To elect the Leader of the Council and receive notification from the Leader of his/her Deputy and the remainder of the Members appointed to the Executive and their respective portfolios, Deputy Executive Members and, if applicable, the terms of delegation to Executive Members and Officers.
The Leader of Council/Executive Members will be allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes in total.
The Leader of the Opposition will be allowed to speak for up to 5 minutes.
Minutes:
Following the resignation of the Leader of Council and in accordance with the governance arrangements which were adopted by Council at its meeting on 18 November 2010, the Mayor called for nominations for the Office of Leader of the Council for a four-year term (or until the Leader’s Term of Office as a Councillor expires).
It was proposed by Clive Jones and seconded by Prue Bray that Stephen Conway be elected as Leader of the Council for a four-year term.
RESOLVED: That Stephen Conway be elected as Leader of the Council for a four-year term.
Stephen Conway addressed the meeting as follows –
Stephen Conway, Leader of the Council:
Thank you, Madam Mayor for introducing me as the new Leader. I am immensely grateful to Council for entrusting me with the responsibilities of the post to which I’ve just been elected. It’s an enormous privilege to lead this Council, and I will do so to the best of my ability and seek to justify your support.
We have had many distinguished leaders of Council – none more so than my immediate predecessor, Clive Jones. I had the pleasure of serving as Clive’s deputy last year and I know better than anyone that he is going to be a hard act to follow. Thank you, Clive, for your clear-sighted, calm, and courageous leadership over the last twelve months; I will strive to build on your many successes.
Clive led an impressive and effective Executive, and I am not proposing to make any changes to its composition. Clive will remain on the Executive as our lead on business and economic development. I am delighted to say that my colleague Prue Bray has consented to be my deputy; her experience and good judgement, respected across the Council, will be invaluable. The list of Executive Members and their areas of responsibility has been tabled in a paper before you. I am not going to read out names that you can read yourself.
This year will no doubt be challenging for the Council, as was the last. Inflation has not gone away; demand for our services grows, interest rates remain high, and the government has given us totally inadequate core funding. But we have at least three significant advantages to help us rise to the challenges ahead. The first of those advantages is our external partnerships. Over the past year, the Lib Dem administration devoted time and effort to improving the Council’s relationships with its community partners – especially the voluntary and charitable sector, town and parish councils, business, the university, schools, and health providers. We are forging much more effective relationships with these bodies than in the past and that will help our community to weather whatever storms may hit us. This administration will continue to work to nurture and deepen these relationships, in the firm belief that we can achieve more together than we can on our own.
A second big advantage we possess is that this Council has impressive and dedicated officers, who want to make a difference and are committed to the public service. I hope all Councillors will appreciate the enormous contribution our officers make – without them we could do literally nothing.
Our third advantage is that there is a great range of experience and talent in this Council Chamber, amongst elected Councillors of all parties and of none. I would like, this is my personal ambition, to call on the expertise of all Councillors to help us tackle the challenges that lie ahead. I want all Councillors to be able to make a meaningful contribution through active participation in council committees or working parties. I also want to facilitate the work of all Councillors as ward representatives. You have all been elected as particular representatives of your wards. I want to help you in that role. If you have a particular ward matter on which you would like assistance, I will always listen and try to find a way forward when that’s possible.
This administration’s priorities will be financial stability; targeting what resources we can at helping those most in need; securing school places for the Borough’s young people; providing support for local businesses; and playing our part in addressing the climate emergency. I hope that these priorities are shared across the Chamber. On many matters that we seek to address, there is more consensus than electioneering rhetoric and party-political point-scoring in Council meetings might suggests. There will, of course, be areas of disagreement. But let us not manufacture contention where none exists. Let us work together whenever possible. That is what our residents expect of their councillors. There is a yearning amongst the public for a more adult form of politics; let’s show that we can provide it.
In the spirit of working with others beyond the Lib Dem group, I have offered the chairs of the Audit Committee and the Climate Emergency Overview and Scrutiny Committee to the Labour Group. I have offered the Conservative group the vice-chairs of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Licensing and Appeals Committee, and the Standards Committee. The leader of the Labour group has agreed – thank you, Rachel. Subject to the Committees voting on those people being Chairs and Vice Chairs. The leader of the Conservative group has accepted the vice-chair of Standards, which is encouraging, but has declined the offer of Conservative vice-chairs for Health Overview and Scrutiny and Licensing Appeals, which strikes me as a missed opportunity. I hope Pauline will reconsider; there is still time before the first meetings of the committees. I appreciate that adjusting to opposition is never easy after a period in power, and I can imagine that it must be more difficult after twenty years of being in charge. But, believe me, constructive opposition can add value to what the Council does. Ultimately, it’s more satisfying for opposition members than merely railing from the side-lines.
