Transcript

[ Silence ] [ Silence ] [ Silence ] [ Silence ] [ Silence ] [ Silence ] Thank you. Please be seated. [ Silence ] Good evening and welcome to the first meeting of the new municipal year. I extend a particularly warm welcome to our civic guests and of course to those members of the public with us tonight, either in the council chamber or watching on the webcast. In the event of an emergency and the sounding of an alarm, the evacuation procedure is to leave by the staircase and congregate at the front of the building. Anyone requiring assistance should remain in their seats and an officer will assist you from the building. Anybody who wishes to follow the agenda from their tablet or smartphone can do so by going to Kingston.gov.uk and follow the links from council and democracy. There is free public Wi-Fi which you can access by accepting the conditions that pop up when you connect. This meeting is being filmed for live broadcast on the council's website and an archive version will be available to you after the meeting finishes. The broadcast will be suspended during any adjournments in proceedings and if council resolves to consider information as exempt business. Members are reminded that microphones must be switched on and spoken into clearly for the webcast. Please could everyone present also ensure that their mobile phones are switched off? I would now like to ask Father Martin Hislop of St. Luke's to lead us in prayer. Let us pray. As we gather this evening, we give thanks for the duty and service given to this borough by the mayor and deputy mayor and ask for your blessing upon the new mayor and deputy mayor as they take up office. May they lead this royal borough with integrity as it strives to continue to be a community of service and respect for our DeVos Citizenship Army. Thank you, Father Martin. Thank you. We will now return to the formal business of the meeting. Are there any apologies for absence, please, Miss McCann? Madam Mayor, we have apologies for absence for Councillor Cougar and Councillor Owen and Councillor Skipworth. Thank you. Under item two on the agenda, do any members wish to give notice of any interest that they may need to declare on items that appear later on the agenda? No. Thank you very much. We'll move on to the next item. Item three, may I sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 29 February 2024. Agreed. Thank you very much. We will record the minutes as agreed. Thank you. We now turn to item four on our agenda, which is the installation of the mayor for the 2024-25 Municipal Year. At the last Council meeting on 29 April, Councillor Liz Green was formally elected as Mayor of the Royal Borough for the coming year. As there were no formal speeches on that occasion, I would like to call on firstly Councillor Holt and then Councillor Waring to speak. Councillor Alison Holt, would you like to say a few words? Up to you. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. It is with great pleasure and very proud to be able to say a few words on behalf of Liz, Councillor Green and now we're going to be Mayor Liz as she begins a new chapter at the Council. Mayor Liz will do a fantastic job and she will do it in her own way. Today, as we can see, she has a new haircut, purple hair. Not sure it matches the red robes, but perhaps the next colour will be red. Let's watch out for the next colour of here. Mayor Liz has been a Councillor representing St Mark's Ward for quite some time now and along with our fellow ward Councillors and previous Mayor, Yogin. I'm not meant to forget about the current Mayor, but Yogin are the elder statesmen of our group. There must be something in the water in Subserviton, as was pointed out in our local rag, the Good Life, because Liz follows Diane, who followed Yogin, who all represent St Mark's and are Subserviton Councillors. So there's obviously something interesting going on in Subserviton. She has been a Councillor for over 20 years, holding many positions, including Leader, Deputy Leader and Opposition Leader. I have to say, I never expected her to take on this role, but I'm sure she'll do it with true style. This will say more on what her plans are for the year, but I can see that she's already picked habitats and heritage and look forward to hearing more about that. I was elected in 2018, and one of the first conversations we had was to ask me about taking on the finance portfolio. I'd not really consider doing this, but it was really nice to be asked, and as I later found out, I was the only person with any accountancy experience, so that was a good reason to ask me. Now we're lucky to have several people with accountancy experience. So, for the next two years, we worked closely together, not always agreeing on things, but I certainly valued her knowledge and experience both on how the council works and her political astuteness. She was so supportive of me when I asked to take on the council accreditation for the London Living Wage Employer. It was really important for me, and one of the first things that was asked to do was to go up to Westminster to meet with Tom Brake, and he'd actually called in all the finance leads to see about how we could have all the councils in our control