Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Charter Trustees.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S Bull, B Dove, B Dunlop, M Greene, N Greene, M Iyengar, L Northover, S Phillips and R Rocca.

Charter Trustees 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.

The Honorary Clerk reported that no declarations of interest had been received for this meeting.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2022 and to consider any matters arising.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2022 were confirmed as a correct record.

The Charter Mayor will report on his recent activities and any associated issues.

The Mayor referred with regret to the recent death of Her Late Majesty The Queen and former Bournemouth Borough Councilor Sue Anderson. Charter Trustees stood in silent tribute.

The Mayor subsequently reported on his activities since the last meeting of the Charter Trustees. The Mayor advised of his honour to serve as Mayor for Bournemouth and how much respect people had for the office. He informed Charter Trustees of the wide variety of engagements he had undertaken including the following:

·        The British Blind Chess Association at The Marsham Court Hotel;

·        A Celebration of Black History Month at the Hilton Hotel;

·        Visit to the former HMS Coastguard lookout tower at Hengistbury Head which had been re-opened and supported by volunteers;

·        Attendance, with the Mayor of Poole, at the Samaritans Annual Branch meeting at the RNLI Centre in Poole;

·        Prama Life Memory Lane Group  in Boscombe which supports people with various degrees of dementia;

·        The opening of the Platinum Jubilee Bournemouth Air Festival with the Chairman of BCP Council.

The Mayor further reported that discussions were underway to revive the town’s twinning connections with Netanya in Israel and Lucerne in Switzerland. It was hoped that a visit to Netanya could be arranged for March 2023. Cllr Filer provided further details but reiterated that the costs of any visits would be met by those attending. Further details would be provided to Charter Trustees when known.

This report summarises the issues discussed at the first Civic Working Group as established at the previous meeting of the Charter Trustees and seeks support for any recommendations arising.

The Deputy Mayor presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Charter Trustee and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report summarised the issues discussed at the first Civic Working Group as established at the previous meeting of the Charter Trustees and sought support for a series of recommendations arising.

In relation to the display of portraits, the Deputy Mayor advised that the Working Group proposed that only historic portraits should be displayed in the Mayor’s Parlour but considered that the modern portraits could be displayed in the Mayoress’ Parlour. It was suggested that it would be worth considering the digitising of Mayoral portraits.

RESOLVED that:-

(a)    no additional portraits be hung in the Mayor's Parlour in accordance with Bournemouth's history and tradition:

(b)    the former Bournemouth Borough Council yellow and blue flag be adopted as the Charter Trustees' Civic Flag and that it be flown on the following occasions:-

·        formal meetings of the Charter Trustees including Mayor Making;

·        civic services;

·        at half-mast on the day of the funeral of a former Bournemouth Mayor, subject to the BCP Council Flag Flying Policy;

(c)    the Charter Trustees support the establishment of a meeting between the Civic Parties of both Bournemouth and Poole to agree a new engagements matrix for reporting to the Charter Trustees/BCP Councillors to agree.

Voting:    (a) - 23 for, 2 against (0 abstentions); (b) and (c) – Unanimous

(Councillor G Farquhar requested that his vote against resolution (a) be recorded in the minutes).

Councillors D Kelsey and D Farr left the meeting at 6.55pm.

The forecast for the 2022/23 financial year is that the Charter Trustees of Bournemouth will underspend against the budget set. This is due to spend to date and planned activity for the rest of the year being lower than originally envisaged. The forecast underspend for the year is £13,090.

The Responsible Financial Officer presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Charter Trustee and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report set out the forecast for the 2022/23 financial year which illustrated that the Charter Trustees of Bournemouth will underspend against the budget set. This underspend was due to spend to date and planned activity for the remainder of the year being lower than originally envisaged. The forecast underspend for the year was reported as £13,090.

Charter Trustees were advised that budget workshop would be convened to provide a steer for the formation of the budget for 2023/24.

RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the Charter Trustees note the in-year budget position for 2022/23, note the completion of the external audit and other finance updates set out in the report; and

(b)       the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, budget signatories (Councillors M Davies and L Williams) and Councillor L Allison be appointed to serve on the budget workshop meetings.

Voting: Unanimous