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Unfortunately, we did have a bit of technical difficulties, but we have sorted that. On behalf of the people of Tamworth, I would like to thank our outgoing Mayor John Harper, who was elected mayor in a really interesting time for Tamworth, no over control, and potentially being the key vote in any deciding Tamworth's future. Even with all this, he still always be smiling, pleasant, even if others around him weren't. I remember seeing John at many events around Tamworth, you could spot him a mile away with his big smile and sense of pride when he was attending our outstanding events in the town. The public were drawn to him. Many times I'd see him, he'll be talking to him, and he'd always make sure he's available for a chat and also to listen to the residents of our great town. I'd like to move a vote of thanks for our retiring Mayor of Tamworth. I would ask for a seconder. Thank you, Councillor Woodruff. So what I'm going to do now is move for a vote. All those in favour? All those against? Any abstentions? Okay, that is passed. What I'd ask now is that anyone that would wish to speak about our outgoing Mayor, Councillor Smith, thank you. Mr Mayor, I'd just like to share a few words about John Harper, both as a person and Mayor. He's been an outstanding Mayor, known for his honesty, straightforwardness and willingness to ensure that everyone feels entitled to speak. On a personal level, John is genuinely decent. What you see is what you get, which is incredibly refreshing in today's world. I wish him the best of luck and good fortune for the future. Thank you, John. Anyone else would like to speak? Kidok. Ladies and gentlemen, John Harper, will you come down, and I will present you with your badge. [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] Thank you very much. You're all obviously desperate for all the chef. But I'll try and keep this more in as we're really giving the instructions to keep it brief and to the point, because I do have a habit of going on a bit. I'm the Ken Dodd of Civic World, not because I'm particularly humorous, but because I just keep going on and on and on and on. But what I would like to do is just say one or two thank yous really before I do go. First of all, can I thank Tamara Council, and particularly our new Chief Executive, Stephen Gabriel, who I'm sure is going to be a fantastic asset to our town. For the lovely flowers that the council sent to me during my reason in disposition, I also would like to thank very much the conservative group for the flowers and TJ, and all of you lovely people who've sent me a lovely flat bunch of flowers that Maureen's already got displayed in following what happened, and to the wonderful words sent by the Labour group, all of which means an absolute world. It's absolutely lovely of you and very, very kind, and I appreciate it so much. I've only been on the council for three years because of COVID, but it feels as though I've been here forever in a lot of ways. It's gone very quickly, but I've always felt at home in this beautiful room, and I've felt that with everyone, every one of the councillors here, some of you may not particularly have a great opinion of me, I don't know. I don't know if you may think more, I don't know, but I think everyone here is doing what they can in the best way they can for our town, because I've never been a tribal animal, particularly political side. I've only got one allegiance really, which is to the town of Tamworth, which is the town I love, and which has been my passion for so many years. I must say that, so I'm becoming mayor, the person I have to thank is Councillor Danny Cook. Danny stepped aside last year from the deputy mayor ship, which put me on the track to becoming the mayor of the town. The greatest honour, the greatest honour that I could possibly ever have hoped for in my life anyway, and I thank you Danny for that. I appreciate it and a good thing for you to do. I became a councillor really, because of all the years I used to write for the Tamworth Herald, and all I ever did week after week was slag off the council, telling them what a bunch of idiots they were, that they didn't know anything and all this sort of thing. And he got to the point when I thought, John, you're an absolute hypocrite, because you can't slag people off for doing something that you've never done. So I thought, I should have a go and see if I can make any difference myself. I did do, and I've had a wonderful time. Being a 142nd mayor of Tamworth, I've got so many ex mayors of Tamworths in here, they're everywhere. I don't know what the collective noun for a group of ex mayors, David here, and we've got Margaret Marion, Ken, and we've got a whole raft of Tina and Jeremy and Richard. There's a whole raft of you over here, but I haven't missed somebody else. I've said Richard, I think. And I've really delighted that you've all made a return, a fantastic return to the chamber, because experience and new ideas work brilliantly together. Two are really quite inseparable. I've attended an incredible number of civic functions with my wife, Maureen. We've made so many friends amongst the civic heads. We've attended so many official ceremonies, openings, remembrance services, and lots and lots of events that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Most important, however, I've been the many, many charity events, voluntary events. We in Tamworth are so lucky. We've got so many fabulous people who you never hear of. They're just working away in the background, doing good work, looking after people, disabled, young, old, whatever