as London Living Wage Employers. I'd also like to give thanks to the officers because they made it happen. So I asked if we could do it, Sarah Ireland, and the commissioning team made it happen, and they made it happen very quickly, and that was good. I think Liz probably thought it wouldn't happen, and it wouldn't happen quickly, but it did, and I'm very pleased to say that all from that point on any new contracts we entered into have to have London Living Wage. I think that's a really important thing for us to have as Vara. She's also the first person I go to for advice on council things. She will always make time, reflect on whatever it is, and give her advice, and more often than not, she's already dealt with something very similar in the past. She's been a great mentor to me over my time as a councilor, and also I've seen one of my previous ward councilors, Hillary Ganders, in the audience, but both her and Mark himself were a great help to me and how to go about doing things in our ward. A good piece of advice she gave me was to get involved in the LGA. It is a strong advocate for local government, and most importantly, cross-party, with lots of training opportunities and a good environment to hear about best practice that we can bring back to Kingston, and Liz has certainly done that, and I'd certainly encourage all of you to look at the LGA program. It's really good to hear from other places what they're doing and bring it back. Liz has been very involved with the LGA, Deputy Chair of Children's and Young People, Chair of Improvements and Innovation, and currently is Chair of Culture Tourism and Sports Board. She's been a LGA peer for 15 years or more, and recently specialising in planning, largely as a result of her being Chair of the Planning Committee. Also doing training for councillors and officers, and in particular the Leadership Academy. I think we've got a representative from the Leadership Academy over their graces in the audience to support Liz this evening. She's also been developing her own courses and delivering them with Hillary, which is another string to your bow. She is so well known. When you go to the LGA conference, everybody knows Liz. She's very good at introducing, was very good at introducing me to lots of different people, but everybody knows her really, very, very well respected, and that's across the whole political spectrum. It was really lovely to hear from all the different parties the contribution this has made to the LGA family. Then we lead on to two words. I probably a lot of you don't think would be associated with Liz, and that's imposter syndrome. She always looks very in control, self-assured, and I think like a lot of people, particularly women in positions of power, she did feel like an imposter. She's written a very good article which I'd encourage you to read on how she felt when she was leader of the imposter syndrome. That's something I just wanted to share with you all. Balanchy sector is very close to our heart. We're very fortunate in Kingston to have so many great people and organisations doing things to improve our environment and help our residents in need. With ever increasing financial pressures in local government and the increased demand for our services, the role of our voluntary sector plays in helping our accounts to deliver its services. Because it's ever more important. Liz has always been a big supporter of the sector and the vital role it plays. I'd also consider Liz to be a friend. She and Rosie came to visit me in Glasgow. We had a nice weekend there. But also we spent a lot of time in the pub and actually in the disco, who knew that Liz and I were dancing the night away at the LGA conference with all the young ones. So that's another. The other thing she's introduced me to is Pilates just recently. It's a good way of getting myself a bit back in shape with spending too much time doing council work and not enough time looking after our fitness. So she has been in local government. She certainly is her passion. Local government, rather, Westminster obviously plays a big role, but local government is where she wants to be and is a strong advocate for it and what we have achieved locally. And I have no doubts you will bring this to the role of mayor. She is also an excellent chair and will keep us all in line. I'd like to end with something that was written in the good life that Liz said actually. I hope to reach out to new people in groups that don't usually think to speak to the mayor, but want to celebrate their successes with us. She will ring the changes so the mayoral team watch out. Liz, you will make an excellent mayor, and the two lizzies will make an excellent team. Thank you very much, Councillor Holt. Councillor Waring, would you like to step forward? Thank you, Madam Mayor. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, Councillors, former Councillors. It's so nice to see some familiar faces here this evening. My name is Ollie Waring. I'm a Councillor in Norbertin, I've been a Councillor for six years, throughout which Liz has been a guiding light to put it mildly, so I couldn't be more thrilled to be here this evening and be able to say some words on the day that she becomes mayor. I want to take you back to late June 2017. This was shortly after a snap general election that saw the Liberal Democrats regain Kingston and Serbitten from the Conservatives, and I had become a slightly unwilling political entity when Brexit sort of hit my second-generation German immigrant status, and I felt I had to do something. I campaigned long and hard on the run-up to the general election, and was lucky enough to be at the celebration party two weeks after the election, one evening, in Norbertin, funnily enough. That evening, I got talking after having had a little bit to drink, with the Liz Green, who I hadn't met before at that stage. Liz was a leader of the Opposition at the time, and I had a real BMI bonnet about Kingston Community School, the fabled primary school that finally has a home now right on the corner of Coom Road and London Road in Norbertin, a site that was selected by the Department for Education for a primary school, was deemed by the Planning Committee around about six, eight months beforehand as being inappropriate in size, and the application was refused. Liz had skin in the game, being leader of the Opposition, and there being members of the Opposition on the Planning Committee. I had skin in the game because my son was at that school, and I effectively hunted Liz out, dragged her outside, and for about 45 minutes, we pretty much went at each other. There was a pretty active debate. For 45 minutes, we argued candidly, we debated thoroughly. But what really hit me then, and has still hit me to this day about Liz, is that she listened, she digested, she absorbed diligently, and it was that listening side of things that really caught me. It did help that she agreed in the end that I was right, but that's by the by-end this instance. I've been a Councillor since 2018, and Liz and I have always sort of found common ground, and that we're both Liberal Democrats, without being too Liberal Democratic. I think that might be a fair way to describe Liz, and that kind of shows the respect that she gets across the political spectrum. From all sides of the Opposition, Liz is held in very high regard for those attributes that I was referring to earlier. We also had common ground that we like to sneak out for a dirty fag, and on our fag breaks, whether she liked it or not, she became my mentor as I asked her question after question, and again she listened and she answered. She's shaped the way that I went about then and continue to go about today being a Councillor. So yeah, thank you for the opportunity to say some words. I'm thrilled, I'm absolutely thrilled that you're going to be on there. My final question to you Liz is, could you just tell me what this is, please? A spade. Fellow Kingstonians, you are now ready for your mayor 2024 to 2025. Thank you very much, Councillor Waring. So, Councillor Liz Green now formally assumes the Maralty of the Royal Borough for 2024-25. Congratulations, Mayor. [Applause] Thank you. In a moment, the meeting will adjourn for a few moments to allow the new mayor to put on the ropes and chain of office, and then the cast will also be suspended. Just before we do so, I believe the mayoral team would like to step forward. Thank you. Thank you very much, that's extremely kind of you. Thank you. I think that's it. Thank you. [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] Please be seated. Right, I've asked everyone to be seated. That bit's done. Okay, the next item of business will be for me to make my declaration of acceptance. So, I Elizabeth Chard Green have been elected to the Office of Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, and I declare that I take that office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to the best of my judgement and ability. And Sarah Island, the Chief Executive, will now countersign my declaration of acceptance of office. I will now take my affirmation of allegiance, which will be countersigned by Tarina Chard, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Chair of the South-West London Local Justice Area Bench. I, Elizabeth Chard Green, do solemnly and sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his Majesty King Charles III and his heirs and successors according to law. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Well, thank you all very much to all of the members of the Council who've placed their trust in me to fulfil this role. I've got some very big boots to fill following on from Diane and Yogan before that. But I just want to say I will do my best and hopefully you will pay attention to me when I ask you to and come to my fundraisers, please. Right. Item 5, appointment of Deputy Mayor. I, Elizabeth Chard Green, Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon Thames, acting under the provisions of paragraph 5 of schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 1972, hereby appoint Councillor Elizabeth Park to be Deputy Mayor of this Royal Borough. Thank you. Microphone on. At this point, I would like to announce the appointment of my husband Michael Green to be my main consort and my daughter's Martha Green, Poppy Green and Safran Green to be additional mayor-esses respectively. Michael and Martha will now be invested with a