Agenda and minutes

The Mayor’s Chaplain to give a blessing.

Father Emmanuel from St Edmunds Church, Edmonton gave the blessing.

Councillor Anolue (as retiring Mayor) took the opportunity to thank Father Emmanuel for his support as her chaplain over the last year.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary other pecuniary or non pecuniary interests relevant to items on the agenda.

No interests were declared by members at the meeting.

To elect the Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield for the Municipal Year 2013/2014.

Councillor Taylor moved and Councillor Lavender seconded the nomination of Councillor Chaudhury Anwar MBE as Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

In moving the nomination Councillor Taylor highlighted Councillor Anwar’s long history of local involvement in the voluntary and community sector which he felt provided a very good understanding of the issues and challenges faced by people living and working within the borough.  His passion for fairness and  equality would also, he felt, ensure that he was well placed to engage and work with the diverse range of communities across the borough.  He was also pleased, as a fellow ward councillor, to be able to move Councillor Anwar’s nomination for what he was sure would be a highly successful year as Mayor.

Councillor Lavender, on behalf of the Conservative Group, advised that he was pleased to second Councillor Anwar’s nomination for what he also looked forward to as a successful year for the Mayor.

AGREED that Councillor Chaudhury Anwar MBE be elected as Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

The motion was agreed unanimously (without a vote).  Councillor Anwar then made and signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office and was invested with the badge of office by the retiring Mayor, Councillor Kate Anolue.

The Mayor made the following acceptance speech:

“I am overwhelmed and feel humbled by the kind words expressed at my appointment as Mayor.  I would like to express thanks, appreciation and gratitude to the Leader and Leader of the Opposition for their nominations and to my fellow councillors for electing me as Mayor and the First Citizen of the London Borough of Enfield.  I am particularly grateful to my Labour colleagues who have supported me in standing for this position of honour and dignity.  I would also like to thank all elected councillors of the borough for their gesture of goodwill towards me, which I would like to reciprocate now and in the future.  I would also like to thank the members of the public, invited guests, dignitaries and officers of the Council.  I am proud of the fact that I am the first Mayor and was also the first Cabinet Member of Asian origin.

Having been born in India I have also been fortunate to live in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as the UK.  Politics has not always been my main passion.  I joined politics as a way of seeking justice and equality and in order to redress what I felt to be the grievances of the Black and Minority Ethnic Communities, experienced during my three decades as a racial equality Director.  I still feel passionately that more should be done to empower the Black and Minority Ethnic Community by giving them more strategic support.  My challenge, in the past, has been to demand from the authorities that racial discrimination is addressed which has led to me being regarded as a controversial character.  I am therefore glad that the Council’s objectives now include fairness, sustainability and growth which will need to be carefully monitored in relation to the impact on the Black and Minority Ethnic Community within the borough.

I was born in a small village in India called Uchundi where the nearest school for primary education was 3 miles away.  As a young boy I used to travel 6 miles a day by foot just to attend school as the opportunity to be educated was very limited.  I was the fifth child in my family with six brothers and six sisters.  My parents were land owners so were wealthy, although were greatly affected by the partition in India in 1947.  I stayed in India with my family until 1953, doing the equivalent of GCSEs and then left to move to East Pakistan, Bangladesh as it is now.  It was a challenge for me as a young boy to leave my family in India and to find a good educational opportunity and career in that country.  I graduated in Politics, English Literature & Economics in 1959 and two years later gained a Masters in Political Science majoring in Constitutional Law.  I also completed a Law degree on a part time basis.  In 1969 I gained a Diploma in Public Relations from the British Institute of Public Relations  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Mayor announced the appointment of Quamrun Anwar and Sabrina Anwar as his Mayoress for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.  He then invested both with their badge of office.

The Mayor confirmed the appointment of Councillor Ingrid Cranfield as Deputy Mayor for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.  The Deputy Mayor then made and signed a Declaration of Acceptance of Office and was invested by the Mayor with her badge of office.  Councillor Cranfield then made a speech thanking the Mayor and Council for her appointment as second citizen of the borough.

Councillor Cranfield highlighted the honour she felt at being nominated and would do her utmost to support the Mayor in representing the Council and serving all the people of Enfield.

The Deputy Mayor announced the appointment of Adam Cranfield as her Consort for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.  She invested him with his badge of office.

