Agenda and minutes

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

The Vice-Chair pro tem of the Council invited nominations for the new Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2025-2026.

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 2025-2026.

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

The Chair of the Council invited nominations for the new Vice-Chair of the Council for the Municipal Year 2025-2026.

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 2025-2026.

To receive any declarations of interest.

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

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 26 March 2025 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

To receive and consider any communications from the Chair, Mayor, Executive Members or Chief Executive (if any).

The Chair announced with sadness, the recent death of Steve Grace, former Councillor.

The Chair invited Members to join him in a minute’s silence, as a mark of respect.

Motion 170

The Chair reminded Council of Motion 170, carried at the Council meeting held on 16 October 2024, in relation to Baby Loss Awareness.  The lack of paid bereavement leave for working people who sadly lose their baby before 24 weeks gestation had been discussed during the debate.   The Chair was pleased to inform Council that the Government had agreed to support paid bereavement for families suffering this loss –  rather than them having to take unpaid holiday or sick leave.

Verbal Report

The Mayor addressed the Council stated that the past year had been difficult at times but there had been a lot of positives.  The Council was no longer under any form of intervention from the Government.  The Budget saw areas of growth in key areas including Area Care, Youth Services and Culture and current indications were that the Council had remained in-Budget for the financial year.

Looking forward, the Middlesbrough Childhood Enrichment Scheme would shortly be implemented, which the Mayor stated would be one of the achievements he would be most proud of by the time his tenure as Mayor ended.  The Mayor stated that every child in Middlesbrough should have equity and a fair chance.  One of the areas within the scheme was “Ten By Ten” which meant that every child would have ten experiences by the age of ten which would change their lives and aspirations.

Measures would be implemented to bring more services back in-house at the Council to ensure better services for residents, including aboricultural services.

There had been a shift towards improved prevention services and numbers of children looked after had reduced to the lowest number in seven years.  This was due to much hard work by both the Council and other outside organisations and charities that had worked tirelessly to ensure that children could thrive.  Support provided to parents had also played a huge part, as had foster carers, who were often working in difficult circumstances and were doing their very best to effect positive change.

The Mayor concluded by thanking his Executive and all Councillors for all their work throughout the year in their Wards, in the Chamber and in meetings and wished everyone the best of luck going forward.

NOTED

Verbal Report

The Mayor informed Council of changes to the Executive Portfolios as follows:

The Adult Social Care and Public Health Portfolio had been split.  Councillor Ryles remained as Executive Member for Public Health and Councillor Rostron had been appointed Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

Councillor Blades had been appointed Executive Member for Neighbourhoods.

Councillors Mason, Saunders, Morrish and Smiles spoke in relation to the changes announced and the new appointments.

The Mayor responded by providing his rationale for splitting the Adult Social Care and Public Health portfolios and the appointments made to his Executive.

NOTED

The Director of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer) presented a report in respect of Political Balance Allocation of Places 2025-2026, the purpose of which was to recommend the allocation of places on Committees and Sub-Committees for 2025-2026 in accordance with the political balance of the Council.

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. However, where more than one person (non-group members) applies 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 3 included in Appendix 1 to the submitted report.

ORDERED as follows:

That the Council approved:

1.         the allocation of seats on Committees that were subject to the rules relating to political balance as set out in the report as follows:

Name of Group/Unallocated	No. of Seats
Conservative	11
Labour	10
Liberal Democrats	6
Marton Independent East Group	6
Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association	34
Unallocated	6
TOTAL	132

2.         That the Monitoring Officer be authorised to fill the unallocated seats as indicated in paragraph 4.13 of the report, and to make any necessary further adjustments to remove or replace Members where directed by the relevant group or Member.

3.     That any committee established prior to the next review be appointed on the basis of the places shown in Appendix 3, Table 3, attached to the report.

A report of the Director of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer) was presented to seek a decision from Full Council as to whether to amend the Constitution in relation to the provisions for electing Chairs and Vice Chairs of Committees of the Council.

The proposed amendment to the Constitution would allow for Chairs and Vice Chairs to be elected at the first meeting of a Committee in any new Municipal Year, by those Committee members in attendance at that first meeting.

Upon the resignation or removal of any Chair or Vice Chair during the Municipal Year, the Committee would be responsible for electing a replacement Chair or Vice Chair from within the existing Committee membership.

Councillor Clynch acknowledged the amendments to the report that had been proposed by Councillor Morrish and circulated to Members in advance of the meeting.  Councillor Clynch suggested that the report was deferred so that further work on the revised Constitution could be completed.

Following advice provided by the Monitoring Officer, Councillor Clynch proposed a procedural motion in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.34.1(c) of the Council’s Constitution to proceed to the next business.

The motion was seconded by Councillor L Young.

Councillor Livingstone sought clarification as to the proposed motion and  spoke in support of the amendment drafted by Councillor Morrish.  Councillor Morrish expressed his disappointment at the proposed motion given the volume of work that already had been undertaken on the revised Constitution.

On a vote being taken, the motion was CARRIED.