chain or badge of honour, badge of office even, by our representative Deputy Lieutenant Father Martin Hislop, and received garlands from Kingston Race and Equality Council. Could I ask Michael and Martha to come forward? Let me know in the back. It's hot. It's hot to eat. [silence] Ah, we missed. My mistake. We missed this bit for me. Thank you. [silence] First failing of the year. I forgot to do the garlands for myself and the Deputy Mayor at the right point, but never mind. [silence] Right. I've caught up on the garlands. And now I'd like to announce that the Deputy Mayor has appointed her son, Jay Kim, as the Deputy Mayor's escort, and her daughter Angelina Kim as her Deputy Mayor. Jim, Jay Kim will now be invested with a badge and chain of office, by our representative Deputy Lieutenant Father Martin Hislop, and receive a garland from Kingston Race and Equality Council. [silence] [silence] [silence] Moving on to item 8, appointment of Mayor's chaplains. I will be appointing a number of associate chaplains from different faith groups and individuals from non-faith groups to lead the Council in prayer and reflection during the year. Item 9, Mayor's Announcements. Unfortunately, we've had some very sad news that four previous Councillors have passed away in recent months. Honoree Olderman Sheila Griffin, who was the Norbertin Ward Councillor for 12 years, between 2002 and 2010, and then again between 2014 to 2018, and she was Deputy Mayor in 2006, 7. Honoree Olderman Janet Bowen-Hitchins, who was a Serpent and Hill Ward Councillor, was elected in 1998 and served until 2010, and was the Deputy Mayor of 2003 for municipal year. Former Councillor Gazala Hyatt, Old Modern Ward Councillor for four years from 2002 to 2006, and Deputy Mayor in the municipal year 2005 to 2006, and former Councillor Jason Hughes, Old Modern Ward Councillor for four years from 2018 to 2022. I'd like to invite those who are able to do so to please stand for a minute silence in their memory. Thank you. [ Pause ] [ Pause ] Thank you very much. At first, in Mayor's Announcements, I'd like to thank Kingston Ration Equality Council for these lovely garlands that you present every year, and they seem to get better every year, so thank you for those. Thank you, John. I'd also like to welcome three representatives from the Korean Embassy present this evening, in celebration of our first Korean member of the mayoral team, Elizabeth. Thank you. [ Applause ] Next is my choice of charity, and Elizabeth and I, Councillor Park, Deputy Mayor and I, oh God, how do I refer to it now. Anyway, we have chosen Habitats and Heritage. Many of you have probably not heard of them, but they operate particularly in Kings in Richmond and Houndslow, and they're a little bit in Kingston, and they look after some of our friends groups. So it's really to give a boost to all the many friends groups that we have across this borough, and to help and support them over this mayoral year and then going forward. And we have Paul and Sophia, if you could give us a wave. That's it. Do hunt them out afterwards when we're in the Queen Anne Suite to find out more information on the work that they do. Fourth coming mayoral events, the mayoral Sunday Civic Service is on the 16th of June at 1130 at All Saints Church. We have the annual Kingston Racial Equality Council cricket match between the Racial Equality Council and the Council. That will take place on Saturday the 20th of July from 1 to 4pm, and I'm assuming it Victoria Rec as usual. And there are samosas, which are, in my view, the best samosas you will ever taste. It is worth it just for the samosas. And also, I'm very pleased to announce our first fundraising event. So we've been busy preparing for this, and we will have a treasure hunt, Kingston's Clue Quest. It will be on Saturday the 6th of July between 1230 and 4pm, and we'll be going around Kingston looking at some of our natural environment and some of our heritage buildings in a treasure hunt style. There are flyers in the Queen Anne Suite, so please sign up for that as soon as you can. We're going to get on to the main business of the meeting in a moment, and I just want to say to all of the members, I've always found it a little bit strange that we refer to Mr Mayor and Madam Mayor. So I'm going to ask you to refer to me as Mayor, with no madam in front of it. I appreciate that it's very difficult to change the way in which we do these things sometimes, and people will make mistakes, but if you could try to refer to me as Mayor, I would appreciate it. It's also my intention to manage council meetings fairly but firmly, in accordance with procedural rule 13 if you wish to look it up. I expect the meetings to be conducted courteously with respect shown to all members, especially when they are speaking. I do not expect to hear any interruptions if you want to speak, attract my attention rather than calling out, just to set it clear from the start. So we will now move on to the rest of the agenda. I'll sit down again now. Thank you. Right. See, I will try and follow protocols some of the time. Right, item 10, the vote of thanks. Councillor Andres Kursk, I'd like to invite you to propose the vote of thanks to the former Mayor, which