e e good evening everyone I would like to welcome the councilors members of the public and invited guests to this year’s annual council meeting May I remind members that we are live streaming this meeting on the council’s YouTube channel as a reminder for us all please press your microphone button when asked to speak and press it again when you have finished speaking in order that the cameras can focus on you please also note that there is no longer a requirement for members to stand when speaking for those beautiful visitors who are in the public Gallery firstly may I thank you very much for joining us tonight it is important that I inform you that these meetings are filmed by our live stream video system and you may appear on the recording it is important to note that by remaining in the public Gallery which I hope you will and or speaking at the meeting you are consenting to being recorded and acknowledge that the record in will be placed on the council’s public YouTube channel is that okay with you all chief executive do we have any apologies for absence or Declarations of interest thank you Madame mayor apologies have been receive from councelor Lynn Martin Hall that’s all thank you thank you chief executive item two the minutes of council meeting on the 21st February 2024 the minutes of the council meeting held on 21st February 2024 has been circulated can we agree the minutes as a correct record thank you item three elections of Mayor I would now like to present first before we go to the election of Mayor I would now like to present a member long service award this is a very important award for our long members um service this is to councelor Robin Parker to recognize the 40 years of service as the councelor of Steven aown congratulations councilor f yeah thank you to to you for that that mana and and your words just to say briefly uh an aood has changed since 1982 uh that’s 42 years ago actually but I did have two years off uh not my choice um during that period but the less said about that the better Ju Just Two questions um the fact I’ve done 40 years does that make me Father of the house and and secondly maybe the officers can tell me at some point it’s not important now I’ve never been a father before um and um please note very important Point here please note that I’m not that does not mean necessarily that I’m the eldest I’m not necessarily the eldest member okay not necessarily just wanted to place that on record thank you anyway thank you thank you let’s give a big Applause to councelor 40 years of service yeah that is a really great achievement uh Robin Parker thank you so much councelor Parker before I ask for nominations for the office of Mayor I would like to say a few words and I promise you all it will not be 22 minutes this time okay but first let me just check how good my memory is okay because this is the first full council meeting since we have the local elections so welcome to our newly elected councilors and for those who have been reelected so we have 39 councilors it’s not written here but but I will probably have to test myself councelor Peter Clark councelor Ellie pler councelor Akin ilusi councelor Lea guy councelor Nigel Williams councelor Claire Paris councelor kolina VES councelor Alistair Gordon councelor Annie Wells councelor Colleen Holan councelor um Kamal Chri councelor nasmin Chri councelor Robert Bo Deputy Mayor Jim Brown councelor Mason hamston councelor Cara rupchand councelor Tom pler councelor Leanne Brady councelor forhad chowri councelor Jade woods councelor Tom Ren councelor Jules Ashley Ren councelor gam snails councelor Andy mcin councelor Steven boo councelor Robin Parker councelor Phil B our our youth mayor L LA councilor Rob broom councelor sarid and all the executives or the cabinet here councelor Lu Rosati councelor Simon spell councelor Sandra bar our leader of the council councelor Richard Henry and councelor um Janette Thomas our Deputy leader and councelor Connor McGrath councelor Jacki hollywell and councilor Lloyd Brisco thank you all so much I promise you that’s it I’m not going to name all the guest here what a great year it has been for me as your Steven age mayor on the 50th anniversary of becoming at stepen AG borrow Council what a great honor to be given this gift of servitude service for our town and for the people of Steven age there are so many things events and engagement that I really enjoyed and appreciate I can’t name it all but here are some meeting a lot of inspiring people in our community and being an ambassador as the first citizen of our town with local or outof town engagements promoting the businesses communities and events every engagement is special to me and I have always given my heart and soul the full council meeting chairing the council meeting with all the debates and motions and also uh the disagreements and the agreements with all its legalities sitting here and listening to all your ideas opinions and discussions with intellectual passions made me so proud that I am the mayor and chairing the meeting congratulations to you all on your elections I truly believe that I was prepared and educated and cultivated from a young from a young child to become the mayor of stepen age I love every moment of it this evening as I hand over my pre my precious maral chain an important role to Deputy Mayor councelor Jim Brown I would like to thank the many people involved to make my Steven age mayor an absolute success my concert John my son who there to support in between his work date and social life to my and even to do my speech you know when I lost my voice at one point yeah and being the MC of our charity concert to my wonderful husband Joseph who just came all the way from Ukraine this morning yeah just to travel and my daughter friends churches in Steven AG Father Michael and father Nigel the many groups I’m involved with my NHS work colleagues and many communities to Deputy Mayor Jim Brown for being there when when needed and for running the London marathon in the aid of mayor’s chosen Charities thank you to our leader councelor Richard Henry and to you all fellow counselors for giving me this opportunity to serve as your mayor to my fellow martinwood councilors Lloyd Brisco and kolina Veris to councelor Simon speller for hosting the many community history walks and talks and for your advice we needed always remember that your message that you sent to me S councelor Simon spell think that in his opinion I am the best mayor and I will treasure that message forever and I have the evidence of it so I’m always keeping that one to Baron Sharon Taylor for your continued support Michelle and Moren for encouraging me to be involved in the council the first time I’m being elected and for sha rest in peace for your for being my inspiration and to all the executives and the cabinet members was always there when I needed it thank you to all the office and support staff I will not name you all or else we will be here all evening I know how hard you all work often behind the scenes throughout the mayoral year to ensure everything is in perfect order for the mayor I am forever grateful my special thanks to you Tracy and Sheila to our chief executive M all the directors I’m not going to name you because I know you all yet for the all the officers thank you so much you made sure that I will enjoy my year and truly I did it has been 366 engagements so far with the last two today in generation Sten age 2024 with 800 students being shown their potential employers and career opportunities and the last one in Kingsway Health Center to thank my physiotherapy colleagues my m managers and my NHS colleagues for their support even at one point like yesterday my kardiac rehab class even my patients we actually have started uh the class earlier for me to be able to go to another engagement so I have all the support from my colleagues from my patients and for everyone who’s involved with my other clinical duties this year we have raised 11,500 for the