Following advice provided by the Monitoring Officer, the Chair proposed a procedural motion in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.3.1.(f) of the Council’s Constitution to adjourn the meeting for a period of 15 minutes, to enable Councillors to prepare nominations for Chairs and Vice Chairs of Committees in advance of Agenda Item 12.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Morrish.

On a vote being taken, the motion was CARRIED.

The Council meeting was adjourned for a period of 15 minutes.

Council received a report of the Director of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer), regarding the establishment of committees, sub-committees, boards, panels and working groups and their terms of reference for the 2025-2026 Municipal Year, or until amended by Council, (whichever was the latter).

Schedule A of the report submitted set out the Executive and Executive Sub-Committees and Advisory Bodies as agreed by the Mayor.

Schedules B and C identified the nominations received from the various groups and individual Councillors for places on the committees to be established by the Council in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of the Local Government Act 1989 and Local Government (Political Groups and Committees) Regulations 1990.

Schedule D set out steering/working groups that were not included in the calculation of political balance as they were not Council Committees.

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 a vote 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

CHIEF OFFICER APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Jackson appointed

Vice Chair: Vacant

CONSTITUTION AND MEMBERS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Chair: Chair of Council (Councillor Banks)

Vice Chair: Vice Chair of Council (Councillor Kabuye)

CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE:

Chair: Chair of Council (Councillor Banks)

Vice Chair: Councillor L Young appointed

YOU MATTER TO US - CORPORATE PARENTING BOARD

Chair: Councillor Henman appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Uddin appointed

2 vacancies: no nominations

LICENSING COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Lewis appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Hill appointed

1 vacancy: 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 Morrish appointed

TEESSIDE PENSION FUND COMMITTEE

Chair: Councillor Kabuye appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Rostron appointed

1 vacancy: Councillor Ewan appointed

1 vacancy: no nominations

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY BOARD

Chair: Councillor L Young appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Ewan appointed

ADULT SOCIAL CARE AND HEALTH SCRUTINY PANEL

Chair: Councillor Kabuye appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Coupe appointed

CHILDREN’S SCRUTINY PANEL

Chair: Councillor Clynch appointed

Vice Chair: Vacant

1 vacancy: Councillor Jackson appointed

PLACE SCRUTINY PANEL

Chair: Councillor Branson appointed

Vice Chair: Councillor Livingstone appointed

Schedule D:

CORPORATE HEALTH AND SAFETY STEERING GROUP

Chair: Councillor Branson appointed

4 vacancies: no nominations

WORKS COUNCIL

Chair: Deputy Mayor (Councillor Storey)

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 2025-2026 Municipal Year, or until amended by Council, (whichever is the latter).

2.         The places allocated in accordance with the wishes of the political groups and other Councillors as shown.

3.         The vacancies listed at paragraph 2.1.3 of this report were filled in accordance with political group and other Councillors’ preferences.

Noted:

4.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25/11

The Director of Legal and Governance (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 the 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 2025-2026 Municipal Year, nominated at the meeting, be approved and noted, until amended by Council/Executive (whichever was the latter):

Appendix A – Council Appointments

Hartlepool Power Station Local Liaison Committee

1 vacancy: no nomination

North East Regional Joint Health Scrutiny Committee

1 vacancy: no nomination

Appendix B – Council/Executive Appointments

Middlesbrough CAB Management Committee

Councillor J Young appointed

Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

Councillor Livingstone appointed

Appendix C – Executive Appointments

North East Culture Partnership – Board (ANEC)

Councillor Storey appointed

Resources Finish Task Group (ANEC)

Councillor Walker appointed

Staying Put Advisory Committee

1 vacancy: no nomination

Tennis World

2 vacancies: 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 Director of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer) submitted a report, to seek approval of the draft programme of Executive, Council and Committee meeting dates for the Municipal Year 2025-2026 as outlined Appendix A attached to the submitted report.

The Director of Finance and Transformation (Section 151 Officer) had been consulted with regard to the proposed meeting dates for the consideration of the Budget and Council Tax Setting Meeting.

The dates were tentative and could be subject to change, depending on the appointment and availability of individual Chairs.

ORDERED as follows:

That the Council approved:

1.    The timetable of meetings for the Municipal Year 2025-2026, as detailed in Appendix A attached to the submitted report.

2.    With the exception of the following:

• Budget/Council Tax Setting Meetings – Wednesday 18 February 2026 and Wednesday 4 March 2026.

• Annual Meeting - Wednesday 20 May 2026.

the dates for ordinary meetings of the Council were designated as meetings at which questions will be taken from members of the public.

The Director of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer) submitted a report, to seek approval of Council, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.14.1(b) to agree a resolution to call an Extraordinary meeting of Council for the purpose of granting the Freedom of the Borough to Mr Norman Moorsom and Mr Alan Peacock.

ORDERED as follows:

That the Council approved:

1.         an Extraordinary meeting of the Council would be convened for the purposes of granting the Freedom of the Borough to Mr Norman Moorsom and Mr Alan Peacock.

2.         that the date of the Extraordinary meeting would be determined with the approval of the Chair of Council.