Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors R Bailey, J Bird, D Brown, G Hayes, D Jefferay, M Sewart, John Smith, Julie Smith and Laura Smith.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests, other registerable interests, and non-registerable interests in any item on the agenda..

It was noted that Councillor Marilyn Houston and Councillor David Edwardes had a personal interest in the appointment of Mayor and of Deputy Mayor, respectively.

To elect a Mayor for 2024/25, who will also act as Chair of the Council.

Council was requested to elect a Mayor for the Borough of Cheshire East for 2025-25 Municipal Year, who would also act as Chair of the Council for that period.

It was proposed by Councillor Arthur Moran and  seconded by Councillor Sam Corcoran that Councillor Marilyn Houston be elected as Mayor for 2024-25 Municipal Year.

The motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Marilyn Houston be elected Mayor of the Borough of Cheshire East for the 2024-25 Municipal Year and be appointed as Chair of the Council for that period.

The Mayor was invested with the chain of office and then completed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

The Mayor thanked the Council for electing her to this office and informed Members that her consort would be Pauline Kowalski.  The Mayor reported that her chosen charity would be the Crewe and Nantwich Branch of Cancer Research UK.

Councillor Houston, as Mayor, took the chair.

To appoint a Deputy Mayor for 2024/25, who will also act as Vice-Chair of the Council.

Council was requested to appoint a Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Cheshire East for the 2024-25 Municipal Year, who would also act as Vice-Chair of the Council for that period.

It was proposed by Councillor Reg Kain and seconded by Councillor John Wray that Councillor David Edwardes be appointed as Deputy Mayor for 2024-25 Municipal Year.

The motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor David Edwardes be appointed as Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Cheshire East for the 2024-25 Municipal Year and as Vice-Chair of the Council for that period.

The Deputy Mayor was invested with the chain of office and then completed his Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

The Deputy Mayor thanked the Council for electing him to this office.

Councillor Reg Kain paid tribute to the retiring Mayor, Councillor Rod Fletcher, for the dedicated work that he had undertaken during his term of office.

The Mayor presented Councillor Fletcher with a Past Mayor’s Medal.

Councillor Fletcher then addressed Council, as outgoing Mayor.

To receive such announcements as may be made by the Mayor.

The Mayor thanked all those who had attended the Mayor Making Ceremony and stated that the meeting would be adjourned for the Special Meeting of Council to take place and would be reconvened, following lunch.

(The meeting was adjourned at 11.50 am and reconvened at 1.45 pm)

Apologies were received from Cllr J Bird, G Hayes, D Jefferay, R Moreton, John Smith and Julie Smith.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests, other registerable interests, and non-registerable interests in any item on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 27 February 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2024 be approved as a correct record.

To elect a Leader of the Council and a Deputy Leader of the Council for the municipal year 2024/25.

Leader of the Council

Nominations were invited for the election of the Leader of the Council.

It was proposed by Councillor C Bulman and seconded by Councillor M Gorman that Councillor Sam Corcoran be appointed as the Leader of the Council for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

The motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Sam Corcoran be appointed as Leader of the Council for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

Deputy Leader of the Council

Nominations were invited for the election of the Deputy Leader of the Council.

It was proposed by Councillor L Anderson and seconded by Councillor S Corcoran that Councillor Michael Gorman be appointed as the Deputy Leader of the Council for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

The motion was put to the vote and declared carried.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Michael Gorman be appointed as Deputy Leader of the Council for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

To determine the political representation on the Council's Committees.

Consideration was given to a report relating to the political representation on the Council’s Committees.

The recommendation was moved and seconded. 

RESOLVED:

That the committees set out in Appendix A to the report be appointed, with the same functions, roles and responsibilities as are currrently set out in the Constitution; and that the political group and other representation, as set out in Appendix A and the methods, calculations and conventions used in determining this, as outlined in the report be adopted, and the allocation of places to Committees be approved.

To appoint the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Council’s committees.

Consideration was given to the appointment of Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Council’s committees.

The Appendix to the report set out the nominated persons for Chair and Vice-Chair for each committee.

It was reported that the nomination for the Vice Chair of the Appointments Committee was Councillor Michael Gorman and not Councillor David Jefferay as stated in the Appendix.

The appointments for Chairs and Vice-Chairs were moved and seconded and put to the vote and declared carried.

RESOLVED:

That the offices of Chair and Vice-Chair be allocated as detailed in the amended Appendix to the report.

To consider the recommendations from the Corporate Policy Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendations of the Corporate Policy Committee in respect of the Review of the Committee Structure.

The Corporate Policy Committee, at its meeting on 21 March 2024, had considered the report and made recommendations to Council, as set out on page 45 of the agenda pack.

RESOLVED:  That

1.             the Scrutiny Committee be retained.