mayor’s charities thank you to many sponsors and donors and those who supported our fundraising special thanks to you Claire and Peter hope of Austin’s funeral thank you for your generosity this 11,500 that we have raised will be divided to the mayor’s Charities The Red Shed Douglas Drive senior citizen Association Hearts wise and stepen AG World Forum so the question is what’s next for me I will continue to being a dementia champion of the council thank you to our fellow to my fellow councilors and and our leader for to give me this chance to continue my dementia Champion role in our Council I will continue with our work with Steven AG being a dementia friendly Community together with officer Lorna warmog Phil and the team and maybe I will go back to my full-time work as a as a clinician but I don’t know yet but definitely I will go back to my news magazine with my column people focus and being the UK editor of roots and wings online magazines and maybe this time we will have to raise more stepen age and Hartford Cheer but of all those things that is after of course after spending more time with my darling husband B because I have actually haven’t spent time with Joseph so that is the first thing tomorrow Joseph I will spend more time with you I still have another four years as martinwood counselor and I will continue to serve our town and residence with passion kindness and to the best of my abilities with the stepen a Boro Council motto in me the heart of the Town lies in its people thank you very much than as promised it was not 20 minutes this time so I will now ask for nominations for the office of mayor for 2024 2025 I call upon councelor Richard Henry to propose thank you Madame mayor uh before I do uh come to my nomination i’ just like to say what a fabulous mayor you’ve been for this town um everywhere I go people say oh you’ve got Miler as your mayor the first Philippino woman counselor and um we’re very proud um and I’ve had an amazing time working alongside as leader of the council so thank you for everything that you’ve done and continue to do for the town okay Madame mayor now I come to the nomination for mayor for the following Municipal year and like to uh nominate um councelor Jim Brown current Deputy Mayor um Jim sent me some of his biography and other people have told me a few things about Jim so I’m going to read this out by way of introduction um Jim was born in 1952 in Wandsworth in London and was brought up in the Congregational Church his partner and current Deputy Mayor S penny Shankle in the uh lovely purple and pink dress um is as people may know she’s originally from Christ Church in New Zealand Jim has two children who both in the audience Xander who’s 23 and Mel who’s 20 and um some people will know this uh that they are the great grandchildren of Eric plon chief engineer of Steven’s Development Corporation and Jim says he’s very proud of both of his children Xander who got a first class degree at the University of hartfordshire and Mel who is two years in her course at reading um so they’re following Jim’s um academic um career as well I didn’t like to say that Jim um um Jim is very proud of his family um and he’s very proud of his mother who was a nurse before the NHS and during the war um she was nursing including at mland hospital and the Norwich at Nora Norwich I think it’s that way around um Jim tells me she was from the Alton board and her father worked on the lowest off Drifter lt7 known as The Shepherd’s lad which I’m sure Jim later on in the reception will tell you all about that um Jim’s father was called up in 1939 like many people went into the RAF and became a Sparky Sergeant which I guess is electrician on the aircraft but also working on things like radar and early forms of automated takeoff and Landing later he also worked in the NHS when that was uh became the the NHS and on his grandfather on his dad’s side lived in plumstead and was one of the last original Tram routes in London he was also a boiling maker and London docks Jim’s sister Jillian I believe is here um hello Julian um is a teacher and Entertainer so we look forward to the entertainment you’re going to provide later so some of the S history of um of Jim how he came to stevenage he came in to stevenage in December 1992 and before that he worked for the Sterling District Council and was living in litho Lin litho in the west loean and was a verant campaigner against the ptax Jim has also been a teacher and has worked for both the NHS and British steel what some people may not know is that he has a bit of a checkered history and that he was expelled from school after handing out leaflets in favor of comprehensive education at the founders day service how dare you Jim um in terms of the labor party Jim joined the labor party in Bradford West in June 1974 and helped defend the communities in lewisham in 1977 which I know some people will remember an interesting fact and he tells me he the only member of stevenage labor party to have been defeated by the Scottish national party which I don’t think anybody else can claim that um inheritance so a bit of quirky information about Jim now he once owned a trolley boss the the original Electric buses he’s also driven a double decker tram from Fleetwood to Stargate he’s played brass in the Albert Hall at a concert introduced by Alvar little and is that pronounced right Jim all right sorry and he’s a past Secretary of a photographic society and a railway Society Jim tells me he’s very much a 60s person but assures me that he remembers it all very well um and like many of us still had to load of the vinyl Jim’s commitment to the community is demonstrated by a number of things he’s been a governor Marriot school for 29 years is a former chair of Steven junis was a board member of Harford Sports partnership and also Deputy president of the University of Bradford Union and an secretary at Southampton Jim was a board member and charity trustee for cycling UK for more than 20 years he La launched and ran events like the local Steven start of summertime specials which is down here is SS o um emitus which for those of you who um can work it out is summertime backwards um and also the stevenage circular cycle and was a secretary of the local group until 2019 like a number of us in the room is a passionate advocate of cycling both for transport Health sport company and the environment and he’s a determined defender of the Steven cycle Network a frequent part Runner Jim is part of the coaching team team and press office of for Fairland Valley Spartans and has run 23 London marathons the best time and I’m guessing that was a couple of years ago 2 hours 57 minutes which is amazing um to get under three hours he’s done something about something well over 60 marathons along the way including this year’s London Marathon raising money for the mayor’s Charities and Jim you may not have known but when you came through the Gantry at the Finish Line I was on top of the Gantry cheering you on because I I’m I I’m part of the under Marathon organization um way back in 1988 Jim just missed out on a national championship medal with a fourth place 246 miles amazing and in the Scottish 12 that was in the Scottish 12-hour cycling Championship along with two other Mayors um Jim was the mayor of Steven during the pandemic and I hope Jim that this year you can really enjoy The Full Experience um we know that the prime minister is very um you know wary of the the Limelight you may get and I think that’s why he called the general election today um so with that Madam mayor I’d like to put forward the nomination of council Jim Brown to be mayor for the next Municipal year thank you thank you to the leader of the SBC councelor Richard Henry so now councelor Simon spell to Second uh thank you very much um Madame mayor Miler and it’s a sad that’s the last time I’ll be saying that um it is my great honor and privilege to Second Jim Brown to be our mayor for the coming year it’s usually a job for a fellow Ward member to do but with a brand new labor team in now installed in bandley Hill I’m delighted as a nextdoor neighbor and sheel to do the honors Jim you were my Deputy Mayor 5 years ago and we both experienced more or less a complete shutdown than the normal maral activities with the covid lockdown and its aftermath early in 2020 so you really deserve to have another turn as our first citizen and mayor to have a proper mayor year um not the socially distan events online Council meetings and other weird goings on of the Year 2020 21 when you served following Madame mayor Mila is going to be a truly tough act to follow by the way Mara your year has been absolutely awesome and sensation I hope you’ll have a proper opportunity to develop your maral themes and to show this burrow your deep long-term commitment to Sport and Health and well-being for all you follow in the footsteps of many other sporting Mayors Lillian strange who was also a bandley hill counselor Graham Clark my Deputy the first time around Ken Vale Bob Woodward and the legendary New Town Pioneers Bill Lawrence Al fluman and the one and only Michael cter Although our running careers never crossed we can always share the stat sometime I can pay tribute directly and personally for your contributions both to local running and cycling and I thank you personally for Designing and organizing excellent longer distance rides in the lanes all over our beautiful region one great act of kindness of Jims I wish to share with you all 25 years ago both Jim and I were completing a series of long-distance rides in England in order to qualify for the legendary Paris bre Paris breast Paris odax ride which is 1,250 km or in English 800 mil near enough which you have to complete in 90 hours on one such ride I had to rest and sleep sleep near graph and water I think I was exhausted Jim waited and rested just up the road then rode with me all the way back to our destination at rabes which is near harch we actually picked up many other struggling cyclists after Red Lodge and made it comfortly before the cut off time so Jim as we say in World cycling I’ve got my prop T to France cap shapo hats off and also I am delighted to loan to you for this year only the unique stevenage May one FR talk thank you Madame mayor thank you councelor Simon spell I think councelor spell forgot something because I think you know like we have to propose to our um to um our Deputy Mayor Jim Brown is the upcoming mayor that we need to organize and remember all the past mayors so hopefully Jim we will have to propose that to you so I will now put the nominations of councelor Jim Brown as mayor for 2024 2025 to the vote but before that okay I councelor Jim Brown has been nominated as mayor of course are there any other nominations councelor Steven boo Madame mayor and councel this is not another nomination I hope youve uh indulged with me for just a few moments because I’d like to say something about Jim Brown who I’ve only known I think for a couple of years he was elected or reelected Council in 2022 he first appeared I think in the old town now is bobbed up in in Bley Hill much to our annoyance well done Jim if ever a mayor was dealt a hard hand it was Jim Brown in 2020 many of us choose to forget that to forget that year yet just as others who lost loved ones will never forget it for Jim and I guess many other Mayors around the country it was the year of zoom and you can’t do anything physical on Zoom not really not and share it anyway with people and being a physical presence is what being a mayor is all about no open days no Garden parties no dinners no buildings to open or plaes to unveil indeed no functions only simple ones with everyone masked up and keeping their distance it was a grim time the like of which I hope we will never experience again since I rejoined this Council Jim has been a regular since 2022 on the Committees I’ve been on always ready with a thoughtful and at times penetrating question perhaps a bit of an irritant to the chair at times but that’s what a counselor is all about questioning and holding executive power to account he would certainly have been an irritant if he’d been successful in his bid to be a county councelor in 2017 I couldn’t help noticing Jim’s second name is Hilbert now David Hilbert was a famous mathematician who gave his name to a term in mathematics matics and physics to describe a space that arises naturally and frequently just like our regular mayoral vacancies Hilbert spaces according to Wiki allow the the methods of linear algebra and calculus to be generalized from ukian Vector spaces to spaces that may be infinite dimensional so I’m beginning to stray into territory Way Beyond the syllabus of my O level in mathematics for more on this Arcane topic please talk to my colleague councelor Parker so I will conclude by saying Jim I’m sure you will be able to apply the methods of politics with the methods of Civic civility which may also be infinite dimensional for 20242 Jim is on sure ground with no coming elections where he’s likely to be defeated me and my group wish him well along with his partner for a thoroughly enjoyable and successful year as man congratulations thank you councelor Steven Booth so I think this time I will now put the nomination of councelor Jim Brown as mayor for 20124 2025 to the vote those in favor please raise your hands thank you everyone so the motion is carried and and I am happy to announce that councelor Jim Brown is elected mayor for the municipal year 2024 2025 with the chamber please stand if you’re able to thank you than hi Jim Brown having been elected to the office of Mayor of stevenage Bar Council declared that I take that office upon myself and will duly and Faithfully fulfill the duties of it according to the best of my J and ability thank you thank you please have a seat thank you the Jean Luke hard moment does anybody wish to speak at this moment no I think we kind of covered it with my little thank you oh sorry Phil Phil thank you um as as the leader of the opposition doesn’t quite know the form yet I I’ll actually remind him it’s incumbent upon us to actually welcome you as mayor and wish you wey success for the year I know you’re chaming at the bit to do it properly this time after the covid um sort of clip your wings last time so we look forward to a very successful year thank you very much thank you firstly I’m happy to announce that my mayoress will be Penny shenl may I ask Penny to come forward to the election by the public gallery and presented be presented with a chain and Badge of office by the May’s consult for 2324 John Aro all um first of all and and well well said by Mila um we ought to just for a moment remember the previous Mayes um we have been 50 years a now and also I’d add the deputy Mayors not every Deputy becomes a mayor and sometimes you know that roles slips away from our memory so just a a brief thought about that thank you M for that the first word I wrote down was wow and and the reason I said wow was wow look at us and I don’t mean that in a kind of AR arrogant kind of way I mean it’s I don’t know about our guests but just look around forget the politics we have counselors now from 25 to 80 something 18 women huge range of backgrounds religions and no religions some with disabilities some lgbtq plus many many different occupations loads of experiences stevenage has become a very diverse an interesting town in the last few years and that’s starting to be reflected here and that is absolutely fantastic now I half warn the chief executive well like us to do with the smile on our faces all stand up if you can if you can’t that’s fine but all stand up because a a comment was made earlier about how on Earth am I going to follow Mila so I thought I’m going to engineer a standing ovation Mila brilliant thanks now I F I first stood for election in 1976 and I first got elected in 2012 at the 13th try so it’s been quite a journey been quite a journey thank you for the nomination and for giving me a second chance after the difficult pandemic times in 2021 thank you Rich and Simon Simon will I ever forget that Paris press Paris I’m very pleased to accept and of course a big thank you to Penny who’s agreed to be Mayes again after a breather of less than four years and it ain’t easy being the Mayes or the consult it’s amazing what goes on in the background and what skills you never knew about before suddenly come to the FL thank you everyone that’s come tonight sorry to those we could not squeeze in but I hope to see you during the year now in amongst my family friends and loved ones some of my heroes are here including Lucy from Unison and I believe the chair of the branch is actually working tonight and not only was it my Branch but without those people we do nothing yeah we always got to remember the people that work for us who work for the town they’re the people who actually do the the delivery so welcome Lucy now one of my inspirations as a school boy was a guy called Robbie Brightwell Robbie Brightwell came back to school with his silver medal that he won in the Tokyo Olympics 1964 he was my geography teacher and none of you were old enough to remember but anyway that was one of my first little Sparks he wasn’t a marathon runner he was 400 meters I believe but we were trying to think earlier about things that happened in 1984 and one of my great Friends and Heroes and uh don’t want to be embarrass her but something else happened in uh something happened in 1984 it was the first time that women were allowed to run an Olympic Marathon my good friend Yuko is up there and she still does marathons in under 3 hours 30 minutes curses anyway thank you um Yuko in your quiet way you’re a kind of inspiration and also an inspiration to people who don’t give up at age 30 um it’s one of the hearts Sports Partnerships themes is keeping people active as they get a little bit older Beth is here representing the team at Marriott H hi Beth um I think somebody said 29 years when I first got involved with with Marriotts it had only just changed its name it still had most of the young people in the old school uniform and had actually been at risk of closure look at it now and it’s down to best team um so I’m glad you could come along and represent the school I know other schools are available it’s like the BBC I have to say that but come on you know that Journey from merits has been a hugely successful one um Richard’s here from part run what are we talking about now 500 people moving 5 kilometers every Saturday morning again in terms of that getting moved being get Active Health improvements um all all the right things are going on there and of course all the community activists at the heart heart of a town heart of our town because the heart of a town is the people oh I’d have a long but brief look back lots of anniversaries have been going on it’s a slightly different selection a 100 years ago team GB wasn’t called that then team GB were winning gold medals in the Paris Olympics 1924 and the flying Scot on its Journey from leads to London passing through stevenage was acknowledged as the first steam train to exceed 100 Mil an hour there was a little upstart in the Great Western that claimed something but it was never measured properly so the flying Scots model his journey through Steam which exceeded 100 miles an hour 80 years ago the Education Act made secondary education Universal and free for the first time and the same year p abomi published the greater London plan which identified stevenage as one of the possible sites for a new town 75 years ago we had the Geneva Convention partly as a direct result of the 44 act Barkley was one of the first secondary modern schools built after World War I 70 years ago Roger banister book broke the Four minut Mile and and in stevenage we had cyclist protests that led to underp pass one in stevenage and of course our first museum opened 60 years ago we enjoyed the we entered the white heat of the technological Revolution and we were working like a dog when we went enjoying the latest Beatles film and less than 100 meters away the Rolling Stones were in the loano 50 years ago ABA one EUR Vision we become a b Council now Winston Smith you must have read the book Winston Smith 6079 and Julia didn’t get together 40 years ago but we did have the minor strike and the first divish marathon and now together we are making our own community history in stevenage 2020 you might remember those three point slogans they were everywhere weren’t they I went with be healthy be Community get moving come it’s much simpler this time it’s just come together I mean maybe that refects my toasty music a little bit but come together just thinking about that awful pandemic period and particularly the impact it had on on young people um at crucial points in you know in their development so come together if you’re organizing something which might benefit from the mayor coming in coming along please write in to go with that theme my Charities or good causes are about sports and active Recreation the Arts and Music and social inclusion they are steam art skilled heart F Sports partnership and people for people now I’m going to be cheeky I am Jim Brown and I am the May of stepich now on to item four election of Deputy Mayor Now call for nominations to the office of Deputy Mayor call upon councelor Edie pler to move the nomination thank you Mr Mayor um I would like to nominate uh councelor nasmin chry for Deputy Mayor during the time I’ve known councelor chry it’s clear to see that NZ is not only an advocate for her residence but also a Beacon of Hope for our community Nas has been a supporter of various community events and groups from the world Forum to the Green Space volunteers and many others in between realizing that not only are people part of our town but Creatures Great and Small working with nas has been a great opportunity and privilege to see what she’s capable of and I can assure you that Nas has community at the front of everything she does and does not do anything without giving it a full 110% this is why Nas would make an except Deputy Mayor and Council mcgr and I were incredibly proud to continue to work alongside such an inspirational person so I would like to move as as Deputy Mayor thank you thank you Mr Mayor good evening everybody I’m proud to be second in the most ition today to make my w colleague and good friend councelor chry our Deputy Mayor I’d like to thank our other fantastic War colleague and friend councelor pler for making such a good proposing speech however it’s not the first proposal councelor chre has had this year she has recently married K in the audience here tonight yes under appuse thank you and in doing so confirmed a candidate for Deputy mayor’s consult in the spirit of marriage I was tempted to turn this into a best man speech unfortunately colleagues didn’t seem to be too keen on the content I’m so proud to have worked with nman and Ellie in Bedwell for the last few years in doing so I’ve seen close up councelor child’s undying passion for community and representation politics should always aim to reflect the community it aims to serve and between an Irish Republican a Bangladeshi lawyer and a Welsh lecturer we are the living breathing example of how diversity thrives in democracy and that’s where councel Cher’s true true strength really lies including embracing and empowering everyone she meets no matter their color creed or credentials put my teeth in Mr Man and that’s why and that’s what the good people of steepish want and deserve in a deputy mayor a public servant fulfilling her duties with diligence on the Civic stage while reaching out with open arms to bring our many communities together under one Banner the heart of its Town lies in its people and with nasmin as our Deputy Mayor the heart will continue to beat with strength and Solace I second this motion thank you councilor Asing Chad has been nominated as Deputy Mayor are there any other nominations I will now put the nomination of councelor nasmin chel as deputy mayor for 2425 to the vote those in favor those against carries brilliant thank you I’m happy to announce that council nasmin sheldry is elected deputy mayor for the municipal year 2024 2025 sa please stand again if you’re able to thank you hi everyone I nasmin chry having been elected to the office of deputy mayor of stevenage um the deputy mayor of stevenb council hereby declar that I take that office upon myself and will duly and Faithfully fulfill the duties of it according to the best of my judgment and ability thank you pies Pi just okay let’s take a seat there are some fantastic people that work for us and they do things like do that for 3 minutes stand up sit down the rest of it be lost without me um Deputy Mayor would You’ like to tell us who is to be your concert for the year um well it’s my greatest privilege to announce that my Deputy um mayor consult will be my husband Kia Williams is just standing the audience there can I ask Penny and Kia to go to the lecton on this side moving on to the appointment of the youth mayor can I ask the youth mayor for 2324 L Lac to come to the Leon and say a few words about your year in office thank you hello everyone I hope your evenings are well um a your shoulders fly by and they say time flies by when you’re having fun being your 2023 2024 youth M has been a captivating and new experience and although your very first Deputy Ana Matthews was was unable to be here with us tonight I am doubtless that she would say the same it is unimaginable that close bonds should form in such a limited time but alike with many other things this year has proven me wrong I met Ana properly during my first event as youth mayor on the 2023 Steven is day and in even less than a year I believe that we have formed a lifting Bond similarly with Daniel although he greatly took up the role of supervisor youth mayor and Deputy youth mayor halfway through the term in which he deserves high praises I also feel that he myself and the Nissa all make a great team in terms of all the others I’ve met during this time I would like to greatly commend Miler arino your charism your charismatic and hardworking mayor for being a great for being great in her role as well as her support for us for the year Robbie blel even though he isn’t here tonight I’m not sure for your con for your constant entertainment and guidance especially during the tri tripartite trip to Orton in the summer of 2023 as well as the stevenage pride Awards counselor Richard Henry for always bringing a smile to mine and niece’s faces then finally councel Sandra bar for your ongoing support and care for us young people your many talents and the joy and Charisma you bring into everything if I had to mention every single one of you who has memorably enhanced this experience then we would be here all evening in terms of the events myself and Ana have attended during our term we would both probably summarize it as being a unique Adventure nothing like we have ever experienced before for instance we were both equally surprised by the entertainment of attending a full Council full council meeting despite having to leave early each time my most memorable my most memorable experience as youth mayor was the annual tripartite trip to Orton not only did I have the priv V of viewing favorable tourist destinations in the beautiful town of autumn by also newly experienced conversing with the other parties including delegates from ingleheim and a Orton I can never truly overrall the enjoyment of attending each event each being unique in its own way a final point is the matter of the youth May budget me and Anda were given £2,000 to spend on youth related movements the first group we gave money was to the Phoenix group where the money would go towards specialist laptops for death students next cla’s little bears the money going towards a sensory room for children with learning disabilities some money went towards play equipment in ashre school then an uprising Young Person’s podcast in the steepish football Foundation seemed worthy of our budget next to Steven’s youth club where the money went towards funding the 2023 Youth Festival opened by Ana and me then at last coming up to December when we donated part of the budget to school’s Christmas Tree Project then the youth May’s very own Christmas car competition won by Susanna from John Henry Newman School our budget has been graciously given out to various aspects of the young community in stevenage and this interest should potentially give chances to all young people to make a difference in the community at long last M and Ana’s time as your youth Mayes are up we both agree that the start of the Deputy creates forther opportunity and Ana is great grateful to be your first Deputy youth mayor as I to be your 12th stevenage youth mayor but we have greatly enjoyed enoyed our time with you all we hope the next two in line enjoy this role as much as we have and they create an impact in the time they have earned this sacred time has been like no other we are both eternally grateful thank you so much enjoy your evenings thank you now I’m very pleased to inform you that the stevenage youth Council has nominated Lena Southerland to be appointed as our youth mayor and I will call upon councelor Conor McGrath to move the appointment thank you Mr Mayor it gives me my great pleasure to appoint Lena Sutherland as our youth mayor for 2024 2025 councilor sandre bar to second the motion please I couldn’t be more happy or feel more privileged than to second the motion for Leena to be the next youth mayor in case anybody doesn’t know it it isn’t given to them easily the young people have to um go through a process similar to the counselors um and they have to be voted by the all the schools in the town so to get this far um was not an easy path Mage for any of them so they should be so proud of themselves because they both the two people that were successful run a very clean and very honest Campaign which in adop uh politics always isn’t the uh the same kind of uh campaigns that come across so um I I couldn’t think of a nicer couple of people to going forward so um thank you very much um for putting yourselves forward and I second motion does anybody else wish to speak before I put this to the vote those in favor please indicate those against that is that is carried and I’m happy to announce that Lena Southerland is elected stevenage youth mayor for the municipal year 2425 can I ask laa Sor ask haa to come forward to the lecton to sign the exceptions of office I Lea Southerland having been appointed to the office of Steven a youth mayor 2024 to 2025 hereby declare that I take that office upon myself and will duly and Faithfully fulfill the duties of it according to the best of my judgment and ability and in accordance with the agreed rules and protocol e yes thank you good evening everyone my name is Lena southernland the new youth mayor stevenage it is such an honor to be here today firstly I want to thank those who have helped me throughout this process I’d like to specifically mention Mrs Shephard the post the post 16 coordinator at my school who has supported me tirelessly leading up the result adults and most importantly my parents who are consistently helping me and join me in the gallery today also thanks to Ella and Ana for serving a fantastic term it was lovely to meet them at the workshop and I wish them the best of luck for whatever awaits them the two-e campaigning period was one full of excitement and it was a completely new experience for me turnout this year was particularly High something I’m very proud of currently studying at barlay Academy 6 form and working at decathlon I a dedicated 17-year-old who loves Latin reading and writing has always been something that has interested me and throughout my life I have continuously put myself forward for leadership roles and chances to speak publicly as youth mayor I am committed to addressing the concerns of young people in stevenage during my term I want to focus specifically on public transport safety inclusivity and opportunities for young people when writing my man when when writing my Manifesto and whilst campaigning I have consistently held the view that young people are the heart of our town and it is vital that they feel represented I look forward to working closely with the new Deputy youth mayor and together we will have a fantastic year and ensure that the young people of stage acknowledge their importance in society regardless of their background once again I want to take a moment to thank those who have assisted me along the way and most importantly the young people of Steven who have voted for me the role of Youth mayor is not something offered by many areas across the country and I’m overly pleased to have been granted this opportunity I hope that my time will inspire more young people to engage within their communities I would now like to announce that Frankie Duncan will be joining me throughout my term as the deputy youth mayor of stevenage for 2024 to 2025 e congratulations both of you two quick things I need to say um one is um some of you think I’ve done this before but four years ago we were only allowed six people in the room and Simon wearing gloves had to put the chain of office down on the table and a few minutes later I was allowed to walk across the room and pick it up witnessed by this other four people in the room gosh look at this you know have we turned the corner I think there’s still a few issues around you know the the effects of the pandemic but it’s just wonderful to see the contrast between today and and four years ago the other thing is that Pete um the wonderful photographer that I can never see when he when he wants me um Pete we’re going to try and get a picture of all of the council and I think you want to take it from over there somewhere um I can’t quite think how we could do this to all the guests as well I’m sorry that would be a very interesting sh you can stitch it all together yeah so make sure you can can see Pete because if you can’t see Pete the camera can’t see you thank you Pete now we’re about to go into the other business of the night but there’s something very important and thank you to Simon and others for this now some of you will remember Percy the pig some of you will remember unaa the Unicorn this is hungry haish and anybody counselors who speaks for too long or lets their mobile phone ring will be making a donation to The May’s Charities say hello to Hungry Amish so moving into um the the other and important business item six of our council elections report detailing the results of the local elections is on second on second of May is Page 15 of the agenda does anybody wish to speak Richard thank you Mr Mayor um before going to um the results I’d just like to say thank you to Matt and the senior leadership team um but particularly Luke and his team who were fantastic in organizing the election as people know um it was the first allout election for 25 years meaning that all 39 seats were up um and I do remember 25 years ago it been very very complicated um obviously we moved on in terms of Technology but I think it’s Testament to the organization and professionalism of of the team here in stevenage that when we had recounts we know we had some very close um calls um the recounts came out exactly the same as they did the first time and I know you actually need to get a recount yourself before it was called for a recount just to make double make double check um so could we thank the officer team here um I have to say that um around the country and I know Matt’s informed me of other councils where they’ve come a little bit on stuck with their organization and there’s inquiries stewards inquiring to some um uh councils around the country but not here it’s gone through completely um agreed with the powers that be so could we thank the officers for their work on that please thank you um before we get into the new Council which has already been alluded to and it’s fantastic to see some wonderful new faces here um I’d just like to thank four of my um council members that left the Authority retiring um baroness Taylor who is in the audience so thank you Shan for all you did for Council and in my uh first year and a half as as leader I know you were very helpful to me in the Masins of working with officers and the LGA and other um leaders in um hartfordshire so thank you very much personally for your support um also Michael Downing retired he did have a go at retiring um a while ago but couldn’t give it up so came back and did a few more years um also myy McKai who uh retired this year um she was very worried that she might get reelected and we did have a sort of separate campaign for for Morin saying um more in for Manor but um we didn’t quite pull that one off um and also Joan Lloyd who as you know um had an illness and um was doing some work from home um but we thank um Joan for her 48 years service um just doing a quick tot up and I know um the the new chair of audit will uh get the figures absolutely bang on between those four fantastic members of my labor group there was over 100 years service to the people of stevenage um so could we thank them and could we minute that please we know that um Council Cycles go up and down often following the uh political will of the people of the country um and I know um we were very proud to to uh win eight seats as well as um the four seats from the people that retired but I just wanted to pay tribute to one member of the conservative opposition um who lost her seat on the pulling out of a hat which is very rare in local government sorry in local council elections and that was Margaret notley she’s a previous mayor of um the burough um twice mayor and I think we should um owe Margaret a a thank you and a gratitude for all what she did for the town as well so finally but more importantly uh Mr Mayor I’m I’m really proud that the labor group now has 32 members going up from 24 members and has already been alluded to by yourself uh Mr Mayor and and other counselors if you look around the room we’ve got one of the most diverse um group groups labor groups within the east of England and for me the talent that is coming through to represent the various communities that we have in stevenage for me is absolutely fantastic um so could we all clap everybody that got elected to the labor group thank you thank you that was half of the lib Dems clapped and all of the conservatives clapped um so just to say that I’m I’m delighted to be a leader of the labor group but also to be leader of this fantastic Town um I came back from um a conference in leads this afternoon and had meetings with various developers investors businesses Housing Development corporations they’re all interested in what we’re doing in stevenage um they are going to be contacting Matt and the officers to arrange meetings and have a look around the town and see what we’re doing um in terms of Life Sciences space defense our house building program and all the brilliant things that we’ve been working on um since Sharon was leader and started out by Brian Hall many many years ago um so I’m really pleased to be leading um this town and I’ll be working with all the people in this room and all our businesses and people to get stepy to be even better thank you Mr Mayor that was impressive thank you Richard three seconds with thank you Mr Mayor I said that um again my congratulations to everyone that’s been elected I mean politics aside it’s always an honor to be serve your your your residence in the council so well done and I wish you well for your tenure some four years some three years some two years but there you go um again congratulations Jim on becoming mayor and thank you Mila for fantastic year I know we’ve been together not that way but sorry we’ve been together quite a lot during your year in in functions Etc and you’ve been really a sparkling influence on the town and the council World on and I I remain as the last conservative standing probably least diverse group in the council being a white middle class male but there you go things are as they were um but uh I must admit I I like these these annual councils to be congenial Affairs but there’s something I need to say I’m afraid I’ve tried to say it in the Press I’ve tried to say on social media with no success but I have to say it now because I’m sure that labor group are very surprised and disappointed to see me reelected um particularly after their dirty tricks campaign on me there’s a personal attack on my character through Facebook um if I tell you the story um I before I knew the count would be taking place on Friday not Thursday night I booked a flight to gery then the FY to S to play in a charity golf event which was a nine-hole par three course on a lam Shackled Farmers field just built for the day for charity hardly a luxury um holiday that they had me down for we actually made £5,500 and one here for charity so that’s um the reason I went this actually translated itself into a caption on Facebook and I quote Steven’s group conservative group leader ditches elections for luxury holiday unserious and unfit to represent you and it had my picture with a plane presumed going to Barbados um now I’m thick skinned for pretty thick skinned but my wife Kathy is not and she’s the one that reads social media more than me and she shows me it Capt or or post that might interest me and this really upset her as some of the young more um comments on Facebook and Steven SCH so please be wary of what you say because it can affect wives and spouses and family more than the actual counselor now I’ve got a pretty good idea who um started this story and next I must speak to him I’ll have to make sure I know which face I’m talking to to be frank and I know who posted it and she needs to remind herself that the code of conduct for members which I’ll read to her treat other counselors and members of the public with respect now unfortunately I don’t know if it’s caught up in a a stitch up here but the image was posted in the name of your election agent which is Tom pler so he takes full responsibility for this in my mind and he needs to learn his Rules of Engagement campaigning rules say must not knowingly make a full statement about a personal character of a candidate now I expect more inte from election agents and counselors and I expect a lot of Integrity from my PCC thankfully we have one in Jonathan Ash Edwards because I know that Tom was anxious to become the PCC now I hope you pH Phil I know it means a lot to you but you’re out of time okay I’ll leave it there I’ll said what I need to say thank you the next one I saw would you prefer me to go for step first thank you yes thank you Mr Mayor these these elections this year took place in quite the worst spring I can remember canvasing was cold wet miserable but it was relentless few people wanted to talk encouraging people even just to go and vote was a challenge I must pay tribute though to our out outstanding agent this year for the liberal Democrats councelor Andy mcginness who drove us out in all weathers and provided a constant flow of at times soggy leaflets and envelopes thank you Andy but those new voters to each Ward had to be contacted thank you government for these rather unnecessary Ward boundary changes the outcome of the elections was surprising for some as we lost all but one of our conservative colleagues despite one of uh the conservatives having assured us they were Now using the many campaigning techniques of the liberal Democrats he clearly chose the wrong ones personally I too was genuinely saddened to see Margaret notley lose her seat by the toss and choice of a ballot we really need a better system in in the electoral system than that it might be right for two prospective newbie candidates campaigning to join the council but for longstanding members if there’s an equality of votes then perhaps seniority of years on the council should take precedent surely A Better Way perhaps we can put that forward to the Electoral commission can I congratulate our chief exec and his electoral registration colleagues in managing a smooth polling day more than meeting the challenges of ballot papers offering three votes which clearly caught some electors unawares and ODed and an odd additional ballot for the police and crime commissioner post I have to say uh it was with some trepidation when I arrived at the count as to how the cross party and single votes would be handled a thick white solid plastic ruler in front of each counter set me wondering a while if it was to wrap the knuckles of counting agents if they touched a ballot but no it was uh to align the boxes of a large sheet of paper to counter uh so counters could tick off the choices of Voters who mix their support between parties or just settle for one favorite candidate so the count just confirmed for me that staging an election using the single transferable Vote or PR proportional representation would not be too difficult who knows several more conservatives might have survived to join no mates Phil so my congratulations to those who organized the count it went incredibly well given the challenging circumstances thank you thank you very much [Music] um then it was Andy uh thank you very much uh Mr Mar um you know congratulations and welcome to alluded to I was I was privileged to be the agent for the local lib Dems and I just wanted to pay tribute to our chief executive Matt all the kind of strategic um team and particularly all the election staff um Luke and Zoe who were always you know did an incredible job in very complicated circumstances it went you know without any kind of hon and blue it was really really um kind of straightforward so and thank you for always being in at the end of the phone or or a text message as well so thank you very much uh for the hard service it really is of you know was so successful for all to your hard work uh secondly just want to say congratulations and welcome to all the new new members of the council um particularly from the Well from only from the labor party um you know you really do have stand on the shoulders of giants and I want to join with uh counselor uh Henry and just pay tribute to all the counselors across the political vibe who put in those kind of years of service um whatever kind of political party you’re from whether you vote or not I think we can all you know really kind of um be thankful uh for the the years of service um uh particularly um with no with with councelor Joan Lloyd uh councelor Margaret notley um councelor Mor McKai uh uh Michael Downey and of course barus Taylor um again you know we just thank know thank you for all your years of service and you really do have big shoes to fill uh a labor comrade so um I hope you um show your metal thank you was there anyone else okay no sorry Tom I did see you but I was trying to get a bit of balance but no we’re done okay thank you mayor um just just a very short Point uh firstly congratulations to all the new counselors are very very warm welcome and wish you all the best in your new role um the second point I just wanted to mention was um about the uh incident with councelor Biby and it’s not very often agree with um councelor BBY but I think um when I saw that social media post um I felt that really crossed the line there and I I really don’t feel it’s acceptable to share the personal travel plans of a fellow counselor on social media we have had incidents in the past with you know security issues um with with counselors and things like that and and I feel it’s important to know that that that shouldn’t be acceptable and we shouldn’t do that in the future thank you please so um this is a good night um our annual celebration of a new mayor and we’ve heard lots of um congratulatory messages and thank you all in the good spirit of who we are and that is stevenage we have the hasht we are Steven AG maybe it’s here and and now tonight that we make a a kind of Nod to our responsibility as being Role Models within our our communities um is very important that we behave as we would wish um treat people how we wish to be treated ourselves and maybe with the general election campaign about to in shlw that we remind ourselves even if the national picture does um take a a a turn for how we know it’s going to go that we make a pledge to treat each other with respect here um we’ve already had a name call um it doesn’t make for a pleasant atmosphere when we walk through this door we are the elected representatives and we should remember that at all times okay I’m kind of reminded that at least four of us in this room regularly go into a building where part of the slogan on the w says be kind um can I just very quickly add that the concentration of the counting offices for all of those hours on that Friday was incredible and I know Richard and others have have passed on their thanks but can we all just a level of const what was it 7 hours eight hours you know huge period of time um with those big rotors um but I think we can move on now to item item Seven’s the appointment of the leader and Deputy leader of the opposition and I’m going to ask the chief executive to report on that please thank you right to now say Mr Mayor not Madame mayor from there on so I happy tonight so thank you Mr Mayor I’ve been notified that leader of the opposition is to be councelor Steven Booth with councelor Robin Parker as his Deputy thank you thank you um item eight the appointment of leaders and Deputy leaders of for the political groups on the council I’ll ask the chief executive to report on this matter thank you Mr Mayor details of the leaders and Deputy leaders appointed by each political group are detailed on the green paper circulated around the chamber thank you thank you Matt so item nine we move on to constitutional issues the report’s been circulated and can be found at page 31 of the agenda does the chief executive anything to add nothing to add thank you Mr Mayor thank you Council Richard Henry to move the recommendations thank you Mr Mayor I won’t take too long but just to say during the year I’ve been working with what was the executive um we’re now making a change to um cab because it seems that the public understand that more when you say cabinet they think all right they’re a politician but executive they often thought we were paid officers and that leads to some confusion um I’ve also um been working with the the existing executive and uh Matt and the leadership team in moving some of the uh uh responsibilities around and changing the name so hopefully people understand what the primary roles of of the cabinet members are um so um the C the portfolio responsibility I will have is under the uh title of transforming stevenage um Janette Thomas uh my Deputy who’s now going to uh take a lead on resources and transformation and we’ve moved um it back into that portfolio um playing to Genet strengths um Jackie holwell will be um the cabinet member for housing and that includes housing transformation housing um development as well um Sandra bar will um have the title of Cooperative Council and neighborhoods and we wanted to put Cooperative council at the top so it reflects um how important we believe um being a Cooperative council is and I know um Sandra’s got some ideas of taking that forward um councelor Lorraine Rosati um as culture Leisure and well-being and also events has now moved into that port folio and I know she’s been working with officers and developing a whole um system approach to um all what comes under that portfolio um s Simon spell has environment and performance and we’ve moved environmental health back into that portfolio so again that um widens the scope of that um cabinet position um Lloyd Brisco um will be the cabinet for economy skills and transport and skills is now Bec very important in in the town to both the council and the major business in the town um so skills is going to be fairly prominent over the next year and color McGrath welcome to the cabinet Connor um what was um Community safety qualities and um um other titles we’ve we’ve called stronger communities and I know from speaking to a number of officers Connors on the uh on the game already so well done everybody um I won’t go through all the other committees and chairs because not on the game on he’s got his game head on yeah um because they’re they’re all on the committee paper so I’d like to um present um this cabinet to run um the council with officers and everybody in the chairs and Deputy chairs per uh committee places um for the next year thank you Mr Mayor councelor Janette Thomas 2 second please thank you Mr Mayor looking at the time and bearing in mind that this is your night and our Deputy mayor’s night I will just formally second thank you thank you Janette does anybody else want to speak okay Richard you got the right to reply I’ll wave that thank you Mr Mayor thank you very much I shall now put the matter to the vote can I see those in favor please those against any extensions carried thank you appointment of committees which is item 10 all last the chief executive to come in at this point Thank you again Mr Mayor details of the individuals put forward by the political groups of the council to serve each committee has shown on the list of nominations circulated on the green paper that is circulated also shows nominations received for the appointment of the chairs and the vice chairs of scrutiny committees and a number of the other committees as well thank you Mr May thank you Mr Mayor I’ll formally move the motion thank you Richard um Janette a second please thank you Mr Mayor I formerly second the motion thank you very much I’m not sure what to Richard but you got the right to reply oh sorry Tom Tom sorry Mr M there’s one small error on this paper and that’s under the Joint consultative Committee which should have um myself as a third member not councelor rup Chand I’m sure we can get that right thank you thank you very much um Richard taking that on board but yeah yeah no thanks Tom I wasn’t at the meeting where all the committee places so I hadn’t picked that up but um thank you and that will get amended in minutes thank you Mr May thank you everybody could have see those in favor of the motion those against any extensions unanimous thank you motion is carried I now ask Richard to move the appointment of chairs and we sh Vice chairs to set out in the green paper thank you Mr May formally move that motion brilliant Janette to Second thank you Mr Mayor I formerly second thank you Janette anyone wish to speak those in favor of the motion please indicate those against any extensions I guess one of us ought to to give a quick explanation to the public gallery that we do talk about these things beforehand it’s not suddenly appear from nowhere so it’s not just a rubber stamping exercise I think there somebody in the background trying to be helpful and we’re kind of beating each other to the button um which is quite fun but item 11 appointment to outside bodies I’ll ask Matt to come in at this point Thank you Mr Mayor the list of outside bodies has been circulated around the chamber on the yellow paper thank you thank you Mr Mayor formally move um the appointments thank you thank you Mr Mayor I formally second the mo the appointment thank you anybody would like to speak okay thank you very much nothing to reply to Richard that’s okay I’m okay thank you brilliant those in favor please those against any extensions motion is carried now let’s have skipped a page or something we’ve got to the end of the business um thank you very much everybody and and thank you for bearing with us from the public Gallery um now the second stage of course is I’d like to warmly invite you to move through to the inkim lounge for the May makings reception please stand if you’re able to thank you
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