Councillor Taylor confirmed the appointments as set out below:

Deputy Leader – Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

Cabinet member for Adult Services, Care and Health – Councillor Don McGowan

Cabinet member for Business and Regeneration – Councillor Del Goddard

Cabinet member for Children and Young People – Councillor Ayfer Orhan

Cabinet member for Community Wellbeing and Public Health – Councillor Christine Hamilton

Cabinet member for Culture, Leisure, Youth and Localism – Councillor Bambos Charalambous

Cabinet member for Environment – Councillor Chris Bond

Cabinet member for Finance and Property – Councillor Andrew Stafford

Cabinet member for Housing – Councillor Ahmet Oykener

On behalf of the Council, the Mayor will present past Mayor’s and past Mayoress’ badges to Councillor Kate Anolue and Miss Chinelo Anolue.

The Mayor presented past Mayor’s and Mayoress badges and certificates recording the Council’s appreciation to the retiring Mayor, Councillor Kate Anolue and Mayoress Chinelo Anolue.

The Mayor, on behalf of the Council, thanked them for the contribution they had made as Mayor and Mayoress during the 2012/13 Municipal Year.

The Leaders of both Groups were also presented with a token of appreciation for their support over the year.

The Mayor informed Council that he had no other announcements in connection with ordinary council business for the meeting.

To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the Council meeting held on Wednesday 27 March 2013.

AGREED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on Wednesday 27 March 2013 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies for absence were received form Councillors Alan Barker, Catriona Bearryman, Achilleas Georgiou, Denise Headley and Ahmet Oykener.

9.1       Urgent Questions (Part 4 - Paragraph 9.2.(b) of Constitution – Page 4-9)

With the permission of the Mayor, questions on urgent issues may be tabled with the proviso of a subsequent written response if the issue requires research or is considered by the Mayor to be minor.

Please note that the Mayor will decide whether a question is urgent or not.

The definition of an urgent question is “An issue which could not reasonably have been foreseen or anticipated prior to the deadline for the submission of questions and which needs to be considered before the next meeting of the Council.”

Submission of urgent questions to Council requires the Member when submitting the question to specify why the issue could not have been reasonably foreseen prior to the deadline and why it has to be considered before the next meeting.  A supplementary question is not permitted.

9.2       Councillors’ Questions (Part 4 – Paragraph 9.2(a) of Constitution – Page 4 - 8)

No questions have been submitted for written response at the meeting.

None received.

Members are asked to note that any motions received by the noon deadline on Tuesday 30 April 2013 will be circulated in advance of the meeting.

None received.

To receive the report of the Director of Finance, Resources & Customer Services asking the Council to determine the constitution and political balance of the committees, joint committees and panels that have been set up for discharge of the Council’s functions.                         (Report No.1)

TO FOLLOW

Councillor Brett moved and Councillor Waterhouse seconded the report of the Director of Finance, Resources & Customer Services (No.1) asking the Council to determine the constitution and political balance of the committees, joint committees and panels that had been set up for discharge of the Council’s functions.

NOTED that the calculation for allocation of seats had reflected the recent change in political representation on the Council, which had already been subject to review at the Council meeting on 27 February 2013.

AGREED that

(1)    the seats allocated to each political party on the committees and boards to which Section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 apply, be approved as set out in Appendix A of the report.

(2)    in accordance with paragraph 3.3 of the report, Council resolves without dissent that the rules of political proportionality should not apply to those bodies marked with an * in Appendix A of the report.

12.1    Members are asked to note (prior to considering item 12,2 below) that the Members & Democratic Services Group (2 May 2013) is due to consider the following proposal in relation to membership of the Planning Committee.

(a)    That the membership within the Planning Committee Terms of Reference be amended to read “15 members of the Council (including, with the exception of the Cabinet Member for Environment, up to 3 Cabinet Members) who shall not be members of the Conservation Advisory Group or of the Green Belt Forum”

(b)         That as a consequence of (a) above the Planning Committee Code of Conduct (Part 5 Chapter 5.2 of Constitution) should also be amended as follows:

(i)      Section (12) protocol for Cabinet Member for Business & Regeneration to attend Planning Committee –be amended to include - “This protocol will not apply if the Cabinet Member is appointed to serve as a formal member of the Planning Committee, in which case he/she will be entitled to attend meetings, participate in deliberations and vote as a normal member of the Committee.”