I understand Councillor Davey will be seconding. Councillors, you feel free to speak from your seats or come to the lectern as you wish. Mayor, Deputy Lieutenant, Alderman, former Mayor's, Councillors, distinguished guests and members of the public. It is a huge pleasure and honour for me to say a word of thanks for our Mayor for the last May of the year, Diane White, and also for our Deputy Mayor, Richard Thorpe, which I believe will go into more detail. So I will concentrate more on Diane. They both have been a great team and have done our borough and our residents a great service. So thank you both. And I also have heard they had both also enjoyed their roles very much. Being Mayor is a privilege. And apart from representing Kingston, it's all about people and communities. Connecting communities with each other and connecting with communities. Diane has done this with dignity and kindness. Always modest and a great listener. And is a wonderful sense of humour. But being Mayor has also its challenges. And some of those come with the mayoral robe and chain. Joining a church service, in this case, the Costa Mongas Harvest Festival, turned out slightly different from what Diane had expected. Tressed in full robes, she ended up skipping round a May pole with pearly kings and queens joining in. From hosting his Majesty the King at his visit to our Korean community in New Morgan, to hosting the annual Iftar dinner together with the Dialogue Society, there's plenty to do for our Mayor. Diane also drove diggers, went up buildings, sometimes in chubby pickers, and even put her own piece of artwork on one of the steel, of the new build of the Burlington School, whilst being in one of the chubby pickers. Dancing with residents at the Milab Centre and joining in in a game of oranges and lemons with the Deputy Mayor is part of the job as Mayor as well. But Diane has also learnt a lot of new things as Mayor. One, for example, boxing, as it happened to Diane whilst visiting a boxing event. At the hottest day of the year, she found herself being poured to box. Needless to say, she mastered it well, and in Mayor will stay, style, bearing her chain. Honing her media skills as Mayor and usually getting an average 10 likes or thumbs up, Diane found herself speechless when her post, which featured her hosting the winner of the annual Christmas card competition in the Mayor's parlor. The winning pupil had brought her grandmother from the Philippines along, and the post went absolutely viable in the Philippines. Although, perhaps the biggest testament of Diane's successful year as Mayor and her brilliantly handling and fulfilling the role, and I really literally mean big, is a present she got from the children at N. Steve Bridge. At the moment in the community room for everybody who would like to have a look, so really talking about big, it's sort of this size. It has, on the balcony, a drawing which represents Diane in her robes, smiling and waving at the people. So it's, has been an absolutely amazing present, so really literally big. Diane has been a fabulous Mayor. The Mayor was a rare gift. The gift of making the people she met always feeling special. Thank you, Diane. Thank you, Councillor CURST. Councillor DAVIE. Thank you. In having Diane as our Mayor, we had the personification of goodness as Mayor. And in Richard, it was the personification of modesty as Deputy Mayor. I only found out today that Richard was a financial adviser to the G20 for three years. Now, I call that swank potential, but for Richard, it isn't. His light is firmly under that bushel. He took that modesty and commitment to the community into his work as Deputy Mayor, letting the community shine, attending 140 events. The thought of the number of teas alone is enough to make me waver. I felt full in. Just how many cups of tea did she have? They clearly have far more stamina than me. But it's not just stamina, it's a zest for life. Richard loved and was loved, whether it was in Millap Christmas party, the two Chinese New Years, the citizenship ceremonies, or presentations at Kingston College. Richard joined the party. Thank you. Thank you for recognizing and celebrating the history of Kingston. Thank you for relishing its cultural diversity and inclusion. Thank you for recognizing and celebrating our voluntary sector, which enriches both the volunteers and the projects they're carrying out. Thank you for smiling your way through last year. Your work with Diane has given a lift to people's lives and lightens the heart. It is your work as Deputy Mayor with Diana's Mayor and our community that makes Kingston the special place that it is. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor DAVY. I'd now like to invite former Mayor, an existing Councillor, former Mayor, Councillor Diane White to respond. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, everyone. I'm going to be saying thank you a lot this evening. It has truly been such a privilege and honour to have been Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames this last year. We are the oldest London Borough, and we all know that we are the best, but this year has allowed me to see so much more than I ever imagined. I spoke last May of the importance of community and communities, supporting one another, coming together. I have witnessed so much of this, from neighbours looking out for each other, individuals with boundless energy sharing their ideas and bringing others along with them, charities, businesses, community groups, all making our borough a better place. I'm often asked what has been my favourite event this year, and honestly, it has been every event, meeting residents, every single one, whether it was planned or at public events. Hearing their stories, learning about them is interesting, heartening, sometimes heartbreaking. Our residents lead by example, making positive differences to all our lives. I'm very proud of our inclusive and richly diverse borough, and have enjoyed so many amazing cultural and heritage events, particularly amongst the Tamil, Korean, Milak communities. The fortnightly citizenship ceremonies held in this room have been a highlight of both May and Richard's Year, where we welcome new citizens to our country and to our borough. We have been honoured to work with the Interfaith Forum, a place of hope and belief in the future. Our police have renewed their focus on neighbourhoods, and it has been a privilege to work with them. You can see the photos of some of the events that we've been along to this year. Meeting the King was such an honour, and to see his pleasure in meeting our residents was absolutely delightful. I met the Duke of Edinburgh on two occasions. He sang Happy Birthday to me on one of them. There has been so much fun, especially with brownies, cubs, scouts and all the school visits. Questions are often unexpected. Are you a swifty? KFC or McDonald's? And they're very common. Do you live in a palace? The mayor has a charitable trust, and we have been so privileged to work with two truly inspirational organisations, Kingston Charitable Foundation and Voices of Hope. They do incredible work supporting our residents at times in their lives when they may need a little more help. Thank you so much to Sarah, Hickey, all the staff and volunteers. It has been such a joy to work with them. Thank you to everyone many of you who are here, who have supported our fundraising events. A year ago, I was given one piece of advice. Choose the deputy mayor wisely, and I have to say I so excelled at that one. Thank you very much, Richard, and also Lynn, for sharing this year. We've had fun together, supported each other, and I have very much enjoyed your company. It will always be our year. Thank you to my family, to John, who was a consort on 100 occasions, to Alex and Heidi, who, amongst many things, happily came out on Christmas Day to visit residents who would otherwise have been alone. Thank you to Ty and Tiyogan, who stepped in as former mayors. One particular Saturday, we had seven events between us. Every year at annual council, I hear the retiring mayor thank the mayoral team, and I always think, oh, how nice they must be, and now I know. There are no words to thank Alison, Wendy, and Brian enough, ably assisted by Roy and Mick. Their kindness, commitment, dedication, and passion is exceptional. We are used to excellent officers, but this team is just so wonderful. We have all been part of the team, Richard, me, Brian, Wendy, and Alison, all equal parts of the Marilty, just with different roles to play, dependent on each other. Thank you to Gary Marston, who's on his honeymoon right now, and the Dem Services team, always so very, very helpful and supportive, turning their hands to pouring Sherry at the older residence Christmas party to tidying up this chamber at 11pm after the quiz night. The Marilty is very special. When you wear the chains, the room lights up. Residents remember they have met you. They remember 10, 20 years on that they met the mayor, and they feel recognized, valued, appreciated. It's like sprinkling stardust. Representing the borough, making connections, linking residents, communities, and businesses with each other, it is a huge responsibility, a huge honor, and it has been the very best of my years. Mayor, you kindly said that Yogan and I were leaving big shoes to fill. I don't think we need to worry. I think you have very big feet. [applause] Councillor White, I need to present you with your retiring mayor's badge. [applause] [applause] I'll get used to this, right, OK. Thank you very much, Councillor White. So we'll now move on to the business part of the agenda. Item 11 is the appointment of the tip staff and town crier. Councillor CURSH, I believe you will be moving the motion on page 3 of the agenda. Is that correct? Yes, Mayor, that's correct. Councillor Holt, you will be seconding the motion, and do you wish to reserve your right to speak later? Yes, Mayor. Can I ask if there are any members that wish to speak on this item? Councillor CURSH. Thank you, Mayor. Just really quickly, I want to say that I'm delighted that we appoint Mike Segal again for Ontario tip staff and town crier. He has done this job for a couple of years now in amazingly manner. He's absolutely dedicated to the job and brilliant in doing it. So I'm looking forward to another year for him being our tip staff and town crier. Thank you, Councillor CURSH. Is there any other members