Agenda and minutes

In the event the fire alarm sounds attendees will be advised to evacuate the building via the nearest fire exit and assemble at the Bottle of Notes opposite MIMA.

The Vice Chair welcomed all present to the meeting and read out the Fire Evacuation Procedure.

 To elect the Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2026-2027.

The Vice-Chair pro tem of the Council invited nominations for the new Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2026-2027.

A nomination was received and seconded in respect of Councillor Banks.

Moved, seconded and ORDERED that Councillor Banks be elected as the Chair of the Council for the Borough of Middlesbrough to hold office for the Municipal Year 2026-2027.

The newly elected Chair of the Council was invited to take over the chairing of the meeting.

To elect the Vice Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2026-2027.

The Chair of the Council invited nominations for the new Vice-Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2026-2027.

A nomination was received and seconded in respect of Councillor Kabuye.

Moved, seconded and ORDERED that Councillor Kabuye be elected as the Vice-Chair of the Council for the Borough of Middlesbrough to hold office for the Municipal Year 2026-2027.

To receive any declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

To receive the minutes of the Council meetings held on 1 April and 6 May 2026

The minutes of the Council meetings held on 1 April and 6 May 2026 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

To receive a vote of thanks to the outgoing Chair, if applicable. 

There was no vote of thanks to the outgoing Chair as it was not required due to Councillor Banks being re-elected as Chair for the Municipal Year 2026-2027. 

To receive any announcements from the Chair, the Mayor and/or

the Head of Paid Service

The Chair announced with sadness, the recent deaths of Oliver (Olly) Johnson and Charles Morrish.

Oliver Johnson was Councillor for Beechwood Ward from 1992 to 2003 and Mayor of Middlesbrough from 1997 to 1998.

Charles Morrish was Councillor for Nunthorpe Ward from 1991 to 2003 and Parish Councillor for Nunthorpe from 2004 to 2019.

Councillor Ian Morrish paid tribute to Charles Morrish.

All present stood and observed one minute’s silence in memory of Oliver Johnson and Charles Morrish.

A joint report of the Mayor and the Corporate Director of Legal and Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer) was presented by the Deputy Mayor in respect of the Membership of Executive 2026-2027.

Section 4.8.3(b)(vi) of the Constitution required the Council to be informed by the Mayor of the number and identity of Councillors appointed to the Executive at the Annual Meeting.

ORDERED that Council noted the number and identity of Councillors appointed to the Executive. 

The Corporate Director of Legal and Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer) presented a report in respect of Political Balance Allocation of Places 2026-2027, the purpose of which was to approve the allocation of places on committees  and sub committees for 2026-2027 that were subject to the rules relating to political balance.

The Local Government and Housing Act 1989 required that the Council periodically reviewed the political composition of the Council, and how this was applied to appointments to committees and sub-committees of the Council.

The rules for securing political balance on committees and sub-committees appointed by local authorities were contained in sections 15 and 16 of the Act and the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990.

In line with usual practice, it was recommended that the Monitoring Officer be authorised to amend memberships of committees following resignations received from Members and to appoint to vacancies in accordance with group preferences or, where not in a group, in accordance with individual Member’s wishes.  Where more than one person (non-group members) applied for the same place, they should decide amongst themselves how those places should be allocated. If agreement could not be reached between the individual Members, the Council would make that determination.

In order to avoid the need to completely recalculate all committee memberships in the case of an ad hoc (or other) committees being established prior to the next review, it was proposed that any committees or sub-committees be appointed on the basis of the places shown in Table 4 included in Appendix 1 to the submitted report.

ORDERED as follows that Council:

A report of the Corporate Director of Legal and Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer) was presented the purpose of which was to seek approval for the establishment of committees, sub-committees, boards, panels and working groups and their terms of reference for the 2026-2027 Municipal Year, or until amended by Council, (whichever was the latter).

Appendix A to the submitted report set out details of Executive Sub-Committees and Advisory Bodies agreed by the Mayor (Schedule A), identified the nominations received from the various groups and individual Councillors for places on the committees to be established by Council (Schedules B and C), and board/steering/working groups that were not included in the calculation of political balance (Schedule D).  A number of Committees, as indicated in the schedule, would need to be appointed at a later date, due to the make-up of the membership.

