Apologies were received from Councillors Michael Bull, Suzanne Grocott and Ian Munn.

No pecuniary declarations were made.

The Mayor called for nominations for the office of Mayor for 2016-2017.

It was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis, and seconded by Councillor Marsie Skeete that Councillor Brenda Fraser be elected as Mayor for 2016-2017 (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

Councillor Brenda Fraser 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 her Deputy Mayor of the Municipal year 2016-2017 would be Councillor Stan Anderson. Councillor Stan Anderson signed the declaration of acceptance of office and was invested with the Deputy Mayor’s badge of office.

The Mayor announced that her consorts would be Lloyd Fraser and Gillian Fraser and that in her chaplain would be Reverend Gerry Stanton.

The Deputy Mayor announced that his consort would be Jennifer Anderson. The Mayor presented badges to the outgoing Mayor, Deputy Mayor and their respective consorts.

The Mayor, Councillor Brenda Fraser, thanked Council for her election for the forthcoming year and announced that her Mayoral two charities as Age UK Merton and the Avanti Club.

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

The Mayor invited Councillor David Chung 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 (A copy of these speeches are attached as Appendix C to these minutes)and Councillor Martin Whelton spoke in praise of Councillor David Chung’s year in office.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:

That the Council places on record its sincere thanks and appreciation to Councillor David Chung for the dedicated manner in which he has served as Mayor of the London Borough of Merton for the year 2015-2016.

Mayoral Citation:

Councillor David Chung. Mayor of Merton 2015-2016

At the time of his election as Mayor in May 2015, Councillor David Chung had completed 13 years as a councillor representing residents in Longthornton ward, Mitcham.

Councillor Chung has taken every opportunity to highlight the good things in Merton and has attended 333 engagements in his mayoral year. The Mayor’s chosen charities for 2015-2016 were Merton Centre for Independent Living and Friends In St Helier. He also supported the children’s charity One Life. Councillor Chung very much focussed on community organisations representing the more vulnerable in the borough.

During his mayoralty, Councillor Chung raised the profile of disabled people in Merton, recognising that further work needs to be done with regards to people who live with disabilities. He emphasised the need to work with the Social Model of Disability. He also sought to shine a light on elderly people in Merton, in particular, those who live on their own, and on issues around growing older. He supported the Silver Sunday initiative and invited over 120 older people and their carers to afternoon tea. At this memorable event, he spoke about the importance of keeping active and also of how friendship helps to maintain a healthy body and mind. He demonstrated his commitment to championing health by completing a sponsored swim at Canons Leisure Centre, highlighting the importance of exercise.

Councillor Chung’s love of music and of education shone through as he organised a ‘Winter Warmer’ concert, produced by Merton Music Foundation. Attended by 280 people, this charity event brought together an eclectic wealth of musical talent from children across Merton and raised over £1,500 for his charities.

The Mayor visited many schools and spoke to the children about democracy and the role of the Mayoralty. He also invited the borough’s headteachers to the Mayor’s parlour.

The Mayoress and the Mayor visited 144 businesses in the Mitcham area and held three receptions for the business community in recognition and appreciation of their role as the wealth producers in the borough. Councillor Chung also hosted a reception in honour of Faith in Action’s Merton Homelessness Project.

The Mayor has a love of cricket and has forged a link with the Lord’s Taverners, a charity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 April 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

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

Councillor David Simpson also spoke on the item

The recommendations were put to the vote and were carried – votes in favour 37, and votes against 0 with 19 abstentions.

RESOLVED

That the Council:

A.          approves the constitution of committees, sub-committees and scrutiny bodies set out in 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 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 report

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

E.          agrees the terms of reference for the new formed combined Standards and General Purposes Committee and an updated Borough Plan Advisory Committee as set out in Appendix E of the report,

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

G.         notes that the Executive Leader has made changes to appointments to his Cabinet or to their respective portfolios as set out in Appendix F of the report,

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