that wish to speak? In which case can I take it that this has agreed unanimously, Councillors? Yes. Thank you very much. Item 12, appointment of members to committees, panels and other bodies. Hang on a minute. Classes are needed now. All right, that's bad. Okay. Details of the nomination of members to sit on the various committees and panels have been circulated as annex one of Appendix A in the late material. Please note that this includes a request for Council to make a change to its membership on the Cambridge Road Estate RBK Limited Liability Partnership Board from Councillor Richerd Thorpe to Councillor Lynn Henderson. Additionally, I have been informed that on—I haven't got the list of pages, but for the scrutiny committee, that there is a additional change which is that the chair of the scrutiny panel should be Councillor James Giles instead of Councillor Rowena Bass, which I understand has been agreed between the three-party leaders. Councillor CURSH, I'd therefore invite you to move the nominations. Happy to move, Mayor. Thank you, and Councillor HALT, are you happy to second and reserve your right to speak later if needed? I am there. Are there any members that wish to speak? Councillor GRILLES. Thank you, Mayor. I've only had a few hours to look through this, but I do have a number of comments I wish to make. The first was noting the removal of Councillor KUGAN from the Corporate and Resources Committee after she, for the second year, voted against the administration's budget. I, for one thing, it's a great shame she's no longer on corporate and resources, and indeed, should she continue to feel as she did, she's welcome to join us on these chairs here. If I can move on to page A9 with respect to the licensing committee, I want to just remind members of the text underneath the appointments which reads, members are required to make themselves regularly available to attend subcommittee hearings to determine alcohol entertainment and gambling licenses, and it's with concern that I note that in the last municipal year, Councillor Emily Davey, who is set to remain on this committee, did not attend a single subcommittee meeting, that Councillor Anne Owen did not attend a single subcommittee meeting, and indeed Councillor Kim only attended one subcommittee meeting, and so I'd ask the administration to reconsider those appointments if people are not able to, as is required of them, make themselves regularly available. If I can turn to page A13 with respect to the staff consultative committee, and I did raise this last year, this committee does not exist, literally does not exist, so if we could please, for the second year now, ask that that be removed and stricken from the appointments, I'm listed as a member of it, it literally does not exist. On a slightly brighter note, if we turn to page A18, if I could welcome Councillor THORP to his role as portfolio holder for finance assets and governance, welcome back Councillor Diane White to the role of children's services, and as she does a fine job there, and indeed welcome Councillor Nicola Nardelli to the newly created role of sustainable transport and waste and recycling, and I'm sure I'll be in touch with her with a number of residents who have issues around their bins being broken by bin crews, and I look forward to hearing her replies on those in due course. But finally then, if I can turn to the re-jigged portfolio holder functions, which have been re-jigged again this year on the annual merry-go-round that we find, we find ourselves with a portfolio holder for commissioning that does not have responsibility for voluntary sector commissioning, the same portfolio holder for customer contact, not having responsibility for communications with the public, the portfolio holder for governance, not having responsibility for legal affairs, the portfolio holder for climate action and biodiversity, not having responsibility for things like cycling, walking and healthy streets, and indeed some portfolios completely split up altogether, surely to the detriment when liaising with officers, for example, Councillor Hager-Michael who did a fine job as the portfolio holder for assets commissioning and waste, his role has been split, assets and investments to one portfolio holder, contracts and commissioning, although of course not voluntary sector commissioning to another, bereavement services and citizenship to a third, and waste and recycling to a fourth. And for some peculiar reason, adult education, which did sit, I think quite comfortably, in culture and heritage, does not sit in communities leisure and economic development, it's been lumped in with commissioning, customer contact and equalities. Now, number of residents have written to me and indeed Councillor Heap about the poor state of adult education at the Malden Centre, and so I would hate to think that's just been tagged on at the end of a portfolio, and I hope it will be given the seriousness it merits. The point being, we are halfway through this Council term, and this is now another set of portfolio shuffles and changes, and I would urge the administration, as we look forward to the latter half of this term, to have some consistency. Thank you Madam Mayor, now forgive