For my part, Madam Mayor, I will listen to the views of others, and will respect their right to take a different line. I will approach this coming year in the same way as I approached my own election in Twyford – with a positive appeal to peoples’ hopes rather than a negative appeal to their fears. Fellow Councillors, we are at our best when we are positive. Whatever our differences about means, I believe that we share a common view of the ends we are seeking. All of us, surely, want to see a more prosperous, a more vibrant, and a greener Wokingham. All of us, I hope, want a compassionate and caring Wokingham. And all of us, I hope again, want to ensure that everyone in our community is treated with respect and is given the opportunity to live a happy and fulfilled life, whatever their background or characteristics. If we do indeed share these objectives, let’s work together to deliver the even better Borough that we all want to see.
Pauline Jorgensen, Leader of the Opposition:
Since our last Full Council, we have lost familiar faces and gained some new ones. I would like to thank all former councillors of all parties for their service to the Borough and their time and commitment. All ward councillors work hard for their residents and give up their evenings to attend meetings like this, often combining their role with careers and families. I would also like to welcome the new Councillors. I hope you enjoy your time on the Council. I would also personally like to thank my Shadow Executive for all their work on behalf of residents. Also finally, to thank all the residents who voted. Local elections matter. They effect vital services we all rely on, and at a time when democracy around the world is looking more fragile, it is important that we do not take hard won freedoms for granted, but instead exercise our rights. If you did not vote, then your voice could not be heard.
I would like to congratulate Adrian and Beth for becoming Mayor and Deputy, and also, I would like to congratulate Councillor Conway on becoming Leader of the Group and Leader of the Council. He is a dedicated local councillor who has served our Borough for 22 years since 1994, with a short break. In my previous dealings with him I have always found him to be fair, decent, and honest. He has spoken of wanting a better future for our Borough. I share that commitment and where we agree the Conservative Group will support and work with colleagues from other parties, and I look forward to doing so.
Wokingham Borough voters have again delivered a Council with No Overall Control. No one party has a majority. We will continue to offer a robust opposition where we disagree, as residents expect us to. I said that local elections matter, and what goes on in this Chamber matters. Debates should be heard, and the voices of residents should be heard. Last year, too often this was not the case. Twice the previous Lib/Lab administration tried to introduce constitutional change which if it had been passed would have meant that councillors kept questions would not have been heard. Petitions brought by thousands of residents have been ridiculed, consultations, and even a resolution of Council was ignored, and debates quashed. At the same time last year there was shown a worrying lack of transparency and a growing trend of being selective with the facts. Despite being repeatedly asked since last summer, the Administration is yet to publish the business case for the parking charges. Councillor Jones went to great pains to tell residents that bins would be collected weekly under their new policy, even though he knows full well that household waste and non-food recycling, which is what most people class as bins, will not be taken away every week. At the election, despite asking for residents’ votes, the Liberal Democrats did not produce any manifesto or leaflets which give any indication of what they are going to do over the next year. Asking for a blank cheque? Possibly.
As a historian, Councillor Conway will know that all too well, in exchange for taxation, people expect something in return, but the record of the Liberal Democrats and the Labour coalition partners, is that residents pay more and get less. Council tax is up, fees are up, parking charges are set to double. In exchange bins will be collected less, fewer potholes will be fixed, there will be no action on the solar farm, and our residents have been let down with no progress on achieving sustainable housing numbers, and no movement on producing a new Local Plan to protect against speculative development, something we all want to do. We will wait to see if whether the new national policy of allowing developers free rein to build on the Green Belt is adopted by our Liberal Democrat friends. At least residents can take comfort that more money is being found to promote all of the wonderful things it is doing for them, as spending on the Council’s PR is up.
The Conservatives believe in putting residents at the heart of Council policies, strong finances, action on planning, working with communities, and ensuring that people are free to choose, not forced to meet the ideological whims of politicians. We will continue to put forward a positive plan for making Wokingham Borough an even better place for residents, local businesses, and future generations.