the problems. There are groups of fabulous people out there working with little recognition. And those are the people that it really actually, you look in a newspaper and you see so much horror and dreadful things happening in the world. But that's not the world that I see in this last year. It's been a brilliant world of caring, kind, lovely, fabulous people. And that's the most precious thing I will take away from my membership. At the end of it, everybody says an old counselor, an old mayor, Sam Munn, told me many years ago. He said, John, if you ever go on the council, he said, You will always leave feeling disappointed because you will never, ever achieve everything that you want to do. Everything that you want to achieve. He's absolutely right. There are so many things I'd love to have done. I was mentioning to Gareth earlier on that we wanted, I wanted to do a youth, a youth, a bigger button. I'm losing my memory at times. A youth scheme whereby we could involve lots of young people in a young Tamworth festival of youth, which would take an awful lot of organizing. But I think it would be a good thing that perhaps someone might like to take up in the future. I wanted to get involved with the tourist route around the town. And there are many, many other things that I thought would be good for the town. I just would like to, before I just pick up and shuffle off my heart into the wilderness. I would just like to say thank you. It's been the honor of a lifetime being the mayor of Tamworth. And I would like to thank the people of Tamworth for all of their kindness and all of their recognition when I've been walking through the town. Everyone's been so pleasant and lovely. And it's something I couldn't even have dreamt of in my wildest dreams. Before I actually hang up, I'd like to just present a couple of things. If I may, I've got one particular thing that I want to do. The mayor is very privileged to be driven around in a beautiful car to functions all around the town and all around the county. And to do that, we have three chauffeurs who ultimately take it in terms or whatever to run the mayor around the town. They are brilliant people. And I would like to introduce you to them, if I may. And can I ask Roger, Gabriel, and Pete, to come forward, if you would. These people, ladies and gentlemen, are the innocent heroes of Tamworth, Barre Council because they are representatives. They look after us in so, so many ways. Apart from driving the cars, they are our representatives. And you should all look at them because they are each one of them, a fabulous individual. Roger, just a little memento, Gabriel, a little memento, and Peter. Thank you all so much for everything. And certainly on behalf of myself and Maureen, thank you. But I think on behalf of everyone in this room, thank you for everything you do for Tamworth, for making this fabulous civic authority that we are. Thank you guys. (Applause) I would also like to, before we go, just, oh, very quickly, this is quick enough, Maureen, I'm sorry. There's one other thing I need to, I'm sorry, I should have another bag somewhere. That's right. One of the things I've wanted to do during my membership is to celebrate a particular individual who everybody's forgotten about. Well, I tell everybody, most people have forgotten about it. His name was Henry Wood. Now, Henry Wood was town clerk of Tamworth from 1928 to 1959. He spent his entire life, his entire working life, working for the Borough Council. He worked initially on his own. He was just him, and gradually other officers came in. But he saw us through the Second World War. He was very instrumental in setting up the castle pleasure grounds. Most importantly, he rescued the town's history, which was in a dreadful state. It was disappearing and falling into degradation at the castle. He rescued all the civic records, compiled them, catalogs them. They're all stored now, safely and kill university under proper supervision. These go back to the 11th, 12th centuries, just irreplaceable. What he also did, he wrote a couple of books, Borough High Prescription in 1958, and later Medieval Tamworth. They're the two best books about Tamworth. If you ever get the chance to read them, do so, because they'll give you the whole history of Tamworth Borough Council from its earliest times up until the dawn of the 1960s. What I've got is a book, which I've written a bit of a story about, well, just the life of Henry Wood. I also managed to acquire his medals, which were given to him in the 1950s for various national celebrations. I'd like to present these to the council and to the mayor to be lodged in the mayor's chamber, or in the mayor's parlour by, I should say, for anyone who wishes to have a look at them, and remember a man who was actually in his day and in his time known as Mr Tamworth. And I hope that we can remember the wonderful Mr Henry Wood in future years. So, Mr Mayor, can I ask you to take ownership of these gifts? Thank you. Finally, I'm so sorry, I'm taking up most of the evening, which is something I didn't want to do. Finally, there is one person who, excuse me, who the mayor could not exist without, and that's a secretary, advisor, just a person to go to about anything. And I've been so fortunate during my membership to have an officer who is just beyond the limits of excellence. She is truly a person whom I've relied, and who I've absolutely think the world of. Her name is Tracy Pointen, and Tracy, from the mayor, I just wanted to just give you a little momentum of our period in office, and just say thank you. Tracy Pointen. Well, it's okay, I'll get out of the way now. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much. I think the absolute world of each and every one of you, I think the world of Tamworth for a council. It's a wonderful council, it's a well-run council, and you are good people who I'm sure will be running it well for many years to come. Thank you all for the honours that you've given me, and my wonderful wife, who, again, I could not have survived without. And if I may have to give one more round of applause, the mayor is Maureen Harper. Thank you, everyone, and I shall now sail off into the sunset and watch your progress and success with great interest through the wonderful pages of the Tamworth Herald. Thank you, everyone. Good night. [Applause] Okay, back to the agenda now. Moving to agenda item number four, which is the election of a deputy mayor. Now it's time for me to call the nominations of the deputy mayor. Is there a proposal? Councillor Dean. And give my reasons for that. So I would like to propose my friend and colleague, Councillor Chris Bain, as deputy mayor for this year. I believe he has the skills and the experience to support you, Mr Mayor, during this year, to come, and he will be an amazing advocate for our town. And I know that anyone who has worked with Chris for this last year will know how, will have recognised his professionalism in all he does, which I know he will use to best use as he goes forward with you to support you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Do we have a seconder, Councillor Wood? Thank you, Mr Mayor. I would like to emulate a second that proposal and emulate what Councillor Dean has just said about Chris. Having known himself, having known him by self for over 10 years, the qualities that he embodies, which I think would translate perfectly over to the Office of Deputy Mayor is that he's compassionate towards others. He possesses sound judgment. He's fiercely dedicated to whatever position he holds. He's considerate of all viewpoints. And he's driven to do what he's right. And I think those qualities will translate perfectly. Thank you, Councillor Wood. Do we have any more nominations? Okay, I'm going to go throw to the vote. All those in favour, Councillor Layton. Any against? Any abstentions? Okay, don't. That's unanimous. Councillor Beyn, you were Deputy Mayor at Amworth. Would you like to come up? As chief executive of Tamworth Borough Council, I would like to welcome you, Councillor Chris Beyn, as Deputy Mayor, and I would like to invite you back to the vote. Councillor Chris Beyn, as Deputy Mayor, and I would like to invite you to read out and sign the Declaration of Office. I, Chris Beyn, have been elected to the Office of Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Tamworth to clear that I take that office upon myself and will duly and faithfully fulfil the duties of it according to the best of my judgment and ability. I undertake to observe the code as to the conduct which is expected of me as a member of Tamworth Borough Council. Thank you, Councillor Beyn. Okay, don't. Moving on to agenda item number five, it's time to elect a Leader of the Council. So, I will call the nominations for the Leader of the Council. I will need a proposal and a seconder. Is there a proposal? Councillor Foster, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just firstly, I'd just like to congratulate you on your election of the Office. I'm sure you'll be an asset to the town and I really hope you enjoy your year as Mayor. I'll think you'll find it's absolutely a brilliant year. So, congratulations. Secondly, I'd just like to spare a thought for Daniel Maycock, who hasn't actually been congratulated on that. Congratulations on his role as Deputy Mayor this evening. It is a difficult role being a Deputy Mayor and I would just like to spare a thought for him and thank him for his efforts in the Council in that role. And, hopefully, sometime in the future. I don't know if it works. How has he ever been? I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't think he had. So, but in the future, hopefully, he will get to take that role of fingers crossed. So, after having said that, I'd like to propose Councillor Carol Dean as the Leader of the Council. I believe she has all the qualities to hold the Office. She has lived in town worth most of her life. She's been a personal friend of mine for a long, long time. Actually went to a wedding reception. And I believe she's got all the skills to enable her to succeed in that role. The electorate this year decided they wanted a new change, a change in town worth. And I believe that Carol is the right person to actually drive through that change. I'm not going to speak at length, but I would just like to say a little bit about the fact that if you haven't actually noticed, Carol is a woman. And this, I believe, is probably one of the first types, if not the first, that we have elected a leader who is a woman to this Council. And I personally would hope... Oh, Irene Davis, yes, sorry, yeah. Whatever. I would personally hope that we get many more from both sides of the Chamber. It's been my lifetime, it's been a lifetime since we had one, and I think we don't want to wait another lifetime to get another one in. So I would recommend that we elect Carol Dean as our leader. And hopefully I'll get a seconder for that to position from the floor. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Foster. Do we have a second? Councillor Statham. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to second the nomination of Carol Dean, Councillor Carol Dean for Leader. Carol is the leader that Tamworth needs and deserves. Anyone that knows her knows how caring and compassionate she is to anybody in her life, including residents. She understands the needs of residents and is always willing to fight an advocate for those most vulnerable in our town. The support that she has given to us new Councillors and existing Councillors is just undescribable. She has been everybody's rock. She has supported us from the beginning, right to the end. She's very committed to resolving the issues raised by residents, and I just want to second what Davis said. I think it's amazing that we have the chance to have a strong female leader. It's great to have more women on this council as well, so I'd like to congratulate all of the females and the men as well, of course. But it would be great to have a female leader, and I'm looking forward to working with her as she hopefully embarks on her journey as leader of Tamworth Council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for that. Do we have any other nominations? Okie-dok, we're going to go to the vote. All those in favour of Councillor Cowardine? That's the leader, raise your hands. There's one down. Ok, those against. And any abstentions, which will be, well, I don't understand. Okie-dok, I think that is carried. So, Cowardine, you are the leader of the council. Okie-dok, now we're going to go to item number six. Declarations of interest, does anyone have any interest? They need to declare. Ok, Councillors? Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and congratulations on taking up the role for the year. You'll have a fantastic time, and in the same way as Councillor Harper said, you'll find things about Tamworth you never dreamt existed. I'd like to declare a non-precunery, but potentially prejudicial interest in a genderised 20, so I'll leave the room during the item. Thank you very much for that. Are there any more declarations of interest? Nope, Okie-dok, we're going to keep moving to this agenda because it's quite full today. Item number seven is to receive the minutes of the previous meetings of the 11th of March and the 19th of March. I do have the following point to raise. In the draft minutes of the 19th of March, minute number 95, the wording should read. The Council commits to doing and sends officers to explore options for future delivery of a town centre location. If this is agreed, can we move both sets on block? Can I have a mover? Councillor JAY, and could I have a seconder? Councillor DEAN? Ok, we'll go to the vote. All those in favour? Remember, some can't vote. Okie-dok, do you want them all up still? Yeah, hands up again, sorry for those in favour, I apologise. Okie-dok, any against? Any abstentions? Okie-dok, they are carried. Okie-dok, now we're going to item eight, which is to receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader and the Chief Executive. It'd be me to start, I do apologise, but don't worry, I'm not as gifted with words as the previous Mayor, so I won't drag out for too long. First, I'd just like to say, welcome to the new Councillors, you know, congratulations on being elected, you'll have a great time, and I hope you enjoy your time on the Council. Whatever role you have over the next few years, please get the most out of it to the returning Councillors. Hello again, and thank you for all the support and advice you gave me in my first year as Council, and I hope you offer that olive branch to the new Councillors as well, because, like I said, it was vital for my development, so thank you very much. As many previous Mayor's have said in the past, it was a great honour and a privilege in this position, so I was taken back by, you know, your vote to me, so thank you to all of you that have given me the position of Mayor at Tamworth for the next 12 months, I won't let you down. I was asked as well what I'd like to accomplish in the next 12 months as Mayor, asking for the Assembly room to put die hard on a Christmas, apparently isn't the correct answer, but, you know, if we can make that happen, that'd be nice. So as there's no local borough elections, at the end of my time as Mayor, I would hope and like to see us all in the Chamber working 100% for the residents of Tamworth, not using local issues to make any political statements that only benefit them and not the residents of our town. Let's show the people at Tamworth that we are listening to them and working for them. As you can tell, I like food, so one of the things I'd like is a food festival in the town centre, I know we have a lot on the castle grounds, but I would just like one in the town centre basically, so when it's raining I don't get a lot of feet on the grass. You know, I would also encourage more people to spend time in the town centre. I also want to promote positive things that Tamworth has to offer from the local events, businesses, local charities that do great work in our communities. You know, Tamworth has so much to offer, not just the residents, but the rest of the country. You know, Tamworth Football Club and now in the National League, making Tamworth a way destination for a lot bigger clubs, and I'm looking forward to welcoming my fellow Barnet fans to Tamworth. That game I will be in the way and I will warn you. You know, also we have the Tamworth Ale Trail, you know, which takes you around many great pubs of the town. Apparently I'm not allowed to promote individual ones, so I won't owe my favourite. I will also be promoting other businesses around Tamworth as a councillor, not only should we be sharing the events that happen in Tamworth, but we should really support and share in the businesses that we have here. And finally, a big thank you to my wife, Sally, my daughters, Alex and Katie, who supported me so much with their help, you know, walking the streets, pointing things, you know, driven the election. It made a massive difference to me. And mainly I'd like to thank the residents of the Spital Ward who voted for me in 2023, which has now led me to be sitting here today as Tamworth's 143rd Mayor. So thank you all and, you know, thank you. Do we have an announcement at all from the leader at all? Councillor Deane. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'd like to start by congratulating you and wishing you and Sally an enjoyable and successful year as Tamworth's first citizens. I know you'll be a fabulous ambassador for the town. I'd also like to thank John Harper for the work he's done over the last year, and I wish John a morey well in their retirement from their civic duties. And I hope you take some time now, John, for yourself. But we look forward to seeing you around the town going forward. I'd also like to express my thanks to those former councillors. Some were here and some are not here today, whether they retired or were unsuccessful on the 2nd of May. It's important we acknowledge the contribution that has been made by these councillors, some for over 20 years of service. Their experience will be missed in this council chamber. Also, while I'm congratulating, congratulations to our new Chief Executive, Stephen Gabriel, as a year tensies first, and your council meeting. We look forward to working with you as we all move forward improving the town and the quality of the services that we provide. So, my next thanks, and probably the most important, go to the people of Tamworth, who have put their trust in our local Labour Party to lead the town through what we know is going to be some difficult, challenging times. We're committed to living up to the faith that people have shown in us, and we feel honoured to be given the opportunity to serve our town. But we've been listening to the local people, and they want change. As we lead the council going forward, we'll continue to listen. And we'll put the needs and the views of the local people at the heart of everything we do, making sure that their voices are heard. This last year has been interesting with its challenges and successes. As I say, we had an amazing set of results on 2nd of May, and we now have an opportunity after 20 years to make a real difference to the lives of local people here in Tamworth. We do take over at a challenging time, and as a result of 14 years of national Tory government, local authorities find themselves with extremely tight budgets. But whatever the reason for our current situation, we do all need to work together. All the councillors in this room, working hard for the people of Tamworth, our residents, our businesses and our other stakeholders. And I feel for the most part, we have all worked well together. As I've said at the beginning of last year, our group is here to make a difference, and we will not oppose for the sake of it. As we take over control of the council, we want to work collegently with everyone, whatever party. We all want what's best for Tamworth, and that is why we're here. Because it's going to be really challenging over the next few years, but we must remain focused on our job and why we all came into politics. It's about listening to the people of Tamworth and delivering better, more responsive services for them, having ambition for our town, and a vision to improve things for everyone. And making sure that we bring people with us on that journey. It's not about our own importance, or our status as councillors, or anyone's ego. So, in order to achieve the change we want, we will need to work with a variety of different partners, whether they be businesses, local community groups, charities and other authorities. But most importantly, with the people of Tamworth. And we will do things differently and make different choices. We'll bring a new collaborative and cooperative politics to Tamworth for the benefit of everyone. We want to bring our town together for a fresh start. But we also want to bring a change to the way we do politics here in Tamworth. We know that people aren't impressed with the punch and duty style of party politics that we see at Prime Minister's questions. We all need to be grown-ups. We need to be the grown-ups. We need to work as collaboratively and cooperatively with everyone as much as possible. And that does include everyone in this room. So, where we agree with other parties on specific issues, we will work with them for the common good. This last year has shown most of us want the same outcome, but we just have different ways of achieving it and different priorities. And I know some people have and some people will call me naive, but I believe we can work more constructively together and do things differently here in Tamworth. Especially if our focus is always put in the town first. So, I want to be positive about the future despite the challenges we face. And as we go forward, our priorities will continue to be those that the voters elected us on. And I'm going to read them out because I want the people out there to know what it is that our labour team will be working on and the things that are so important to us. So, they were providing face-to-face services for local people, investing in creating a vibrant, regenerated town centre, cleaning up our streets and cracking down on fly tipping, making sure that there are no forgotten areas or estates, tackling crime and antisocial behaviour and