No apologies for absence were received. Councillors Chung, Curtin and Skeete attended remotely.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2022 are agreed as an accurate record.

Part 4A, paragraph 3.3 of the Constitution states that the business at the Budget Council meeting shall include the following:

· receive a presentation of the Budget/Council Tax report from the relevant officers

· officers to respond to questions from members via the Mayor

· receive remarks from the Cabinet on the report

· Council to debate the report and take any motions or Amendments

In accordance with Part 4A, paragraph 10.4 of the Constitution, all decisions relating to either the substantive budget motion/proposal or any amendments to it, will be taken via a recorded vote (roll call).

The Mayor opened the meeting and spoke on the situation in Ukraine.

The Mayor then outlined the procedure for the Budget Council meeting. He also reminded the Council that all budget related decisions, including proposed amendments, were required to be recorded within the minutes with a list of the names of those who voted for or against the decision or who abstained from voting and a roll call vote would be taken for the substantive budget motion and any amendments to it.

At the invitation of the Mayor, the Director of Corporate Services presented the Business Plan 2022-2026.  The Director then responded to questions from Councillors Ward, Crowe, Kenny, McGrath, Alambritis, Southgate, Latif, Quilliam, Fairclough, Simpson, Cowper and Henry.

The Leader of the Council presented the Business Plan 2022-2026 and formally moved the recommendations in the report whilst making his budget speech to Council, a copy of which is appended to the minutes as Appendix A.  Councillor Pritchard formally seconded the recommendations, and reserved his right to speak.  The Mayor then invited the opposition Group Leaders in turn to respond to the Budget proposal and the Business Plan.  The Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor McLean addressed the meeting and his speech is attached to the minutes, as Appendix B.  The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Fairclough, addressed the meeting, and his speech is attached to the minutes, as Appendix C.  The Leader of the Merton Park Ward Independent Residents Group, Councillor Southgate, addressed the meeting and his speech is attached to the minutes, as Appendix D.

The following members of the Cabinet addressed the meeting: Councillors Stringer and Skeete.

The Mayor then invited members to move proposed amendments to the Business Plan. Councillor McLean formally moved the Conservative amendment which was seconded by Councillor Adam Bush. Councillor Fairclough formally moved the Liberal Democrat amendments 1 to 3, in turn, which were formally seconded by Councillor Bailey, in turn. 

The Mayor then opened up the general debate on the proposed amendments and on the proposed substantive Business Plan. The following members spoke in the debate: Councillors Alambritis, Gretton, Lanning, Mundy, Ormrod, Fraser, Barlow, Dehaney, Bokhari, Butler, Holden, Kenny, Janice Howard, Makin, Southgate, Stanford, Omar Bush, Akyigyina, Dean, Curtin, Gould, Moulton, Draper, Andrew Howard, Williams, Whelton, Holmes, Kohler, Irons and Pritchard.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Mayor called for a roll-call vote on the Conservative amendment to the Business Plan 2022-2026. Voting was as follows:

Votes in favour: Councillors Barlow, Benbow, Adam Bush, Omar Bush, Crowe, Dean, Foley, Gretton, Holden, Holmes, Andrew Howard, Janice Howard, Latif, McLean, Moulton, Ormrod, Simpson, Southgate, Wilkinson and Williams (20)

Votes against: Councillors Akyigyina, Alambritis, Allison, Anderson, Attawar, Butler, Christie, Cooper-Marbiah, Cowper, Dehaney, Dollimore, Draper, Fraser, Henry, Irons, Kenny, Kirby, Lanning, Makin, McCabe, Mundy, Pearce, Pritchard, Quilliam, Stanford, Stringer, Ward, Whelton and the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Macauley (29)

Not voting: Councillors Bailey, Bokhari, Fairclough, Gould, Kohler, McGrath and the Mayor, Councillor Brunt (7)

The Mayor declared the amendment to be lost.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.