No apologies were received.

No pecuniary declarations were made.

The Mayor called for nominations for the office of Mayor for 2015-2016.

It was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis, and seconded by Councillor Martin Whelton that Councillor David Chung be elected as Mayor for 2016-2015 (A copy of the nomination speeches are included within Appendix A to these minutes)

Councillors Oonagh Moulton and Peter Southgate addressed the meeting expressing their support for the nomination.

There not being any other nominations the Mayor put the motion to the meeting and it was

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

That Councillor David Chung is the duly elected Mayor of the London Borough of Merton for the Municipal year 2015-2016

Councillor David Chung made the statutory declaration of acceptance of office and was invested with the Mayor’s chain and badge of office.

The new Mayor announced that his Deputy Mayor of the Municipal year 2015-2016 would be Councillor Pauline Cowper

Councillor Pauline Cowper signed the declaration of acceptance of office and was invested with the Deputy Mayor’s badge of office.

The Mayor that his Mayoress would be Irina Chung, supported by his consorts Karen Chung, Kim Randell and Kerrianne O'Callaghan

The Mayor announced that in respect to his claplaincy given the diverse nature of Merton, he would be asking the humanist association and leaders of different faith groups across the borough to lead the Council in prayers and reflection at the start of each meeting instead of appointing a Mayor’s chaplain.

The Deputy Mayor announced that his consort would be Michael Cowper.

The Mayor presented badges to the outgoing Mayor, Deputy Mayor and their respective consorts.

The Mayor, Councillor David Chung, thanked Council for his election for the forthcoming year and announced that his Mayoral two charities would be FISH (Friends in St Helier) and Merton Centre for Independent Living, whilst also supporting the Merton Alzheimer Society through the Merton Dementia Hub, and One Life.

(A copy of his acceptance speech is included within Appendix B to these minutes).

The Mayor invited Councillor Agatha Akyigyina to the dais to receive the Council’s vote of thanks.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Alambritis, moved and the Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Oonagh Moulton, seconded the vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor.

In doing so both Group Leaders along with the Leader of the Merton Park Ward Independent Residents Group, Councillor Peter Southgate and Councillor Brenda Frazer spoke in praise of Councillor Agatha Akyigyina’s year in office.

(A copy of all these speeches are attached as Appendix C to these minutes).

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

That the Council places on record its sincere thanks and appreciation to Councillor Agatha Akyigyina, for the dedicated manner in which she has served as Mayor of the London Borough of Merton for the year 2014-2015.

Mayoral Citation:

Councillor Agatha Akyigyina. Mayor of Merton 2014-2015

At the time of her election as Mayor in May 2014, Councillor Akyigyina had completed eight years as a councillor for Figges Marsh in Mitcham. She has been a very personable, community-focused and energetic mayor, undertaking many charity fundraising events and numerous civic events and engagements.

The Mayor’s main charities for 2014-2015 were Shooting Star Chase and Merton Street Pastors. Helping those in need in the local community as well as improving the lives of children are the Mayor’s passions, and are reflected in her chosen charities as well as through her community work including helping at a mother and toddler group in Mitcham, working as a volunteer at Home-Start Merton and being a governor at St Mark’s Primary School. The Mayor also supported charity events for the Colour House Theatre and HPCT (The Pilgrimage Trust) as well as helping to raise funds for the Ghanaian Parents Association.

Family is very much at the heart of the Mayor’s work and helping Shooting Star Chase is particularly important to her as the charity supported Councillor Akyigyina and her family when her daughter Suzanna sadly became ill and passed away in 2007. This has been a driving force for the Mayor and she really enjoyed hosting a Christmas afternoon-tea event with the children and families who are being supported by Shooting Star Chase. True to the Mayor’s fun nature, she stepped away from the Mayoral convention of wearing robes for this occasion and dressed up as a Christmas elf much to the enjoyment of the children at the reception.

Noted for her great sense of humour, Councillor Akyigyina has particularly stood out for her warm personality and her ability to put people at ease. Councillor Akyigyina’s caring nature is exhibited in her work as a committed Street Pastor, Vice Chair of the North East Mitcham Community Centre and a Trustee of the Horizon Centre in Pollards Hill. Balancing this community work with charity efforts, Councillor Akyigyina worked hard during her Mayoralty to raise in the region of £65,000 for her charities.

The Mayor also organised a variety of events that were great fun, including a quiz night, an Irish-themed evening, a Ghanaian  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 April 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

The report was moved Councillor Stephen Alambritis and seconded by Councillor Mark Allison.

RESOLVED

That the Council:

A.          approves the constitution of committees, sub-committees and scrutiny bodies and agrees the allocation of seats, chair and vice-chair positions and the appointment of members to those seats, as set out in Appendix A of the submitted report;

B.          approves the constitution of consultative forums and other bodies and agrees the appointment of members to those seats; as set out in Appendix B of the submitted report;

C.         agrees the allocation of seats and appointment to the outside organisations as detailed in Appendix C of the submitted report;

D.         agrees the terms of reference of consultative and other bodies for which the Council is responsible and the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee – South West London as set out in Appendix D of the submitted report

E.          agreesto delegateto thePlanning ApplicationsCommittee theauthority to appoint a non-voting co-opted memberif this is deemed appropriate.

F.          notes that the Executive Leader has not made any changes to appointments to his Cabinet or to their respective portfolios as set out in Appendix E of the submitted report;

G.         notes that, in respect of the Mayor of Merton’s Charitable Trust, Councillors John Sargeant and Laxmi Attawar have resigned with effect 5 June 2014 and that notes the appointment of the incoming Mayor Councillor David Chung and Deputy Mayor Councillor Pauline Cowper, as trustees from 5 June 2014; and

H.         i)      agrees the procedure rules and terms of reference of the South London Partnership Joint Committee (Joint Committee of The Boroughs Of Richmond, Kingston, Sutton, Merton And Croydon) as set out in Appendix G of the submitted report

ii)      delegates authority to the Monitoring Officer to insert reference to the South London Partnership Joint Committee and its purpose as defined in Appendix G into the appropriate section of the Council’s Constitution

iii)     approves that the Leader be appointed to South London Partnership Joint Committee (Joint Committee Of The Boroughs Of Richmond, Kingston, Sutton, Merton And Croydon)

I.      agrees to appoint Councillor Brenda Fraser to the Council of Governors for the Kingston Hospital NHS Trust Board as the Merton and Sutton Borough Councils (Joint nomination).