supporting people with the cost of living in whatever way that we can. And I know that isn't easy, but there are things that we can do to make things better for our residents. So, we're ambitious for the town's future. We can and will deliver the fresh start that Tamworth deserves. And we'll ensure that wherever possible, everyone is informed and feels included. I'd like to finish on a personal note. In acknowledging the role that I take on today, I could not let it pass without paying tribute to my friend and mentor, the late Terry Dicks, who is the reason I became a Councillor back in 2021. Terry always gave me the confidence and support to believe in myself, and I owe this success to him. So, thank you, Terry. Thank you for allowing me to speak, Mr Ware, and I look forward to the year ahead, and now the hard work begins. Thank you, Councillor Dean. Now we're going to move on to question time. So, we have two questions, a question from the member of public, number one, under the procedure, roll number 10. Ron Brown of Tamworth will ask the leader of the Labor Party, Councillor Cowardine, the following question. Thank you. By which date will this new controlling group publish its own itemised plan, including measurement criteria and delivery time scales for changing things for the better? Thank you for your question, Mr Brown. As you can imagine, we're still in the transition stage with the Labor only taking control this evening. But as I said earlier in my address to the Council, we will be giving priorities to the pledges that we were elected on. We know that people want to see change, that was reflected in the voting on the 2nd of May. But it would be wrong of me to put any timescales on projects at this time. We will need to meet with officers to find the way forward to implement the changes we all want. But I can confirm that our group has already had meetings to start this process, and we are working with officers to develop the corporate plan. Thank you for that, Councillor Dine. Do you have a supplementary question? Okay. Question number two is for a member of the public. Under procedure roll number 10, Ron Brown of Tamworth will ask the leader of the Council. Councillor COVIDine, the following question. Thank you. Does the majority group have any plan to migrate the public survey process of various Council-controlled topics away from inbound, unpublished, posted or emailed opinions, and more towards public examination and dialogue on social media such as Facebook? Where very many more opinions can be expected. Councillor Dine. We engage with customers in many ways. Formal surveys are just one way we understand how people feel. But we also engage with people face to face, such as through our tenants groups. And as you will be aware, our Councillor's surgery is also. But also talking to people where they attend our events, shows or receive a direct service from us. Council services closely monitor information and comments on social media to shape how our services are delivered. And we also use these to shape communications going forward. For example, people were sharing that they didn't know enough about what was happening in the town centre, so we've installed information on the hoarding. Increased information on our social media and shared information with the local press. Council services are delivering the priorities of the administration, and now I and my new cabinet are here as a new administration, and we will shape new priorities for staff to deliver. I am our fellow Councillors. Welcome feedback to us from residents. We use this information to make decisions about Council services. Thank you, Councillor Dine. Mr Brown, do you have a secondary question? Yes, thank you. What are the timescales envisaged for our Council to actually begin polling residents' opinions using social media? So that all can be seen, participated in, and measured in terms of both the Council's and residents' satisfaction with respect to time. Thank you, Mr Brown. I think I can say that this is something that we have talked about a lot as a group about the transparency and how we get information out to the members of the public. So it is something I'll be taking up with our communications team, and we will look to go forward and see what else that we can do if there are any other ways that we should be engaging with people. But I will go back to my original statement of, you know, tonight is the start. I can't give you any timeframes on what we will do and how we will do things. Social media changes all the time, so we will look at how are the best ways that we can get our message out and engage with people, because we are very keen that the engagement is there. Thank you for that. We now move on to agenda item number 10, which is appointment of Cabinet and allocation of responsibilities. I will now hand over to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Dean. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I just would like to let everybody know what the members about Cabinet are and the responsibilities they have. So I myself as a leader will be, will have the, the portfolio for operations, finance and cost of living. My deputy is Councillor today Foster, who will be looking after environmental sustainability, waste and recycling. My colleague, Councillor Nova Arkley will be looking after infrastructure, heritage and the local economy. Councillor Ben Clark will be looking after housing, homelessness and planning. Councillor Sarah Daniels will be looking after the Co-operative Council, Community Partnerships and ASB and Councillor Lewis Smith will be dealing with people services, engagement and leisure. Thank you. Thank you for that, Councillor Dean. We're going to now move on to agenda item number 11, which is the appointment of committees 2024 to 2025. I will hand back over again to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Dean. Thank you. I think everybody has seen, oh no, sorry, apologies. I'm going on to the wrong bit. I would like to propose the following chairs and ask that we move this item on block. Oh, that's, sorry, that's the wrong one. Right. I was writing what I was saying in the first place. The committee places have been circulated. I'd like to propose them and ask for a seconder please. I have a seconder, Councillor Jay, thank you. Is there any questions on this or does anyone wish to speak? Okay, we're going to move to vote. Those in favour? Okay. Those against? Any abstentions, which will be me. Okay, that's passed. And now we're moving swiftly on to agenda item number 12, which is the appointment of committee chairs. I will hand everyone once again to Leader of the Council. Thank you. Go back to where I was. I would like to propose the following chairs and ask that we move this item on block. Appointments and Staffing Committee, myself, Infrastructure, Safety and Growth scrutiny, Marian Couchman, Health and Wellbeing scrutiny, Chris Bain, Corporate scrutiny, Samuel Smith, Planning Committee, Leewood, Licensing Committee, Ben Price, Audit and Governance, Craig Adams, Nominations and Grants, Andy Wells, Statutory Officer Conduct Committee, Margaret Clark. And Chief Officer Conduct Committee, Dave Foster. Do I have a seconder for this place? Seconder was Ben Clark, Okido. I'm going to go to the vote. Those in favour of taking this on block? Those against? Any abstentions? Okido? That is carried. Okay, agenda item number 13, which is appointment of two outside bodies. Same again. I'm going to go to the Leader of the Council. Thank you. The list of the outside bodies has been circulated, so I'd like to move this and ask for a seconder please. Okay, Councillor Jai's seconder. There are any questions at all on this? No? Does anyone wish to speak? Fair enough. We're going to go to the vote. Those in favour? Or four, sorry? Those against? And abstentions? Yeah, that's carried as well. Flying through this. Agenda item 14, which is the local authorities, Executive Arrangements Meeting and Access to Information Regulations 2012. I'm going to hand over to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Lydin. That's a good statement here. The local authorities, Executive Arrangements Meeting and Access to Information Regulations 2012, specify and require Inter-ALIA under Regulation 19 that the Executive Leader must submit a report on a regular basis to Council containing details of particulars of each urgent executive decision together with the summary of the matters in respect of which the decision was made. We had two urgent decisions in 23-24 and the reports have been attached to the Council agenda. There was an update to committee places and a castle update. I will move the recommendation that the Council endorse the Annual Executive Arrangements Report. Do we have a seconder? Councillor Wood. Thank you. Does anyone wish to ask any questions? Anyone wish to speak? Okay, we're going to go for the vote. Raise your hand. Any abstentions? Okay, that's carried. Okay, agenda item number 15, which is the Annual Report of Audit and Governance Committee. I'll be handing this over to Councillor Ben Price. Thank you Mr Mayor and congratulations on your appointment this evening. I'd also like to thank all outgoing Councillors for the time that they gave to the authority and the people of Tamworth. And I'd like to welcome all new members to the Council. I look forward to working with all of you. I'm expecting great things over the next couple of years. The report in front of us tonight is the Annual Report of the Audit and Governance Committee 23-24. Audit committees are an important source of assurance about an organisation's arrangements for managing risk, maintaining an effective control environment and reporting on financial and other performance. Sit there, recommend that audit committees produce an annual report to promote the role and purpose of the committee, account for committee's performance, evaluate whether the committee is continuing to meet its terms of reference and document how the committee adds value. The Audit and Governance Committee's annual report fulfilling these requirements is set out at Appendix 1. 23-24 has been a challenging year for all due to the costs of living issues affecting our residents and changes encountered as we progress into a new, more agile ways of working. The committee plays an even more vital role in being able to gain assurance that the Council's governance risk and internal control environment remain fit for purpose and concurrent with the challenges faced. From the challenges faced by the committee, we've been able to gain assurance in respect of business as usual and also the wider risks facing the Council. In addition, we've obtained regular reports from management to ensure that the Council's overall governance framework remained robust and fit for purpose. As a committee, we continue to review the risks, both faced generally by the Council, but also around the future High Street Fund and other major projects. This will continue during 24-25. Sub-security risks continue to be high on the agenda. During the year, with notable cyber attacks being reported at other Councils, this oversight will continue into 24-25. The committee regularly reviews the corporate risk