Agenda and minutes

Before starting formal proceedings the outgoing Mayor, Councillor Bakir, took the opportunity to welcome Councillor Nesil Cazimoglu as the newly elected councillor for Jubilee ward following a by-election held on 7 May 2015.

He also advised everyone attending that the meeting was being recorded by the Council along with a number of other media agencies and filmed for the purpose of relaying proceedings into the Conference Room where additional guests had been seated.  He advised that filming would be focussed on the main participants during the meeting but if anyone did not wish to be filmed they would need to advise a member of staff.  No objections were raised.

The Mayor’s Chaplain to give a blessing.

Father Emmanuel from St Edmunds Church gave the blessing.

To elect the Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield for the Municipal Year 2015/2016.

Councillor Taylor moved and Councillor Neville seconded the nomination of Councillor Patricia Ekechi as Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.

In moving the nomination Councillor Taylor highlighted the important role of the Mayor, not only in terms of chairing Council but also in terms of acting as a representative and ambassador as the “First Citizen” of the borough.  Councillor Ekechi was recognised as someone with a great deal of local knowledge and experience, having lived in the borough for more than 30 years.  During her time as a councillor she had also gained a wide level of experience serving on a range of committee’s and scrutiny bodies as well as in her previous role as Deputy Mayor.  Councillor Taylor highlighted what he felt would be the dignity and commitment in terms of the way that Councillor Ekechi would serve as Mayor and advised that he was therefore pleased to be able to move her nomination, for what he was sure would be a highly successful year as Mayor.

Councillor Neville, in seconding the nomination on behalf of the Conservative Group, recognised the experience and commitment that it was felt Councillor Ekechi would bring to the role.  In wishing her every success in her year as Mayor he also took the opportunity to highlight the continued importance in ensuring that Council meetings were chaired in a fair and impartial manner and the borough continued to be represented as widely as possible.

AGREED that Councillor Patricia Ekechi be elected as Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.

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

The Mayor made the following acceptance speech:

“Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening all and welcome.

It is my great honour, privilege and delight to have been elected as the Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield and the First Citizen of this Borough.

The position of Mayor bears much responsibility and one I assume with great pride, conviction and dedication.

Firstly, as a Christian, I thank God and pray the He blesses and guides me and allows me to fulfil my Mayoral duties in a just and fair way that is fitting of this high office.

Secondly, I want to thank my fellow councillors for entrusting me to be elected as Mayor.  I am grateful for this opportunity to serve the people of this beautiful Borough.

Thirdly, I thank my family for their unconditional love and thank my friends for their support.

I want to assure you all that I take this position very seriously and I am planning to execute my duties in a diligent manner.

Before I continue I will tell you a little bit about myself.

My parents gave me the Nigerian birth name of Chinyere meaning “God’s gift”.  I pray and trust that I live up to my name and hope that at the end of my Mayorship my legacy will be that I have been “God’s gift” to the citizens of the London Borough of Enfield.

My history is one of struggle and challenges but also of much joy.  I was born in a small village in Imo State, Nigeria and am the youngest in the family of two men and five women.

I started and completed my secondary education after the Nigerian Civil War, which some of you may remember as the devastating Biafra war in the late 1960’s.  During that time, as a young girl, I cared for the wounded in a refugee camp and they called me “little nurse”.  That was my first taste of serving those in need. The experience of war and servitude will live with me all my days. Following the war, I came to England in 1977 for further education and settled in Edmonton.  I worked hard to settle here, educating myself, getting married and having three children all through my struggles.

I gained an Advanced Diploma in Secretarial and Business Studies and a BSc in Social Sciences whilst being a busy mother and being in full time employment.

During this time I made many friends who made my transition from the warmth of Nigeria to the cold winters of England joyful and comfortable.  I integrated myself into the community and whilst Nigeria never left my heart, the Borough of Enfield definitely became my new home.

I am a proud mother to three children and now also a grandmother.  My family, multicultural and ever growing are my source of joy and inspiration.

I have seen the Borough of Enfield also go through its own struggles.  Within our community we have poverty, high unemployment and crime to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Mayor announced the appointment of Dr Christine Ekechi as her Consort for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.  He then invested her with the badge of office.

The Mayor confirmed the appointment of Councillor Bernadette Lappage as Deputy Mayor for the 2015/16 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 Lappage then made the following acceptance speech:

“I would like to thank the Mayor for my appointment and I look forward to us working together.

It is a great honour to be the deputy mayor in a town where you have been born and raised and I thank my parents for coming here, from Ireland in the 1940s.

I want to thank all my colleagues across the Council, members and officers.

I want to thank the people of Jubilee for electing me and my ward colleagues Alev and Nesil Cazimoglu who I know will support me.

Last but not least I want to thank my family, my sisters, nieces and nephews, brothers-in-law and of course Andrew and Edward for their love and support.

I look forward to the year ahead and working with, and for, the wonderful community of Enfield.”

The Deputy Mayor announced the appointment of Andrew Lappage as her Consort for the 2015/16 Municipal Year, and invested him with the badge of office.