2.             the functions of the School Governor Nomination Panel be delegated to the Executive Director of Children and Families in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Children and Families Committee.

3.             the Cared for Children and Care Leavers Committee remain in place.

4.             the General Appeals Sub-Committee remain in place.

5.             the General Licensing Sub-Committee and Licensing Act Sub-Committee be amalgamated to form one sub-committee.

6.             normally, only Directors, Regulatory or Statutory Officers (as required by good practice) should attend committee meetings.

7.             working Groups and Boards be supported by the relevant service area and not Democratic Services.

8.             reports “for noting” should not normally be placed on agendas, unless there is a statutory requirement to do so, or where they relate to Performance Monitoring, Finance, Risk or LGO complaints. Instead, they be placed on the Members’ Bulletin, stored on the Councillors hub and made available to the public on the Council’s Open Data and Transparency Webpage; and

9.             the Director of Governance and Compliance be empowered to make any necessary changes to the Constitution to reflect the resolutions of full Council.

To consider the recommendations from the Corporate Policy Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendations of the Corporate Policy Committee in respect of the Review of the Committee Structure.

The Corporate Policy Committee, at its meeting on 21 March 2024, had considered the report and made recommendations to Council, as set out on page 59 of the agenda pack.

RESOLVED: That Council approve:

1               the amendments to the provisions regarding Notices of Motion in Chapter 3 Part 1 Section 1 of the Council’s Constitution, as set out in paragraph 9 of the report.

2               the amendments to the provisions regarding rescission of earlier resolution in Chapter 3 Part 1 Section 1 of the Council’s Constitution, as set out in paragraph 9 of the report.

3               the amendments to committee terms of reference for matters that cover more than one committee in Chapter 2 Part 2 of the Council’s Constitution, as set out in paragraph 10 of the report.

4               the amendments to the Rules of Debate for Motions and Amendments in Chapter 3 Part 1 Section 1 of the Council’s Constitution, as set out in paragraph 11 of the report.

5               the amendments to the application of the 3-day rule for Notices of Motion of in Chapter 3 Part 1 Section 2 the Council’s Constitution as set out in paragraph 12 of the report.

To consider the recommendation from the Highways and Transport Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendation of the Highways and Transport Committee in respect of the approval of a supplementary estimate relating to the A500 Crewe Corridor.

RESOLVED: 

That Council approve a Supplementary Capital Estimate for £2.435m, to a new capital scheme in the MTFS titled ‘A500 Corridor OBC Update’ that is fully funded by the DfT to provide funding for the preparation of the Outline Business Case Update for a revised scheme. This forms a change to the MTFS approved at Council on 27 February 2024.

To consider the recommendation from the Children and Families Committee.

Consideration was given to the recommendation of the Children and Families Committee in respect of the approval of a supplementary estimate relating to the Household Support Fund Grant.

RESOLVED:

That Council approve the supplementary estimate of £2.2m.

To approve the appointments to the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel and the Cheshire Fire Authority.

Consideration was given to a report inviting Council to make appointments to the Cheshire Fire Authority and the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel.

The nominations for the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel and the Cheshire Fire Authority were moved and seconded and put to the vote and declared carried.

RESOLVED: That

1        Councillors Steve Edgar, Rob Moreton and Judy Snowball be appointed to the Cheshire Police and Crime Panel, with Councillor Stewart Gardiner as nominated substitute.

2        Councillors Rachel Bailey, John Bird, David Brown, Peter Coan, Laura Crane, Nick Mannion, Margaret Simon, Geoff Smith and Mick Warren be appointed to the Cheshire Fire Authority.

To approve the appointments to the Adoption Panel, the Fostering Panel and the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System Joint Scrutiny Committee.

Consideration was given to a report inviting Council to approve a number of appointments to Statutory Panels which did not fall within the definition of “Committee” for the purpose of legislation.

It was moved and seconded that Councillor Brain Puddicombe be appointed to the Adoption Panel and that Councillor Carol Bulman be appointed to the Fostering Panel. 

The motion was put to the vote and was declared carried.

With regards to the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System Joint Scrutiny Committee, It was reported that due to the political proportionality calculations across the Committee’s nine authorities not yet having been confirmed, these appointments would be made by the Scrutiny Committee, as they had been in previous years.  Council was therefore not being asked to make a decision on this matter.

RESOLVED:  That

1        Councillor Brian Puddicombe be appointed to the Adoption Panel; and

2        Councillor Carol Bulman be appointed to the Fostering Panel.

3        the appointments to the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System Joint Scrutiny Committee be made by the Scrutiny Committee.

To note the urgent decision taken by the Chief Executive on behalf of Council.

Council received a schedule of an urgent decision taken by the Chief Executive on behalf of the Council, which was reported for information in accordance with the Council procedure rules.

RESOLVED:

That the schedule of the urgent decision be noted.