels, Task Groups and Project Boards;

3.    That Neal Robinson and Graham Branton be re-confirmed as the Council’s Standards Independent Persons until their tenure ends on 31 July 2023, and to note that the Monitoring Officer will undertake a new recruitment process for the positions, to be reported back to the next meeting of the Full Council;

4.    To approve the establishment of a Constitution Working Group and its proposed terms of reference, as set out at Appendix 2 of the report, approve its membership, as set out at Appendix 1 of the report, and to delegate the Monitoring Officer to incorporate its formation into the relevant sections of the Council’s constitution; and

5.    To approve the Scheme of Delegations to Officers and Proper Officer functions as set out in the relevant sections of the Council’s Constitution.

Leader of the Council to report:

(a) The names of those Councillors serving on the Cabinet and the Councillor appointed as Deputy Leader of the Council (and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet) and the respective areas of responsibility for each member of the Cabinet.

(b) That the terms of reference and constitution of the Cabinet be as set out in the Council’s Constitution.

(c) To confirm if any delegations to individual Cabinet members in respect of executive functions have been made at this time.

Councillor Holt as Leader of the Council advised that the Councillors appointed to the Cabinet for 2023/24 were as follows:

·         Leader of the Council (and Community Strategy, Local Strategic Partnership, the Corporate Plan, Performance and Staff) – Councillor Stephen Holt

·         Deputy Leader (Tourism, Leisure, Accessibility and Community Safety) – Councillor Margaret Bannister

·         Finance and Resources – Councillor Robin Maxted

·         Carbon Neutral 2030 – Councillor Jim Murray

·         Enterprise, Community Spaces and Heritage Assets – Councillor Colin Swansborough

·         Housing and Planning – Councillor Peter Diplock

In addition, Councillor Holt confirmed that the terms of reference and constitution of the Cabinet were as set out in the Council’s Constitution and were unchanged, and that delegations to individual Cabinet members in respect of executive functions had not been made at this time. 

To ratify the Calendar of Meetings of 2023/24 as attached.  This is as approved at Full Council in February subject to the following changes:

-        Cabinet – the meeting scheduled for 7 June 2023 has been moved to 13 June 2023 (2 pm) due to member availability. 

-        Conservation Advisory Group – the meeting scheduled for 6 June 2023 has been cancelled due to lack of business.

Councillor Holt moved and Councillor Smart seconded the ratification of the Calendar of Meetings for 2023/24, as set out on the agenda.

RESOLVED (unanimously) – That the Calendar of Meetings for 2023/24 be approved.

Report of the Director of Tourism, Culture and Organisational Development.

The Council received the report of the Director of Tourism, Culture and Organisational Development, presenting the Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2023/24 for approval by the Council.  

Councillor Holt moved and Councillor Smart seconded the recommendations set out in the report.

RESOLVED (unanimously) – That the Council approves and recommends the updated Pay Policy Statement for publication on the Council’s website.

Members of the Council who wish to raise items for discussion (council procedure rule 14) on any of the minutes of the meetings of formal council bodies listed below must submit their request to the Head of Democratic Services no later than 10.00 am on the day of the meeting. A list of such items (if any) will be circulated prior to the start of the meeting.

The following are appended to this agenda:-

The minutes of the following Council bodies were submitted to the meeting for information:

Planning Committee – 27 February 2023 and 17 April 2023

Audit and Governance Committee – 1 March 2023

Cabinet – 14 March 2023

No items were called for discussion. 

Councillor Holt moved and Councillor Diplock seconded acceptance of the minutes.

RESOLVED (unanimously) – That the minutes be accepted.

The next meeting of Full Council is scheduled to take place at 6 pm on 26 July 2023.

It was noted that the date of the next meeting was scheduled to take place on 26 July 2023 at 6 pm.