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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
1.1 The Director Corporate Services and Head of Democratic Services (DCS&HODS) invited nominations for the position of Presiding Member for the 2024/25 Municipal Year. 1.2 Councillor Rose Seabourne was nominated and seconded. There were no other nominations. 1.3 Council agreed, with majority voting in favour, that Councillor Rose Seabourne be appointed Presiding Member for the 2024/25 Municipal Year. The Presiding Member thanked members and looked forward to working with them in the year ahead.
2.1 The Presiding Member invited nominations for the position of Deputy Presiding Member for the 2024/25 Municipal Year. 2.2 Councillor Stuart Ashley was nominated and seconded. There were no other nominations. 2.3 Council agreed, with majority voting in favour, that Councillor Stuart Ashley be appointed Deputy Presiding Member for the 2024/25 Municipal Year. The Deputy Presiding Member thanked members and looked forward to working with them.
3.1 Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Catherine Bonera and Chris Tew,
4.1 The Monitoring Officer advised members that they all potentially had the same personal interest in appointing members to positions which would attract senior salaries, however, this interest was not prejudicial and the Code of Conduct enabled members to vote. 4.2 The Monitoring Officer also advised that some members wished to declare the following personal interests as their relatives were also sitting as councillors: · Councillors Catherine Bonera and Elizabeth Haynes are sisters; · Councillors Joanne Gauden and Karl Gauden are husband and wife; and · Councillors Gaynor James and Jon James are husband and wife. · Councillors David Williams and Lucy Williams are husband and wife. 4.3 All members confirmed the above personal interests accordingly. No other interests were declared.
5.1 The Presiding Member invited nominations for the Leader of the Council. 5.2 Councillor Anthony Hunt was nominated and seconded. 5.3 Council agreed, with the majority in favour, that Councillor Anthony Hunt be elected Leader of the Council for the 2024/25 Municipal Year. 5.5 The Leader thanked members for their support recognising the challenges previously faced by the Council and the challenges ahead. He was proud of how the council had faced these challenges with a focus on communities, early intervention improvements and data and performance. He stated that it had been a privilege to work alongside the Chief Executive and his colleagues and referred in particular to work undertaken to protect schools and to have the lowest council tax rise in Wales for the past three years in a row. He commented around the importance of the County Plan objectives and in being innovative and efficient. He thanked Cllr Clark, Deputy Leader and Cllr Seabourne, Chair of Education Overview & Scrutiny Committee for their work in education. He also thanked colleagues for their work on communities and building resilience in communities, and for the work undertaken around key environmental services. He further commented around the challenges faced by the council in prioritising less visible services with the very visible services. He thanked staff across the council who worked hard to provide these services, stating that it was a privilege to serve as Leader and that he looked forward to working with members in the year ahead.
6.1 The Presiding Member invited nominations. 6.2 Councillor Richard Clark was nominated and seconded. There were no other nominations. 6.3 Council unanimously agreed that Councillor Richard Clark be elected Deputy Leader of the Council for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.
7.1 The Leader thanked Cabinet Members for their hard work and for their tolerance further to changes made to Cabinet Portfolios to ensure focus on key priorities for the next 12 months. The Leader nominated the following members to fulfil the executive portfolios for the year ahead. The nominations were seconded: Executive Portfolio: Councillor: Economy, Skills & Regeneration Jo Gauden Corporate Governance & Resources Peter Jones Children, Families & Education Richard Clark Communities Fiona Cross Adult Services & Housing David Daniels Environment Mandy Owen Waste & Sustainability Sue Morgan 7.2 Council agreed, with the majority voting in favour, that the members listed above be appointed to the executive portfolios for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.
8.1 The DCS&HODS outlined the report which informed members of the political balance requirements and sought agreement to the political balance for the municipal year ahead. 8.2 Council unanimously agreed the political balance and to adopt the calculations attached as Appendix A to the report, and to have regard to them when appointing members to committees later in the meeting.
9.1 The Leader nominated the following members to chair the committees listed below. The nominations were seconded: Committee: Councillor: Economy & Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee Stuart Ashley Education Overview & Scrutiny Rose Seabourne Adults and Communities Overview & Scrutiny Mark Jones Children and Families Overview & Scrutiny Janet Jones Cross-cutting Resources and Business Overview & Scrutiny David Williams Planning Committee Norma Parish Statutory and General Licensing Committees Steven Evans Pensions Committee Nathan Yeowell Democratic Services Committee Ron Burnett 9.2 Council unanimously agreed that the members listed above be appointed to serve as chairs of the committees listed for 2024/25 Municipal Year.
10.1 The Presiding Member referred to the schedule which was circulated prior to the meeting and is attached as Appendix A to these minutes. 10.2 Council unanimously agreed to appoint members to serve on the committees and other bodies listed in this report in line with the agreed political balance and as shown in Appendix A.
11.1 The Presiding Member referred to the list of nominations which had been circulated prior to the meeting and is attached as Appendix B to these minutes. 11.2 Council unanimously agreed to nominate members to serve on outside bodies in accordance with the list circulated prior to the meeting.
12.1 The Leader thanked member champions for their hard work over the past year. The Leader nominated the following members to serve as Member Champions. The nominations were seconded: Member Champions Councillor: Age Friendly Champion Executive Member Adult Services & Housing Equalities & Diversity Champion Executive Member Corporate Governance & Performance Anti-Poverty Champion Leader of the Council Young Person’s Champion Executive Member for Children, Families & Education Members Training & Development Champion Chair of Democratic Services Armed Forces Champion Gaynor James Carers Champion David Daniels Sustainability Champion Stuart Ashley World Heritage Champion Janet Jones Motor Neuron Disease (MND) Giles Davies Dementia Champion Amanda Owen Gypsy Traveller Community Champion Sue Malson Mental Health Champion Nick Byrne Looked forward to working with. 12.2 Council unanimously agreed that the members nominated above serve as Member Champions for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
Lists the council's current councillors only. Co-opted members, officers and former councillors aren't shown.