The report included a list of current vacancies on various committees and nominations were put forward at the meeting by the individual Members concerned.

The Monitoring Officer conducted votes in respect of the role of Chair/Vice Chair and nominations for spare places, where applicable, in relation to the following committees:

Schedule C:

AUDIT COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Ewan appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Coupe appointed

1 vacancy: no nominations

CHIEF OFFICER APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Jackson appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Coupe appointed

CONSTITUTION AND MEMBERS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Chair: Chair of Council (Councillor Banks)

Vice Chair: Vice Chair of Council (Councillor Kabuye)

1 vacancy: no nominations

CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE:

Chair: Chair of Council (Councillor Banks)

Vice Chair: Councillor L Young appointed

LICENSING COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Lewis appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Hill appointed

1 vacancy: Councillor Livingstone appointed

3 vacancies: no nominations

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Thompson appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Rostron appointed

STAFF APPEALS COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Davison appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Jackson appointed

STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Romaine appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Thompson appointed

TEESSIDE PENSION FUND COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Kabuye appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Coupe appointed

1 vacancy: no nominations

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY BOARD

Chair: Councillor L Young appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Mohan appointed

ADULT SOCIAL CARE AND HEALTH SCRUTINY PANEL

Chair: Councillor Kabuye appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Coupe appointed

1 vacancy: no nominations

CHILDREN’S SCRUTINY PANEL

Chair: Councillor Clynch appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Uddin appointed

1 vacancy: no nominations

PLACE SCRUTINY PANEL

Chair: Councillor Branson appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Jackson appointed

1 vacancy: no nominations

Schedule D:

CORPORATE HEALTH AND SAFETY STEERING GROUP

Chair: Councillor Branson appointed

3 vacancies: no nominations

YOU MATTER TO US - CORPORATE PARENTING BOARD

Chair: Councillor Henman appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Uddin appointed

2 vacancies: Councillors S Platt and L Young appointed

WORKS COUNCIL

Chair: Deputy Mayor (Councillor Storey)

1 vacancies: Councillor Hubbard appointed

2 vacancies: no nominations

 ORDERED as follows that Council approved:

1.         The establishment of committees, sub committees, boards, panels and working groups and terms of reference for the 2026-2027 Municipal Year, or until amended by Council, (whichever is the latter).

2.         The places allocated in accordance with the wishes of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26/10

The Corporate Director of Legal and Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer) submitted a report regarding the appointment of representatives to joint committees and outside bodies.

The report provided an opportunity for the Council and the Executive to review its appointments to Outside Bodies and to make any necessary changes.

The appendices to the report set out details of the joint committees and outside bodies to which Middlesbrough Council may make nominations or appointments.

ORDERED as follows that Council approved:

1.         Subject to amendments to places indicated in the attached schedules, the appointments which are the responsibility of the Council .

2.         The following appointments for the 2026-2027 Municipal Year, nominated at the meeting, be approved and noted, until amended by Council/Executive (whichever was the latter):

Appendix A – Council Appointments

South Tees Health Scrutiny Joint Committee

2 vacancies (reserved to Labour): no nominations

Cleveland Police and Crime Panel

Councillor Saunders appointed

Hartlepool Power Station Local Liaison Committee

1 vacancy: no nomination

North East Regional Employers’ Organisation (NEREO)

Councillor Jackson appointed

North East Regional Joint Health Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Cooper appointed

Appendix B – Council/Executive Appointments

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

1 vacancy: no nominations

Appendix C – Executive Appointments

Staying Put Advisory Committee

Councillor Davison appointed

1 vacancy: no nominations

3.  Bodies identified in the schedules submitted be regarded as approved duties for the payment of travel and subsistence allowance.

4. Subject to consultation with the Deputy Mayor (for Executive appointments), the Group Leader (where a vacancy rests specifically with that political group), or the Chair of Council (for all other nominations/ appointments), that the Monitoring Officer be authorised to remove or replace representatives on outside bodies.

5. A report on any outstanding outside body vacancies be submitted to the next Council meeting.

That the Council noted:

6. The nomination of representatives/vacancies detailed in Appendix B – Council/Executive appointments and Appendix C – Executive appointments.

