Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Aidan Mundy.

No declarations of interest were made.

It was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis and seconded by Councillor Sally Kenny that Councillor Mary Curtin be elected Mayor of the London Borough of Merton for the 2018/19 municipal year.

Councillors Oonagh Moulton, Peter Southgate and Dennis Pearce spoke in support of the nomination.

(A copy of their speeches are attached at Appendix A to these minutes)

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

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

Councillor Mary Curtin made the statutory declaration of office and was invested with the Mayor’s chain and badge of office.

The new Mayor announced that her Deputy Mayor for the 2018/19 municipal year would be Councillor Geraldine Stanford.  Councillor Stanford signed the statutory declaration of office and was invested with the Deputy Mayor’s badge of office.

The Mayor announced that her consorts would be William Thompson, Marie Bateman and Dolores Bisnouth.  The Mayor’s Chaplain would be Father John Mulligan.

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

The Mayor, Councillor Mary Curtin, thanked the Council for her election for the forthcoming year and announced that her two Mayoral charities would be Friends in St Helier and Colours House Theatre.

(A copy of her acceptance speech is attached at Appendix B to these minutes.)

The Mayor invited Councillor Marsie Skeete 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, spoke in praise of Councillor Marsie Skeete’s year in office. 

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

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

That the Council places on record its sincere thanks and appreciation to Councillor Marsie Skeete for the dedicated manner in which she has served as Mayor of the London Borough of Merton for the 2017/18 municipal year.

The Mayor asked for nominations for the Leader of the Council.

It was moved by Councillor Mark Allison and seconded by Councillor Edith Macauley that Councillor Stephen Alambritis be elected as Leader of the Council.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Anthony Fairclough, also spoke on the nomination.

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

RESOLVED

That Councillor Stephen Alambritis be duly elected Leader of the Council.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2018 are agreed as an accurate record.

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

The Conservative amendment as set out in Item 10 was moved by Councillor Oonagh Moulton and seconded by Councillor Daniel Holden.

The Conservative amendment was put to a vote and was lost  - votes in favour 17, votes against 42, abstentions 0.

The substantive motion was then put to a vote and was carried – votes in favour 36, votes against 23, abstentions 0.

RESOLVED:

That the Council:

A.           i)    approves the constitution of committees, sub-committees and scrutiny bodies set out in Appendix A to the Council report and;

ii)      agrees the allocation of seats, chair and vice-chair positions and the appointment of members to those seats;

B.           i)    approves the constitution of consultative forums and other bodies set out in Appendix B to the Council report; and

ii)      agrees the appointment of members to those seats; 

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

D.           agrees the terms of reference of consultative and other bodies appointed by the Council, detailed in Appendix D.

E.           notes the appointment, made by the Leader, of the Deputy Leader and his respective portfolio and appointments to the Cabinet including their respective portfolios detailed in Appendix E to the Council report.

F.           agree the amended terms of reference of the Mertantun Development Limited Sub-Committee, as set out in Appendix F.

G.           agree the membership and note the amended Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure for the South West London and Surrey Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC)as set out in Appendix G.

H.           agrees that the Council’s Constitution be amended to incorporate any changes resulting from the approval of recommendations A to G.

Recommendations:

That the Council agrees to award the Freedom of the Borough to former Councillor Philip Jones in recognition of his long service to the Borough and agrees to the holding of a Special Council meeting on 12 July 2018 for the purposes of passing the necessary resolutions.

The motion was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis and seconded by Councillor Oonagh Moulton.  

Councillor Peter Southgate also spoke on this item.

RESOLVED:

That the Council agrees to award the Freedom of the Borough to former Councillor Philip Jones in recognition of his long service to the Borough and agrees to the holding of a Special Council meeting on 12 July 2018 for the purposes of passing the necessary resolutions.