Councillor Taylor confirmed the appointments as set out below and detailed on the yellow list tabled under agenda item 10.1:

Deputy Leader – Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

Cabinet member for Community Organisations & Culture – Councillor Yasemin Brett

Cabinet member for Economic Regeneration & Business Development – Councillor Alan Sitkin

Cabinet member for Education, Children’s Services and Protection – Councillor Ayfer Orhan

Cabinet member for Environment – Councillor Daniel Anderson

Cabinet member for Finance Efficiency – Councillor Andrew Stafford

Cabinet member for Health & Social Care - Councillor Alev Cazimoglu

Cabinet member for Housing & Housing Regeneration – Councillor Ahmet Oykener

Cabinet member for Public Health & Sport – Councillor Nneka Keazor

On behalf of the Council, the Mayor will present past Mayor’s and past Mayors Consort badges to Councillor Ali Bakir and Berdan Bakir.

The Mayor presented past Mayor’s and Mayors Consort badges and certificates recording the Council’s appreciation to the retiring Mayor, Councillor Ali Bakir and his Consort Berdan Bakir.

The Mayor, on behalf of the Council, thanked them for the work they had undertaken during the 2014/15 Municipal Year.

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

The Mayor made the following announcement:

(a)     Members of Parliament – London Borough of Enfield

The Mayor congratulated all three Members of Parliament elected to represent constituencies within Enfield at the General Election on 7^th May 2015.

To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the Council meeting held on Wednesday 25 March 2015.

AGREED that the minutes of the Council meeting held on Wednesday 25 March 2015 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies for absence were received form Councillors Chris Bond, Christiana During, Jansev Jemal and Ayfer Orhan.

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 Stewart moved and Councillor E.Hayward seconded the report of the Director of Finance, Resources & Customer Services (No.1) seeking Council approval 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.

AGREED

(1)    that 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.

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

10.2    To confirm the Terms of Reference of those bodies set out in Part 2 of the Constitution.

1.1    Appointment of Council Bodies 2015/16: Committee Membership list

Councillor Stewart moved and Councillor Achilleas Georgiou seconded the list of Council bodies to be established and membership appointments for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.

AGREED

(1)       to the establishment of the Council bodies for the 2015/16 Municipal Year and appointment of their memberships, as set out on the yellow list tabled at the meeting.

(2)    the amendments to membership of the following bodies:

(a)    Green Belt Forum

Councillor B.Charalambous to fill vacancy identified

(b)    Member Governor Forum

Councillor B.Charalambous to fill vacancy identified

1.2    Appointment of Council Bodies 2015/16: Terms of Reference

AGREED to confirm the Terms of Reference of those bodies set out in Part 2 of the Constitution.

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

Councillor Stewart moved and Councillor Achilleas Georgiou seconded the list of nominations for appointments to outside bodies for the 2015/16 Municipal Year.

AGREED

(1)     the Council’s representation on outside bodies, as detailed on the green list tabled at the meeting.

(2)    the amendments to representation on the following bodies:

(a)    London Councils: Pension Common Investment Vehicle (CIV) Sectoral Joint Committee

Councillor Simon to fill the vacancy identified.

(b)    North London Waste Planning Members Group

Councillor Anderson to be replaced by Councillor Simon.

The Council is asked to agree the authority’s Scheme of Delegation as set out in Part 3 (pages 3.2 to 3-13) of the Constitution.

AGREED the authority’s Scheme of Delegation, as set out in Part 3 (pages 3-2 to 3-13) of the Constitution.

13.1    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.

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

The list of forty nine questions and their written responses are attached to the agenda.

1.1    Urgent Questions

The Mayor informed Council of the receipt of an urgent question from Councillor Neville relating to the content of a letter from Secondary School head teachers during purdah and the costs associated with legal advice obtained on it.  Members were advised that having considered the reasons for urgency, the Mayor had decided not to accept submission of the question under the urgency procedure.

1.2    Questions by Councillors

NOTED

1.            The forty nine questions on the Council’s agenda which had received a written reply from the relevant Cabinet Member, Associate Cabinet Member or Committee Chair.

2.            The following supplementary questions and responses received for the questions indicated below:

Question 1 (Cycle Enfield Partnership Board membership) from Councillor Laban to Cabinet Member for Environment.

Will the newly appointed Cabinet Member commit to invite more Resident Associations to sit as members on the Cycle Enfield Partnership Boards, given that there are many more Associations in existence than currently serving as members of the established Boards.

Reply from Councillor Anderson:

Given that I have only been serving in the role as relevant Cabinet Member for less than an hour I will need to consider and evaluate the request made.

Whilst having the opportunity I would also like to pay tribute to Councillor Bond, as my predecessor in the role as Cabinet Member.  Councillor Bond is a formidable presence and performed this role with dignity honour and talent alongside his hard work as a ward councillor.  He will be a tough act to follow and I wish him every success in his new role as chair of Licensing Committee and hope that I can follow in his footsteps providing my own contribution in the role of Cabinet Member.