(ii)     To include, as a new section - Protocol for Cabinet Members appointed to serve on the Planning Committee

“Up to 3 members of the Cabinet will (with the exception of the Cabinet Member whose remit covers Environment) will be permitted to serve as members of the Planning Committee.  The appointment of these members will be undertaken as part of the normal Committee Membership approval process at Annual Council each year, with any subsequent change in membership having to be agreed through Council.

When acting as a member of the Planning Committee, Cabinet Members will need to recognise that they will be acting in a different capacity to that of an Executive Member, as planning is treated as a Council rather than Executive function of the Authority.  As such they will need to have received the appropriate training before taking up their role and will also need to be mindful of any potential interests that may arise from their role on Cabinet in order to avoid any issues around predetermination e.g. Cabinet making decisions on significant property developments which then require planning approval.  The advice of the Monitoring Officer should be sought in the case of any uncertainty.”

Subject to agreement by the Members & Democratic Service Group, Council will be asked to approve the above recommendations in order for the changes to take effect from the start of the new Municipal Year.

The report relating to this item has been circulated to all members as Item 3 (Report No.223) on the agenda for the Members & Democratic Services Group.  An update on the decision made by the Members & Democratic Services Group will be provided at the Council meeting.

12.2    To establish Council bodies for the coming Municipal Year and to appoint memberships to these (see list on yellow).                                                                              TO FOLLOW

12.3    To confirm the Terms of Reference of those bodies set out in Part 2 of the Constitution (pages 2-11 to 2-17  ...  view the full agenda text for item 16.

1.1    Appointment of Council Bodies 2013/14: Planning Committee membership

NOTED that the provisional reference from the Members & Democratic Services Group, regarding membership of the Planning Committee had been withdrawn from the agenda.  The withdrawal followed the Members & Democratic Services Group on 2 May 13, when it had been agreed that a more detailed membership review of the Committee be undertaken, for reporting back later in the year.

1.2    Appointment of Council Bodies 2013/14: Committee Membership list

AGREED to the establishment of the Council bodies for the 2013/14 Municipal Year and appointment of their memberships, as set out in the yellow list  tabled at the meeting, subject to the following amendment:

a.      Green Belt Forum: Councillor East to replace Councillor D.Pearce.

1.3    Appointment of Council Bodies 2013/14: Terms of Reference

AGREED To confirm the Terms of Reference of those bodies set out in Part 2 of the Constitution (pages 2-11 to 2-17 for scrutiny) (pages 2-23 to 2-24 for cabinet) and (pages 2-25 to 2-54 for other committees and panels).

To consider the Council’s representation on other bodies and organisations as required (see list on green).            TO FOLLOW

AGREED the Council’s representation on other bodies and organisations as detailed on the green list tabled at the meeting, subject to the following amendment:

(a)    Enfield Homes: membership reduced from 6 to 4 members with Councillor Ibrahim and Councillor East removed from the membership list for this body as a result.

The Council is asked to agree the authority’s Scheme of Delegation as set out in Part 3 (pages 3.2 to 3-12) of the Constitution.

AGREED the authority’s Scheme of Delegation, as set out in Part 3 (pages 3-2 to 3-12) of the Constitution.

15.1    To approve the calendar of Council meetings, including the proposed date for the next Council Meeting on Wednesday 17 July 2013 at 7.00 p.m. at the Civic Centre.  The calendar has been the subject of consultation with officers and both political groups.

15.2The Council is asked to approve the calendar subject to any further changes/additions being delegated to the Director of Finance, Resources & Customer Services, in consultation with both party groups.

Members are asked to note that indicative dates have also been included on the calendar for future meetings of the Council up until 2014.  These may, however, be subject to future change, once the date for the local borough elections in 2014 has been confirmed.

NOTED

1.      The calendar of meetings included indicative dates for future meetings of the Council up until May/June 2014.

2.      The updated version of the calendar, circulated with the “To Follow” papers for the meeting.

AGREED

(1)    the updated version of the calendar of meetings of the Council, including the next Council meeting, which had been scheduled on Wednesday 17 July 2013.

(2)    that approval of any further amendments to the calendar be delegated to the Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services, in consultation with both party groups.

None received.

None received.

Members are asked to note that subject to Item 15 above, the next meeting of the Council will be held on Wednesday 17 July 2013 at 7:00pm in the Civic Centre.

NOTED that the next meeting of the Council would be held at 7pm on Wednesday 17 July 2013 at the Civic Centre.