The Corporate Director of Legal and Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer) presented a report, the purpose of which was to schedule meetings for the Municipal Year 2026-2027.

Council was requested to approve the timetable attached at Appendix A to the submitted report for Council, Committees, Executive, Overview and Scrutiny Board, Scrutiny Panels and working groups.

It was highlighted that date scheduled for the June meeting of the Standards Committee had been changed to 29 June 2026.

ORDERED as follows that Council approved:

1.     the timetable of meetings for the Municipal Year 2026-2027, as detailed in Appendix A attached to the submitted report.

2.     with the exception of the Budget/Council Tax Setting Meetings – Wednesday 24 February 2027 and Wednesday 10 March 2027, and the

Annual Meeting – Wednesday 27 May 2027, the dates for ordinary meetings of the Council were designated as meetings at which questions will be taken from members of the public.

The Monitoring Officer presented a report in relation to the Annual Review of the Constitution and the non-Executive scheme of delegations.  

The current Constitution had been in use since September 2025, after a significant review.  Since implementation, the Constitution had been, and would continue to be, subject to oversight and review by the Constitution and Member Development Committee.   Full Council had received reports from the Committee about amendments made to the Constitution during the 2025-2026 Municipal Year.

Full Council was required by the Constitution to approve the non-Executive scheme of delegations (in Part B of the Constitution) at each Annual Meeting. The current schemes were implemented by the new Constitution in September 2025.  Given their recent implementation, Annual Council was requested to approve the schemes as drafted in the Constitution.

ORDERED as follows that Council:

1.     noted the information provided in the report and endorsed the ongoing work of the Constitution and Member Development Committee, supported by the Monitoring Officer and colleagues.

2.     approved the non-Executive scheme of delegations (in Part B of the Constitution).

The Corporate Director of Legal and Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer) presented a report on behalf of the Independent Panel on Members’ Remuneration to provide Members with the opportunity to consider the Panel’s  proposals and adopt the Scheme of Allowances outlined in Appendix A attached to the submitted report.  Members were asked to consider the Panel’s recommendations and either accept or reject them. If, after having due regard of the Panel’s recommendations, the Council rejected the Panel’s proposals it would be required to create its own Scheme of Allowances or choose to maintain the existing Scheme of Allowances.

Following its 2026 review of Members’ allowances, the Independent Panel on Members’ Remuneration recommended an increase to the Basic Allowance from £7,608 to £8,330 and an annual payment of £800 to Independent Persons co-opted onto the Audit Committee.

The 2026 review was a quadrennial review and compared Middlesbrough’s remuneration levels with a cohort of 16 other Councils.   Those Councils were chosen due to their geographic proximity to Middlesbrough and/or similar governance arrangements.  The full methodology of the 2026 review was

contained in Appendix 1 of the submitted report.

The Panel also recommended freezing Special Responsibility Allowances, and all other allowances, at their current levels.  Neither Basic nor Special Responsibility Allowances should reflect Staff Pay Awards at this time.  However, the Panel undertook to review allowances linked to staff pay awards as part of its 2027 review.

The Director thanked all Members for their active engagement with the Panel during the consultation exercise.

Councillor Smiles queried whether the process for review and adoption of Members’ allowances was typical to all Councils.  The Director explained that, as per paragraph 3.1 of the report, the establishment of an Independent Panel on Members’ Remuneration and its resultant recommendations was required under sections 20 and 21 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.

Councillor McTigue spoke against the proposals.

On a vote being taken, it was ORDERED as follows that Council approved the recommendations outlined in the report of the Independent Panel on Members’ Remuneration as follows:

1.      The Basic Allowance for Elected Members for 2026-2027 would be £8,330 per annum.

2.      An allowance of £800 per annum would be paid to any Independent Persons appointed to advise the Audit Committee.

3.      All other allowances contained in the current Scheme of Allowances remain unchanged.

The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Board presented the Annual Overview and Scrutiny Report 2025/2026 to provide Council with an overview of scrutiny activity during the Municipal Year.

The Chair thanked Councillors and Officers for the scrutiny work undertaken between May 2025 and April 2026.  

It was ORDERED as follows that the Annual Overview and Scrutiny Report 2025/2026 was noted.