me. Yes, thank you Councillor Giles. I will now, does any other member wish to speak? In which case I will call on Councillor Holt, who seconded the proposal, followed by Councillor CURCH that proposed, if Councillor Holt wishes to speak, we'll just leave it to Councillor CURCH, up to you. Yes, Councillor CURCH is happy to respond. Thank you, then Councillor CURCH to sum up please. Thanks Mayor, and here, thank you Councillor Giles for your observations and comments. Noted. Yeah, we are looking forward to two more years in the administration, and the municipality of our new mayor, and I think residents will judge us on what we deliver, and how portfolios are divided up. Thank you, Councillor CURCH. I will now put this to the vote. Do you wish to have a vote on it, or can I assume this is agreed unanimously? That is agreed unanimously, thank you very much, Councillors. Item 13, the appointment of members to London Council Committees and LGA. This details the nominations for appointments to London Councils and the LGA, and they've been circulated as Annex 3 of Appendix A in the late material pack. I invite Councillor CURCH to move the motion. Happy to move the motion. Thank you, and Councillor HALT, are you seconding reserve your right to speak? Yes, Mayor. Do any members wish to speak on this item? Councillor Giles. Thank you, Madam Mayor, only a point of clarity please. For the annual general meeting of London Councils, it states three representatives, but of course four are listed. So before we agree that, can we just get if possible some clarity on the number, or indeed bring this back to a future meeting? Thank you. I'm informed we don't have the answer at the moment. I don't even have a copy of the late material actually in front of me. It's on my table over there. But yes, we will get back to you with a clarity on that in the next couple of weeks, if that's OK, Councillor Giles. Good, go ahead. Thank you, Mayor. Could I ask for a commitment from the administration if indeed it is three, that one of the three go to the opposition? I will be asking Councillor CURCH to sum up in a moment, so he will either choose to make that commitment or not. Are there any other Councillors that wish to speak on this item? In which case, do you wish to speak, Councillor HALT? No? No, no, I'll let a Councillor CURCH respond. In which case, Councillor CURCH, could you please sum up? Thank you, Mayor. Again, thanks, Councillor GRIES. It's noted and as soon as we have cleared if it's three or four, obviously we would give the third place if it's only three places to the opposition. Thank you, Councillor CURCH. Do we need to go to a vote on that or is it agreed unanimously? Very, very much. Thank you very much, Councillors agreed unanimously. Item 14, appointment of non-elected members to committees and panels. Details of the nominations for the appointment of non-elected members to committees and panels have been circulated in Annex 1 of Appendix A of the late material pack. Councillor CURCH, are you moving the motion? Happy to move now. Thank you, and Councillor HALT to second. Yes, Mayor. Are there any members that wish to speak on this? Councillor GRIES. Thank you, Mayor. I wonder if the administration could outline what they are doing to try and fill the vacancies in some of these committees. Some of these have been vacant now for an exceedingly long time. We've got a non-voting advisory in the People Committee vacant representative for the Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark vacant. That's on the People Committee. But alarmingly, I think I saw in here the independent member is vacant on the Audit Governance and Standards Committee, and I do sincerely hope that is filled swiftly. But even though the number of non-voting members has reduced on these committees in recent years, we seem to still be struggling to fill them. So some progress on that and an update from the administration on what progress they're making would be much appreciated. Thank you, Councillor GRIES. Does any members wish to speak? Councillor HALT, do you wish to speak as the seconder? Thank you, Councillor GRIES, for pointing that out. As always, we try to fill these positions. Some people have had the positions and chosen to step aside. It is under can assure you we will continue to look at this, and we would welcome any independent members on these committees. Thank you, Councillor HALT. Councillor CURST, do you wish to add anything? No matter the matter. Thank you. Mayor, thank you. We're going to have this a lot. Thank you very much, Councillors. Do I need to take this to a vote? Will you happy to agree unanimously? Agreed unanimously, thank you very much. Item 15, urgent items. There are no urgent items or exempt business, so I close this meeting at that. I haven't even got a clock anymore. 9.01. I'd like to invite all members and guests to a reception in the Queen Anne Suite, which is just that way for those that don't know, except all the members of the licensing committee who need to stay behind for a very brief licensing committee meeting, which will take place in here. So if guests can leave relatively swiftly, that can take pace. Thank you very much for your time. (audience laughing)