To elect the Chairman of the Council.

 (Councillor DB Wilcox declared a pecuniary interest and left the meeting for the duration of this item.)

Councillor AW Johnson proposed and Councillor TM James seconded the nomination of Councillor DB Wilcox.

RESOLVED: That Councillor DB Wilcox be elected Chairman of the Council for the forthcoming municipal year.

(Councillor DB Wilcox in the chair.)

Councillor Wilcox made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office.

Councillor Wilcox thanked Members for the confidence they had placed in him and assured them that he would seek to uphold the council’s good name and promote the county.

To appoint the Vice-Chairman of the Council.

(Councillor PJ McCaull declared a pecuniary interest and left the meeting for the duration of this item.)

Councillor RI Matthews proposed and Councillor TM James seconded the nomination of Councillor PJ McCaull.

RESOLVED:   That Councillor PJ McCaull be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Council for the forthcoming municipal year.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors JM Bartlett and NE Shaw.

There were no declarations of interest.

The chairman advised that members had received a dispensation in relation to item 8 and that this would be explained by the solicitor to the council at that item.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2016.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting  4 March 2016  be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Council noted the Chairman’s announcements as printed in the agenda papers.

The Chairman went on to highlight the civic events that had taken place over the last year.  These included:

·         Visits by HRH the Duke of Kent, HRH the Duke of Gloucester and HRH the Countess of Wessex.

·         The 300^th anniversary of the Three Choirs Festival which had been held in Hereford Cathedral.

·         The 900^th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.

·         That Hereford Cathedral School’s Cantabile Choir won the ‘Songs of Praise’ School Choir of the year and that Hereford Sixth Form College had been chosen as the inaugural winner of the‘Sixth Form College of the Year”, a national award in recognition of its innovative provision and impressive student outcomes.

·         That the new Hereford Football Club would be playing at Wembley in the finals for the FA Vase Trophy. The team were also Midlands Football League Champions, HFA Challenge Cup Winners and Polymac Packaging Cup Winners.

To elect the Leader of the Council.

 (Councillor AW Johnson declared a pecuniary interest and left the meeting for the duration of this item.)

Councillor PM Morgan proposed and Councillor H Bramer seconded the nomination of Councillor AW Johnson.

RESOLVED:  That Councillor AW Johnson be elected Leader of the Council for the forthcoming municipal year.

To make appointments to the committees of the Council and outside bodies in line with the rules of political proportionality.

Please note that the Council will be asked under this item to approve alternative arrangements to strict political proportionality for appointments to Committees and other bodies in accordance with Regulation 20 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990.

The solicitor to the council explained that any members who had been nominated for positions which attracted a special responsibility allowance under the councillors’ allowances scheme had a pecuniary interest in that item. Following a written request she had granted a dispensation and therefore those members who were affected could participate in the discussion, remain in the room and vote on all of the recommendations in item 8. She advised, however, that members should refrain from voting in respect of recommendation (h) where they were nominated for an individual appointment.

Council considered appointments to the Committees of the Council and outside bodies in line with the rules of political proportionality.

The chairman presented the report.  He said that it had been suggested that recommendations a-f as printed in the agenda papers should be considered and voted upon as a whole. A separate vote should then be taken on recommendation g which provided for the suspension of the rules of proportionality for a number of specified bodies. Leaving recommendation h on the appointments to the positions of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen for which several nominations were expected to be considered.

Councillor PM Morgan proposed and Councillor RJ Phillips seconded a motion that recommendations a-f as printed in the agenda papers be approved.

This motion was carried with no one voting against it.

Councillor PM Morgan proposed and Councillor A Seldon seconded a motion that recommendation g as printed in the agenda papers be approved.

This motion was carried with no one voting against it.

Council was advised that appointments to the positions of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen would be determined by named vote where there was more than one nomination for the position. 

The consideration of each appointment was as follows:

Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee

Councillor PM Morgan proposed and Councillor PGH Cutter seconded the nomination of Councillor BA Durkin.

There were no other nominations.

Councillor Durkin was therefore appointed

Vice-Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee

Councillor BA Durkin proposed and Councillor PM Morgan seconded the nomination of Councillor FM Norman.

There were no other nominations.

Councillor Norman was therefore appointed

Chairman of the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor AW Johnson proposed and Councillor P Rone seconded the nomination of Councillor WLS Bowen.

There were no other nominations.

Councillor Bowen was therefore appointed

Vice-Chairman of the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Councillor PM Morgan proposed and Councillor RJ Phillips seconded the nomination of Councillor CA Gandy. 

Councillor A Seldon proposed and Councillor FN Norman seconded the nomination of Councillor AJW Powers.

A named vote was held.

For Councillor Gandy (31): Councillors PA Andrews, BA Baker, WLS Bowen,  H Bramer, CR Butler, MJK Cooper, PGH Cutter, BA Durkin, DW Greenow, KS Guthrie, DG Harlow, EL Holton, JA Hyde, TM James, AW Johnson, JF Johnson,  JG Lester, RL Mayo, PJ McCaull, MT McEvilly, PM Morgan, PD Newman, RJ Phillips, GJ Powell, PD Price, P Rone, WC Skelton, J Stone, EJ Swinglehurst, DB Wilcox and SD Williams.

For Councillor Powers (18):  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To designate a post as monitoring officer.

(The solicitor to the council left the chamber for this item)

Council noted a report on the confirmation of the designation of the statutory officer (Monitoring Officer).

The Leader presented the report and said that he supported the recommendation as the solicitor to the council had done an excellent job in the role, shown outstanding qualities and had effectively developed relationships with Members.

A member expressed concern that the combination of the two roles and questioned whether there was a conflict between the role of solicitor to the council and monitoring officer.  The Chief Executive replied, and said that this matter had been considered but that it was believed to be manageable; the two roles were combined in many councils across the country.

Resolved:  That the post of solicitor to the council be designated as monitoring officer for Herefordshire Council.