Agenda and minutes

The Chair was advised that all reports listed on the agenda were not available

for the original dispatch because of a total IT collapse affecting the three

boroughs in the shared service. The reports were deemed urgent and could

not wait until the next meeting of the Council on July 18 2018 as this would

have delayed implementation of the entire Governance arrangements of the

new Council.

Where reports are received less than 5 clear days before the date of the

meeting at which the matter is being considered, then under the Local

Government Act 1972 Section 100(b)(4) the Chair of the Committee can take

the matters as a matter of urgency if he is satisfied that there are special

circumstances requiring them to be treated as a matter of urgency. These

special circumstances have to be specified in the minutes of the meeting.

RESOLVED that all matters listed on the agenda be taken as matters of

urgency.

Prior to calling for nominations for a new Chair, Councillor Obajimi Adefiranye

reflected on his seven years as Chair and stated it had been a pleasure to be

allowed to serve. He expressed particular thanks for the assistance given to

him by the Civic Manager, the Head of Business & Committee, the Council

Chauffeur, and his wife, Sandra.

Councillor Jacq Paschoud was then proposed by Councillor Bill Brown and

seconded by Councillor Hilary Moore

RESOLVED that Councillor Jacq Paschoud be elected as Chair of the

Council for the Municipal Year 2018-19.

The election of Councillor Andre Bourne was proposed by Councillor Bill

Brown and seconded by Councillor Hilary Moore.

RESOLVED that Councillor Andre Bourne be elected as Vice-Chair of the

Council for the Municipal Year 2018-19.

RESOLVED that the report of the Returning Officer recording the election

of Damien Egan as Mayor for a four year period of office expiring in May

2022 be received.

RESOLVED that the report of the Returning Officer noting the election

of 54 Councillors for a four year period of office expiring in May 2022 be

received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on

21 February 2018 and 9 March, 14 March and 23 March 2018 be approved

and signed as true records.

Manchester Bombing and Grenfell Fire

The Chair’s first announcement marked the poignant anniversaries of both the

Manchester bombing and the Grenfell fire. All present observed a minute of

silence in memory of the victims of those two horrific events.

Mayoress

Mayor Egan announced the appointment of Liane Segal as his Mayoress for

the Municipal Year 2018-19.

The Mayor informed the Chief Executive that the 11 members, listed below,

four of whom would job-share two of the positions on a January to June and

July to December substantive basis, would serve as members of the Cabinet

in the municipal year 2018/19. All of the members nominated had been

confirmed at a special meeting of the Council held earlier in the evening.

Mayor Egan reiterated his decision made at the earlier meeting that the

statutory designated member for Children’s Services would be Councillor

Chris Barnham.

Portfolio                                            Name

Deputy Mayor of Lewisham – Cllr Chris Best - Health & Adult Social Care

Cabinet Member for Housing - Cllr Paul Bell

Cabinet Member for Democracy, Refugees & Accountability – Cllr Kevin

Bonavia

Cabinet Member for Parks, Neighbourhoods & Transport - Cllr Brenda

Dacres and Cllr Sophie McGeevor (job-share)

Cabinet Member for School Performance – Cllr Chris Barnham

Cabinet Member for Safer Communities – Cllr Joani Reid

Cabinet Member for Finance, Skills & Jobs - Cllr Amanda de Ryk and

Cllr Joe Dromey (job-share).

Cabinet Member for the Community Sector – Cllr Jonathan Slater

RESOLVED that the constitution and composition of the Executive for the

municipal year 2018/19 be noted.

The Mayor moved and Councillor Best seconded that the changes to the

Constitution and the Scheme of Delegation shown below be adopted.

RESOLVED that

(1) the current Executive Procedure Rules which appeared at Part D of the

Council’s Constitution be deleted and replaced with those appearing at

Appendix 1 of the report; and

(2) Article 14.3 of the Constitution be amended to reflect the statutory

requirement for the Council to nominate an officer as its Data Protection

Officer to ensure data protection compliance in the organisation, in

accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data

Protection Bill when enacted and to agree that the Head of Information

Governance should fulfil that role

(3) responsibility for decisions relating to neighbourhood planning are for the

Mayor by law and not for the Council and the reference to  neighbourhood

planning referendums be deleted from the list of Council functions at

Article 4(2)(y) of the Constitution and to references to neighbourhood

planning be removed from the terms of reference of the Strategic Planning

Committee at Article 9

(4) Article 6.1 and Paragraph E3 of the Constitution be amended as shown in

Appendix 2 to exclude members appointed to the Mayor & Cabinet for part of

a year from being a member of Overview & Scrutiny and its Select

Committees at any time during that year.

The Chair confirmed that apart from those just agreed in the previous item,

there had been no other changes to Committee Terms of Reference since last

year.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The Council considered a report setting out an allocation of seats on

committees to political groups on the Council in compliance with the

requirements of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

Chairs and Vice-Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny Select Committees would

continue to be allocated in accordance with the proportion of seats held by the

political groups on the Council.

At the proposal of Councillor Mallory, seconded by Councillor Moore,

Members agreed unanimously to form an Overview and Scrutiny Committee

of all 44 non-executive Councillors, that was politically balanced.

RESOLVED that:

(i) seats be allocated to political parties as indicated on the schedule attached

to the report;

(ii) the Overview & Scrutiny Committee shall comprise all 44 non-executive

Councillors; and

(iii) the composition of the Constitution Working Party, the Appointments

Committee, the Urgency Committee, 3 Planning Committees, a Strategic

Planning Committee, a Licensing Committee, a Licensing (Supplementary)

Committee, a Pensions Investment Committee, a Health & Safety

Committee, an Elections Committee, and an Audit Panel with the Terms of

Reference set out be agreed.

It was moved by the Councillor Mallory hair and duly seconded by Councillor

Moore that members be appointed to serve on committees as listed below.

The motion was declared carried and it was:

RESOLVED that members be appointed to serve on committees, as

indicated, for the municipal year 2018/19.

The Chair reported there was no bodies where there were more candidates

than places available, the Chair therefore moved and the Vice-Chair

seconded a proposal that the tabled schedule of appointments be adopted.

The motion was declared carried and it was:

RESOLVED that members be appointed to serve on other committees

and organisations as set out in below:

Age Concern Reminiscence Theatre Cllr De Ryk

Albany 2001 Council of Management Cllr Gallagher

Blackheath Joint Working Party (3)    Cllrs Bonavia, Campbell & De Ryk

Deptford Challenge Trust  Cllr Adefiranye

Forest Hill and Sydenham Voluntary Service Association (2) Cllrs Davis & Sheikh

Lewisham Citizen’s Advice Bureau Management Committee (2) Cllrs Rathbone & Penfold

Lewisham Disability Coalition Cllr Jacq Paschoud

Lewisham Local History Council/Society Cllr Curran

Lewisham Pensioners’ Forum Management Committee Cllr Elliot

Lewisham Safer Neighbourhood Board Cllr Barnham

London Youth Games (2) Cllrs Smith & Moore

Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust Cllr Adefiranye

Trinity Laban Cllr James Walsh

Southwark College Board Cllr Hilary Moore

SLaM Mental Health of Older Adults JHOSC Cllrs Muldoon and Rathbone

Our Healthier South East London (OHSEL) JHOSC Cllrs Campbell and Muldoon

The Calendar was proposed for adoption by the Chair and seconded by the

Vice-Chair and it was:

RESOLVED that

(i) ordinary meetings of the Council be held on 18 July, 3 October, 28

November 2018, 23 January, 27 February and 6 March (fall-back) and

that the Annual General Meeting be held on Wednesday 3 April 2109; and

(ii) the attached schedule of meetings be approved for the municipal year

2018/19.

The Chair proposed and the Vice-Chair seconded a proposal that the

schedule of appointments made by the Mayor be noted.

RESOLVED to note the appointments made by the Mayor to the following

external bodies/committees.

Mayoral appointments

The report was moved by the outgoing Chair, Councillor Andre Bourne and

was seconded by Councillor Kalu and it was:

RESOLVED that the annual report of the Standards Committee be received.

The Mayor delivered the following address:

WORKING TOGETHER

Thank you Councillor Jacq Paschoud and thank you to everyone for being

here this evening for the first Council meeting of this new administration, it's

great to see our Council chamber so full of friends and colleagues. 

I am so proud to be standing here as your new Labour Mayor of Lewisham.

And I am even prouder to be here alongside 54 newly-elected Labour Party Councillors.

I want to thank the people of Lewisham for putting your trust in us, and for

putting your trust in me to lead our borough. Our election result is testament to

both our record in Lewisham, and a clear mandate for the things we have set

out to achieve in the next 4 years. 

Fighting the election was made so much easier because of the record we

were able to stand on. Steve Bullock achieved so much as our Mayor over the

last 16 years, including:

- Ensuring that every single school in Lewisham was rebuilt.

- Creating the Young Mayor’s Programme, now in its 14th year. A programme

that has now been rolled out in councils across the country and across the

world, inspiring thousands of young people to get engaged in politics.

- Investing in our green spaces so that Lewisham’s parks are among the best

in the world with 15 Green Flag parks.

I'll let you into a little secret, Steve texted me earlier to send us his best

wishes today -- from a bar in Portugal! He is enjoying a very well-deserved

holiday and he promises he is here with us in spirit! 

On behalf of all of us, thank you Steve and Kris for everything you achieved

for our borough. Personally I would like to thank you for all the support and

guidance you have given me, including giving me the opportunity to serve as

Cabinet Member for Housing. 

And while there will be more opportunities over the next year to formally thank

Steve and reflect on his outstanding legacy, I would also like to assure you

that Steve’s service to borough has not yet concluded.

When Steve was looking back on his time as Leader he gave me one main

observation:He said, it’s much easier being a Mayor with a Labour

Government than being a Mayor with a Tory one. And he knows that more

than most, because he did eight years with both. And my goodness don't we

all here know the difference.

What this Council has achieved since 2010 has been remarkable in the face

of the savage cuts imposed on us.  

When I became a Councillor 8 years ago, none of us ever imagined that our

budget would be cut from £400 million to just £230 million. And it's not over

yet. Far from it. The government now want to cut our budget by another £50

million pounds on top of everything we've already endured. 

We see this impact not as numbers on a spreadsheet, but as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.