Question 3 (Enfield West Cycle Partnership Board membership) from Councillor Laban to Cabinet Member for Environment

Will the new Cabinet Member please confirm whether he will also allow, in the spirit of fairness, the newly re-elected M.P. for Enfield Southgate to be invited to attend the Enfield West and North Cycle Partnership Boards due to the anomaly identified in terms of the boundaries covered by each Board as they compare to the Parliamentary and Ward Constituency boundaries.

Reply from Councillor Anderson:

I refer the councillor to the response I made to her first supplementary question.

Question 7 (School crossing patrol – Parsonage Lane/Baker Street) from Councillor Laban to Cabinet Member for Environment

Can the Cabinet Member advise whether he will be prepared to consider the provision of a school crossing patrol officer at the junction identified, given the cost identified of approx. £50k as opposed to more expensive alternative traffic calming or junction remodelling works.

Reply from Councillor Anderson:

I refer the councillor to the original written response provided.

Question 14 (Housing Zone application) from Councillor R.Hayward to the Cabinet Member for Housing and Housing Regeneration.

I understand we are expecting good news in this area.  Would the Cabinet Member like to take the opportunity to spread the word?

Reply from Councillor Oykener:

All  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

None received.

To receive a briefing paper from the Director of Finance, Resources & Customer Services seeking approval to an amendment to the SRA payable under the Members Allowance Scheme in relation to the changes agreed by Council (25 March 2015) around governance of the Council’s Pension Fund.

TO FOLLOW

The Mayor advised Members that this item had been withdrawn from consideration at the meeting.

Under the revised standards framework introduced by the Localism Act 2011 the Council has appointed two Independent Persons.

The Term of Office for one of those Independent Members (Christine Chamberlain) is due to expire on 30 June 2015 and having considered the position the Councillor Conduct Committee (24 March 2015) has agreed to recommend to Council that her term of office should be extended for a further 2 year period.

There is no statutory limit on the length of time an Independent Person can serve and the Councillor Conduct Committee felt this extension would enable the Council to retain the knowledge and experience gained in the role.

Recommendation:

Council is therefore asked to approve the extension of the term of office for Christine Chamberlain as an Independent Person for a further two year period to expire on 30 June 2017.

Councillor Stewart moved and Councillor E.Hayward seconded the agenda item seeking approval to the extension of the term of office for Christine Chamberlain as one of the Independent Persons supporting the Council’s Standards Framework

NOTED

1.      the invaluable support and advice provided by the Independent Persons to the Councillor Conduct Committee and Monitoring Officer.

2.      The extension to the term of office would be for a two year period, effective from 30 June 2015, and had been recommended to Council by the Councillor Conduct Committee.

AGREED to approve the extension of the term of office for Christine Chamberlain as an Independent Person under the revised Standards Framework introduced by the Localism Act 2011 for an additional two year period to expire on 30 June 2017.

Council is asked to note the following decision taken by the Leader of the Council (4^th May 2015), under the Council Urgent Action Procedure (in accordance with section 30 of the Council Procedure Rules):

Decision:

To agree the scheme of delegation (as detailed in the attached paper) in relation to the newly formed Council Housing and Strategic Services Division within Regeneration & Environment.

Reason for Urgency:

Council (28^th January 2015) approved a report from the Director – Regeneration & Environment updating the scheme of delegation for that Department.  Following the reintegration of Enfield Homes to the Council and decision to locate the newly formed Council Housing and Strategic Services Division within that Department there has been an urgent need to update the Departmental scheme of delegation to authorise officers within that Division to continue undertaking legal proceedings and attending court on behalf of the Authority.

It was not possible to include these additional powers within the original report to Council as the decision to integrate Council Housing within Regeneration & Environment was taken after it had been agreed by Council.  There is a need to ensure that officers within the newly created Division are authorised to be able to continue undertaking legal action and relevant legal proceedings as a matter of urgency (rather than awaiting the next ordinary business meeting of Council) in order to ensure continuation of service, avoid duplication of work between housing and legal and minimise the risk of any challenge to ongoing legal proceedings.

NOTED

1.      The decision taken by the Leader of the Council on 4^th May 2015 under the Council Urgent Action Procedure to agree a scheme of delegation (as detailed in the paper circulated with the agenda) for the newly formed Council Housing and Strategic Services Division within Regeneration & Environment.

2.      The reasons for urgency, as detailed under the agenda item.

18.1    To approve the calendar of Council meetings, including the proposed date for the next Council Meeting on Wednesday 24^th June 2015 at 7.00 p.m. at the Civic Centre.  The calendar has been the subject of consultation with officers and both political groups.    TO FOLLOW

18.2    The 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.

NOTED the calendar of meetings included indicative dates for future meetings of the Council up until May 2017.

AGREED

(1)    the calendar of meetings of the Council, including the next Council meeting, which had been scheduled for Wednesday 24 June 2015.

(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.

Members are asked to note that subject to Item 18 above, the next meeting of the Council will be held on Wednesday 24^th June 2015 at 7:00pm in the Civic Centre.

NOTED that the next meeting of the Council would be held at 7pm on Wednesday 24 June 2015 at the Civic Centre.