Agenda item - Mayor's Announcements (if any) in connection with the ordinary Council Business

Agenda item

Mayor's Announcements (if any) in connection with the ordinary Council Business

Minutes:

The Mayor made the following announcements:

 

(a)           Review of Mayoral Year in Office

 

As this was the final ordinary meeting of Council prior to the Annual Council Meeting, the Mayor provided a brief review of his year in office.  He highlighted how much he had enjoyed carrying out his duties in every corner of the borough as well as events outside Enfield.  Being first citizen of the borough had been an honour and he thanked Council for nominating and supporting him throughout the year. 

 

He could not estimate how many events he had attended but pointed out that he had been very busy, as had Councillor Ekechi in support as Deputy Mayor.  He thanked her for attending the functions he had been unable to. 

 

He had enjoyed meeting a wide variety of people, young and old along with many different voluntary and community groups who did so much good work for the people of Enfield. 

 

He advised it was not possible to pick out a single highlight, as there had been so many, but had particularly enjoyed visiting many junior and secondary schools and welcoming lots of children into the Council Chamber for various debates and visits.

 

Finally he took the opportunity to thank officers for their support over the year with special mention of Melanie Harris, Peter Stanyon, Lisa McEwan, Alison Brookes, Norman, Andy and Mark, as well as John Austin, Asmat Hussain and James Kinsella for their help on Council itself.

 

(b)           Local Government Chronicle Award for Community Involvement. 

 

The Mayor advised that earlier in the month Enfield had won the top accolade for Community Involvement at the prestigious Local Government Chronicle awards. 

 

The work recognised innovation in partnership working with projects that directly sought out and involved the active participation of customers and service users to drive quality improvements.  Four service areas had been highlighted in the award.

 

·                Adults: Quality Checkers – users, family and friends acting as critical friends to enable service improvement.

 

·               Schools and Children’s Services:  (a) Youth Engagement Panel – A partnership programme with the police to develop a Youth Engagement Panel that worked to move young people from a position of disaffection to one of active involvement, social responsibility and achievement; (b) Young Inspectors – youth service participants as inspectors of provision, undertaking training alongside professionals and raising standards in youth based centres across the council; and (c) Parent Engagement Panel – the development of a network of peer support panels serving parents across the whole borough, preventing isolation and enabling greater participation in community based activities and services.

 

The Mayor informed Members that in each case these initiatives had facilitated the development of a skilled, aspirational, confident, resilient and self-supporting community.  Participants had developed a greater understanding of what the council did, how it worked and how they could play a part in service improvement.  This had enabled the creation of opportunities for work, enterprise, education and training and a community who were knowledgeable about and an asset to Enfield. 

 

The Mayor presented the award to Eve Stickler (Assistant Director Commissioning and Community Engagement – Schools and Children’s Services) who had led the Council’s bid submission.

 

(c)           Enfield Public Safety Centre Awards

 

The Mayor advised he was also pleased to announce that the Enfield Public Safety Centre had been nominated for 7 awards from the Metropolitan Police and that Alan Gardner, who managed the CCTV function with Community Safety had received individual recognition as the CCTV Manager of the Year. 

 

Other operators were awarded for their efforts in capturing suspected and known criminals, which had helped to make Enfield a safer place.

 

Amongst the incidents for which Enfield received recognition were those that led to the arrest of a wanted prisoner, suspects for attempted murder and kidnapping and safe recovery of over £30,000 worth of stolen vehicles.

 

The first ever ceremony of awards by the Metropolitan Police Service had been held at New Scotland Yard on 20 March 2015 and the winning of these awards was seen as recognition of the quality of CCTV services in Enfield, and was also felt to demonstrate the hard work and dedication of staff in reducing crime, and improving safety in Enfield. 

 

The Mayor presented the award to Alan Gardner, in recognition of his work and those of the other CCTV monitoring staff.

 

(d)           50th Anniversary of the London Boroughs

 

The Mayor reminded members that 2015 was the 50th anniversary of the creation of the London Boroughs in their current form which meant in effect that Enfield as a borough would be 50 years old.  He advised Members of the plans being developed for a programme of LBE50 activities running throughout the year, which would begin with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque donated by London Councils outside the Civic Centre on Monday 30 March 2015 at 10.30am.  Members were invited to attend the ceremony. 

 

(e)           Mayor’s Charity Ball

 

Finally the Mayor reminded members of his forthcoming charity ball which was to take place on Saturday 18 April at La Royale.  Tickets were £50 each, with the money raised being used to support children with learning difficulties.  He encouraged all members to attend.

 

Before moving on, Councillor Taylor, Leader of the Council, took the opportunity to thank Councillor Bakir, as Mayor, on behalf of the Council, acknowledging the hard work that accompanied the role and thanking him for his efforts over the year.  As this was his final business meeting of Council as Mayor he wished him a successful continuation in his role as an elected member for the remainder of his term of office.

 

Councillor Neville, Leader of the Opposition, endorsed Councillor Taylor’s comments, thanking the Mayor and highlighting the fairness with which he had chaired meetings of the Council.  He also wished him a successful remainder of his term as Mayor in the run up to the Annual Council Meeting.