There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest made.

It was moved by Councillor Nick McLean and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis that Councillor Janice Howard be elected Mayor of the London Borough of Merton for the 2019/20 municipal year.

Councillors Oonagh Moulton, Daniel Holden, Edith Macauley and Anthony Fairclough also spoke in support of the nomination.

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

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

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY

Councillor Janice Howard signed the statutory declaration of office and was invested with the Mayor’s chain and badge of office.

The Mayor announced that her Deputy Mayor for the 2019/20 municipal year would be Councillor Edward Foley.  Councillor Foley 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 Councillor Andrew Howard, Benedict Howard and Isabella Howard.  The Mayor’s Chaplain would be Father Simon Peat.

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

The Mayor, Councillor Janice Howard, thanked the Council for her election for the forthcoming year and announced that her two Mayoral charities would be Faith in Action and Macmillan Cancer Support.

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

The Mayor invited Councillor Mary Curtin 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 Nick McLean seconded the vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor.

In doing so, both Group Leaders, along with the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, the Leader of the Merton Park Ward Independent Residents and Councillor Sally Kenny all spoke in praise of Councillor Mary Curtin’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 Mary Curtin for the dedicated manner in which she served as Mayor of the London Borough of Merton for the 2018/19 municipal year.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 April 2019 are agreed as an accurate record.

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

Councillor Kohler also spoke on the report.

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 to the Council report.

E.           notes the changes to the appointments to the Cabinet including their respective portfolios, detailed in Appendix E to the Council report;

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