Agenda item
Announcements from the Chair, Leader, Chief Executive
Minutes:
Announcements from the Chair:
The Chair welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting and members of the public watching the livestream online. She thanked the Council for electing her as Chair of Council and advised that she was the first female Chair of Council for over 10 years and advised that she would be speaking with Councillor Jepson as a former female Chair of Council for advice in the future.
The Chair welcomed Angela Claridge, Interim Monitoring Officer, to the meeting and explained that she looked forward to working with her going forward.
The Chair advised that the former Council Chair’s Awards which had been instigated by former Council Chair and Councillor Julian Beale would be re-starting and would combine with a Covid-19 awards scheme to recognise the contribution made by the District’s residents during the pandemic. The Chair advised that a cross party working group would be established shortly.
Thanks were extended by the Chair to Councillor Robbins for his work as Chair during the lockdown, particularly in reference to the meetings he had chaired over the past year, all of which had been held virtually.
The Chair then paid tribute to the work of former Councillor and Council Chair Julian Beale who had resigned from the Council in March 2021 due to ill health. The Chair advised that Julian had been a Conservative Councillor for the Fosseridge Ward since 2012 having been elected in a by-election on 31 May 2012. In that time, he held a number of positions, including Chair of the Licensing Committee between 2014 and 2015, Vice-Chair of the Council between 2015 and 2017 and subsequently Chair of the Council between 2017 and 2019. During his time as Chair of the Council, Councillor Beale instigated the launch of a community awards scheme, which sought to find the District’s greatest champions who helped to make the area a better place to live. The scheme culminated in an awards evening held at the Royal Agricultural University in November 2018 at which the seven awards were presented.
All those present joined a round of applause in tribute to former Councillor Beale’s efforts.
The Chair welcomed Councillor David Cunningham as the new Ward Member for Fosseridge to his first meeting of the Council.
The Chair then advised Members that this would be the last meeting supported by Democratic Services Officers Ben Amor and Kathryn Skill. She extended her thanks to both Officers for their work during their time at the Council.
Councillor Layton also paid tribute to both Officers and, in particular, highlighted the support they had given to her as Chair of the Planning and Licensing Committee during the past Council year when Committee meetings had been required to be held virtually and the challenges that had been overcome.
Councillor Morgan, as Leader of the Opposition Group, was invited to address the Council. He echoed the various tributes paid and commended the re-introduction of the Chair’s Awards Scheme.
Announcements from the Leader:
The Leader echoed previous tributes and in doing so, expressed his admiration to those in the District who had helped to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and in particular key workers and extended his thanks to them.
All those present joined a round of applause in tribute to those affected, and who had supported the District’s approach to tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Leader thanked the staff at Cirencester Baptist Church and the Barn Theatre for enabling the meeting to take place and extended his congratulations to Councillors Hirst and Spivey for their recent election to Gloucestershire County Council.
Announcements from the Chief Executive:
The Chief Executive echoed previous tributes paid by the Chair and Leader and extended his thanks to Members for their support during his first five months in office.
The Chair then invited Councillor Forde to address the Council. Councillor Forde advised on the upcoming Cotswold Youth Roadshow taking place and explained that 13 venues across the District would be visited and that Member support would be welcome.