facing the Council and we gain assurance that any new or emerging threats or opportunities will be identified to ensure that the Council meets its objectives. I'd also like to say this opportunity to thank all members of the committee last year and thank officers for all their hard work during the year. I would like to move the recommendation that the annual reports of the audit committee 23-24 be endorsed by the Council. I look for a seconder. Thank you. Do we have a seconder? Thank you, Councillor Smith. Anyone want to ask any questions? Nope. Does anyone wish to speak? No, okay, we're going to go to the vote. Those four, please raise your hands. Those against any abstentions? That is carried. The agenda item 16, which is scruity committees annual report. I'm going to hand over to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Dean, to go through the report. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The attached annual reports of each scrutiny committee are presented to full Council to fully update Council on the activities of the corporate scrutiny, the health and wellbeing scrutiny and the infrastructure safety and growth scrutiny committees over the year 23-24. Each committee formally reviewed its annual report at the final meeting of the municipal year with any amendments required substantially to reflect the content of the final meeting being made and shared with the relevant Chair. Corporate scrutiny was chaired by Danny Cook with Vice Chair Daniel Maycock, and the committee has used the Council's Forward Plan to focus its work and help identify areas which will either require pre-decision scrutiny and/or post-implementation scrutiny. The committee undertook a robust scrutiny of actions taken by officers and members over recommendation made by the leaseholders working group. A cross-scruity working group was established to consider a number of items raised by all three committees in relation to the Council's housing repairs. The housing repairs working group has already met and delivered a number of recommendations to cabinet around damper mold with more work to do around general repairs. The health and wellbeing scrutiny was chaired by Councillor Chris Bain, Vice Chair Daniel Maycock. During the past year the committee has focused on activities associated with mental wellbeing as well as housing and homeless list matters as it relates to residents health and wellbeing. Cabinet members and officers were invited to attend the meetings of the committee to provide information and to answer items. Guests were also invited from partner organisations. The committee infrastructure safety and growth was chaired by myself, Vice Chair Ben Price. During this last year this committee has had a varied area of focus which has included regular updates on the future High Street Fund project as well as regular reviews of the dual stream recycling service. Cabinet members and officers were invited to attend meetings of the committee to provide information and to answer questions on those areas as well as other local partners. The committee has used the Council's Forward Plan to focus its work and to help identify areas which would either require pre-decision scrutiny and/or post-implementation scrutiny. I move the following recommendation that the Council endorse the recommendations are set out in each of the attached annual reports appendices two to four and can I ask for a seconder please? Council is there any questions? Does anyone wish to speak? The recommendation is that the Council endorses the annual report of corporate scrutiny committee, the infrastructure safety and growth committee and the health and wellbeing committee. So we're going to go to the vote. We're going to go those four first. Those against. And abstentions. That is carried. Agenda item 17 is calendar of the meetings. I'm going to hand over once again to the Leader of the Council, which is Councillor Dean. Last time. The calendar of meetings has been circulated. There is an extra appointments and staff in meeting being scheduled for the 12th of June and I move that the Council agrees the calendar of meetings and I'll ask for a seconder please. Councilor Wood will not race this evening. So do we have any questions? No. Anyone wish to speak? And we're going to go to the vote. Those in favour please raise your hand. We're looking good there. Okay. Those against. And abstentions. Yep. That is carried as well. So now this is the part of the evening where agenda item 18, which is exclusion of the press and the public to consider excluding the press and public from the meeting by passing the following resolution. In accordance with the provisions of local authorities, executive arrangements meeting and access to information England regulations 2012 and section 100A for of the local government act 1972. The press and public to be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following business of the grounds that it involves the lightly disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph two of part one of schedule 12A to the act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public. I'm going to ask for a mover please and I don't want to say that again. Okay. Mover is a Councillor price and do I have a seconder? I'm going to go a little Councillor Smith on that one. So those in favour please raise your hands. All four, sorry. Those against and abstentions and that was carried. I just want to say thank you to the public in attendance and those watching on YouTube and the live stream. We will now close that part of the meeting. [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO]