Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

No apologies were received for this meeting.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were received for this meeting

Councillors are asked to nominate and elect the Chairman of the Council until the next Annual Council.

Nominations were received as follows:

• Councillor David Flagg – moved by Councillor Lesley Dedman and seconded by Councillor Margaret Phipps
• Councillor Anne Filer – moved by Councillor Nicola Greene and seconded by Councillor Judy Butt

The movers and seconders commented on the reasons for the above nominations and the nominees’ ability to fulfil the role.  The nominees outlined why they should be elected Chairman. A secret ballot was undertaken in accordance with the Constitution. The Chief Executive reported on the outcome of the ballot as follows:

• Councillor David Flagg 41
• Councillor Anne Filer 34

No abstentions

RESOLVED that Councillor David Flagg be elected as Chairman of the Council until the next Annual Council Meeting.

Councillor David Flagg thanked Councillors for being elected Chairman and then made the following declaration of acceptance of office:

“I Councillor David Flagg having been elected to the office of Chairman of BCP Council declare that I take that office upon myself, and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to the best of my judgement and ability.”

He reported that due to Covid and social distancing advice arrangements would be made to sign the declaration at a later date.

Councillors are asked to nominate and elect the Vice-Chairman of the Council until the next Annual Council.

Nominations were received as follows:

• Councillor George Farquhar – moved by Councillor Mike Cox and seconded by Councillor Tony Trent
• Councillor Laurence Fear – moved by Councillor David Kelsey and seconded by Councillor Beverley Dunlop

The movers and seconders commented on their reasons for the above nominations and the nominees’ ability to fulfil the role.  The nominees outlined why they should be elected Vice-Chairman. A secret ballot was undertaken in accordance with the Constitution. The Chief Executive reported on the outcome of the ballot as follows:

• Councillor George Farquhar 36
• Councillor Laurence Fear 39

No abstentions

RESOLVED that Councillor Laurence Fear be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Council until the next Annual Council Meeting.

Councillor Laurence Fear thanked Councillors for being elected Vice-Chairman and then made the following declaration of acceptance of office:

“I Councillor Laurence Fear having been elected to the office of

Vice-Chairman of BCP Council declare that I take that office upon myself, and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to the best of my judgement and ability.”

He reported that due to Covid and social distancing advice arrangements would be made to sign the declaration at a later date.

The Chairman paid tribute to Councillor George Farquhar during his year as Vice-Chairman of the Council.

The Council is asked to consider and approve:

(a)       the review of the political balance of the Council;

(b)       the allocation of seats on Committees to each political group;

(c)        the appointment of Councillors to Committees

(d)       the appointments to Outside Bodies as a result of the review of the political balance.

The Leader of the Council presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. She referred to the recommendation from the Audit and Governance Committee adopted by the Council on 9 June 2020 “that there should be an expectation that all Councillors will sit on at least one Committee or Panel of the Council”.  The Leader also commented on the representatives on outside bodies and the proposal that there would be a review in due course

The Leader moved, seconded by Councillor Margaret Phipps, the recommendations as set out in the report subject to recommendation (c) being amended to reflect the allocation of seats to the non- aligned councillors in table 3 being altered to read as follows

Table 3

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Drew Mellor seconded by Councillor Philip Broadhead:

(b) the allocation of seats to each political as set out in the revised Table 2 below, be approved

Table 2

Councillor Mellor explained that the above proposal would result in moving one Conservative seat from Licensing Committee to Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee with Bournemouth Independent and Greens relinquishing a seat on Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee and taking up a position on Licensing Committee. He reported that the proposal provided the opportunity for a strong opposition with increased membership to take a lead in the scrutiny function.  Members considered and commented on the implications of the proposed amendment.

Members voted on the above amendment:

Voting: For – 36, Against – 38, Abstentions – 1

The amendment was lost.

Members then voted on the original motion which was unanimously agreed. 

Councillor May Haines reported that she would be replacing Councillor Mohan Iyengar as a representative on the Dorset Police and Crime Panel.

RESOLVED that:

(a) the revised political balance of the Council, as set out in Table 1 to the report, be approved;

(b) the allocation of seats to each political group,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is 1 June 2020.

There were no questions submitted by Councillors for this meeting.