Councillor Louise Phelan

The Council of Sutton Council resolved on 13/07/2026 to approve recommendations to renew support for Fairtrade. The council will offer Fairtrade products at meetings and offices, promote Fairtrade through communications, work with the Sutton Fairtrade community group, encourage local businesses to champion Fairtrade, and take part in national campaigns. Additionally, the council will review its procurement policy to embed Fairtrade as a weighted criterion, require caterers to supply Fairtrade products, write to government ministers and Fairtrade International calling for increased international development support, review outsourced contract uniforms for sustainably sourced cotton, and write to schools encouraging Fairtrade or equivalent school uniform options.

The Council of Sutton Council approved the recommendation to award the Freedom of the Borough to Marian James on 13 July 2026. This award recognises her eminent services to the Borough.

The Council decided to approve recommendations on 13/07/2026. The Council resolved to embed devolved decision-making in the Corporate Plan and ensure local councillors can influence decisions under the strong executive model. The Council also resolved to publish an implementation plan for neighbourhood governance within three months, ensure equitable distribution of work on hyperlocal hotspots, and present regular reports on neighbourhood-level activity to full Council.

The Council of Sutton Council approved recommendations on 13/07/2026. The Council resolved to ask Group Leaders to write to the Prime Minister calling for a National Commission on Electoral Reform and to publicly re-affirm support for a proportional voting system. The Council also agreed that Group Leaders will refrain from misleading campaign messaging in future local elections, and requested the Electoral Commission investigate targeted fear-based campaigning.

The Strategy and Resources Committee, Council decided to approve recommendations regarding the financial performance and outturn for 2025/26 on 13/07/2026. The committee noted the general fund revenue outturn service overspend and approved capital programme budget adjustments.