The Council is requested to note the appointment of the Deputy Leader, as may be announced by the Leader.
The Council is requested to note the appointment of members of the Cabinet, as may be announced by the Leader.
The Council is requested to note the Cabinet Portfolios, as may be announced by the Leader.
The Council is requested to note the Leader’s Scheme of Delegation (to follow).
The Leader is to provide an update on the proposed policies of the Council for the forthcoming year.
Minutes:
Councillor Allnatt thanked Council for electing him
Leader of the Council. He stated that he would operate a Cabinet of five
Members. This includes himself as Leader and Councillor Glancy as Deputy Leader.
Councillors Butcher, Cox and Cumbers will also join the Cabinet.
It was noted that the Leader’s Scheme of Delegation
including a breakdown of the Portfolios will follow the meeting. Councillor
Allnatt then made the following speech.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank all those
who have gone before and have endeavoured to serve our community, something
which I do respect.
All Members will start with me with a clean slate.
This is not a meritocracy, this is a democracy and
every Member who comes to the table comes because they've been elected and have
something to say. From me you will get complete patience, perseverance and
wherever possible an accommodation for what your opinion happens to be at that
time but the election is over and it's been said before and I will repeat it
again the public expects us to get on with the job we must all earn that trust
and for my part I'm clear that their mandate is for change and for all of us to
work together for the common good.
I am honoured and grateful that councillors have put
their trust in me to lead this task. Our efforts must be for the whole Borough
as well as for the town of Melton, so I do look forward to working with Parish
councils who are at the heart of our broader community.
On policy we have already agreed a slimmer Cabinet
this will [involve] more focus and better involvement by all Members before
decisions are made. To this end, and I think broadly speaking I agree with
Councillor Graham on this, what's important is to analyse the problems
properly, prepare thoroughly and implement in an orderly manner and that must
of course include an eye on the cost of everything and where we go in the long
term.
To ensure this happens we believe it is time to review
the strong cabinet system and implement a return to either a full committee
system or at least a hybrid one under a no overall control. This is a rather
pragmatic approach anyway but we believe in a Local
Authority of this size is actually rather better than trying to ape some of the
larger authorities.
Our policies will be firmly rooted in providing our
core services to our communities in a timely, effective
and efficient manner. Now I recognise outside of those core facilities there
are other things which prey on our minds that some of them are very
aspirational and some stretch the capital program to its limits and new members
and old members who attended briefings in since the election will be fully
aware by now that local government here, and throughout the country, is on a
knife edge for the reasons which have been relayed including Covid, the war in
Ukraine and other things that ripple through the system and we can't avoid it.
Now I just want to conclude by repeating something
I've heard since the election and it really relates to
what's on a lot of minds here and that's the future of the High Street in in
Melton and other related matters.
Long-standing trades people in the town said that they
gave this High Street a year and they were really pessimistic and at the cheese
fair I visited in the Stockyard
I heard another trader in this Borough reference the
fact that he finds no difficulty in selling his products across the country but he finds great difficulty in selling it into
Europe, so much so that is now producing the goods in the Middle East. That's
not an argument about Brexit, it's just a statement of fact that our local
trades people are encountering difficulties. I don't know how true that is,
it's what I heard, but I will certainly be looking into that because if it is true I think we as an interested party ought to consider how
we can perhaps encourage him not to manufacture his products in the Middle
East.
I will conclude with one metaphor that I heard many
years ago and it was when England were playing Wales at the old Cardiff Arms
Park and in those days rugby was a slow-moving game and it had been very muddy
and it was bogged down, the ball had hardly got out of the scrum for about 20
minutes and eventually it came out it went to a fly half and he kicked it out
of the stadium and 10 minutes later the cry came back we've lost the ball and
somebody in the back row said never mind the ball let's get on with the game.
The point he was making when I first heard that and I make now, we've got to
keep our eye on the ball and that's making certain that everything we do for
our community is relevant for the people who have elected us,
so that's my plea and that's my resolve to go forward
and listen to everybody, look at the facts, look at the alternatives and seek
consensus wherever.
Thank you, Mr Mayor.”
(At 7:33pm the Mayor adjourned
the meeting.)
(The Mayor reconvened the meeting at 7:46pm.)