Agenda and minutes

Councillor Tauseef Anwar was proposed by Councillor Joan Millbank and

seconded by Councillor Hilary Moore.

In accepting his unanimous appointment, the Speaker thanked the Council for

re-electing him as the Council’s second ever Speaker.

RESOLVED that Councillor Tauseef Anwar be elected as Speaker of the

Council for the Municipal Year 2021/2022.

The election of Councillor Pauline Morrison was proposed by Councillor Joan

Millbank and seconded by Councillor Hilary Moore.

RESOLVED that Councillor Pauline Morrison be elected as Deputy Speaker

of the Council for the Municipal Year 2021-2022.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on March 3 2021 be

confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Returning Officer

On behalf of the Council, the Speaker welcomed recently elected Councillors

Samantha Latouche, Jack Lavery, Rachel Onikosi and James Royston to their

first meeting of the Council.

The Speaker advised the Council that the other printed announcements would

be considered in greater depth when the Mayor delivered his annual report.

Following the Confirmation of Councillor Kim Powell earlier in the evening, the

Mayor informed the Chief Executive that the members, listed below, will serve as

members of the Cabinet in the municipal year .

RESOLVED that the constitution and composition of the Executive for the

municipal year 2020/21 be noted.

The Mayor confirmed he had not made any changes to the existing powers

delegated by him in relation to Executive functions since the last report in July

2020 

RESOLVED to note that there are no changes to the existing Mayoral

Scheme of Delegation in Part VIII of the Council’s Constitution.

There had been no changes to the terms of reference of Council committees.

RESOLVED to note that there are no changes to the terms of reference of the

Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Standards Committee or other committees.

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 with the proportion of seats held by the political

groups on the Council.

At the proposal of Councillor Millbank, 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 Councillor Moore and duly seconded by Councillor Millbank

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 2021/22.

The Speaker reported there were no bodies where there were more

candidates than places available. The Speaker then moved and the Deputy

Speaker seconded a proposal that the tabled schedule of appointments be

adopted.

The motion was declared carried and it was:

RESOLVED that members be appointed ti serve on other committees and

organisations as set out below:

The Speaker proposed and the Deputy Speaker 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.

The Speaker, seconded by the Deputy Speaker moved that the

recommendations in the report be approved and it was unanimously:

RESOLVED that:

(1) ordinary meetings of the Council be held on 29 September 2021,

24 November 2021, 19 January 2022, 23 February 2022 and 2 March 2022

(fall back) and that the post election Annual General Meeting be held on 25

May 2022; and

(2) an attached schedule of meetings (Appendix A) for the municipal year

2021/22 be approved.

Councillor Kevin Bonavia moved that the recommendation be approved and

this was seconded by Councillor Juliet Campbell and it was then unanimously:

RESOLVED that the report attached at Appendix A be endorsed.

Councillor Amanda De Ryk moved that the recommendation be approved and

this was seconded by Councillor Pat Codd and it was then unanimously:

RESOLVED that the Pay Policy Statement for 2021/22 be approved as

attached at Appendix 1.

Councillor Susan Wise moved that the recommendation be approved and

this was seconded by Councillor Kevin Bonavia and it was then unanimously:

RESOLVED that t the Constitution be amended to include the revisions

shown at Appendices 1 to 3.

The Mayor delivered the following address:

“Thank you, Speaker.

It’s good to be back and see familiar faces in person. This is the first time

most of us have been back in this chamber since the start of the Covid

pandemic.

And I’d like to thank you to everyone who’s made it possible.

Over the last year, we have had over 15,000 residents login to stream Council

meetings online and when you think about how many people used to come to

our meetings in person, it’s quite the achievement. And I want to thank all

those who has worked hard to make that happen.

A particular thank you to Chamu and James, you’ve been amazing, Suki,

Petra, Katharine and our legal teams, Charlotte, Clare, Kevin and all our

colleagues in governance and IT. The Government hasn’t made it easy for

you, and you’ve had next to no time to put this together and you’ve done

really well. Thank you.

My speech today is going to set out how we are going to recover as a Council

and as a community. A recovery that builds on our achievements over the

past three years. Tonight, I’ll talk about how we will push forward our efforts to

make our borough greener; our communities healthier; our local jobs more

secure; and make the work of this council even more inclusive.

But first I want to acknowledge that this year has been a painful one for many

in our borough. Throughout this year, and I think it’s the most difficult year in

our borough’s history, Lewisham has stood together as we always do, and as

we always will. But 598 people in the borough have now lost their lives due to

Covid: people’s grandparents, mums and dads, partners.

I’ve spoken to staff from Lewisham Hospital and they’ve told me heart-

breaking stories about how overwhelmed they were during the last year.

They told me how some people died without family around them and they had

to work around the clock to make people as comfortable as they possibly

could. As best they could. And the ripples are felt through the NHS, right down

to each cancelled surgery, each postponed test, each missed healthcheck.

The full impact of Covid won’t be known for years.

One thing we do know – and I say this despite the phenomenal NHS vaccine

effort – and Dominic Cummings is right – this Government let people down

when they needed them the most. They have repeatedly been too slow to

respond. And as a result, the UK and Lewisham are home to some of the

highest levels of deaths from Covid in the world. That truth needs to be

investigated, it needs to be understood and Lewisham’s voice needs to be

heard in next year’s public inquiry. Covid’s inflicted too high a price on our

community.

The rise of food banks in our borough is an inspiring example of the

community coming together to help those most in need.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.