Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There were none.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

To consider the report of the Chief Executive.

The Mayor asked the Leader, Councillor Hamida Ali, to propose the item and firstly set out the background to holding a Referendum. At the Referendum the residents decided that they wished the council to be run by a Mayor of their choosing.

The Leader acknowledged that there were different views on the best governance but felt that collective decision making had been important to the Administration and that they had cautioned against having all power in one set of hands. The Administration welcomed the result even though it had not been their suggestion. Croydon will become the fifth London borough to have a directly elected Mayor. However, it was disappointing that the turnout had been so low and there is much work to be done by this council to ensure that votes have enough information to be able to fully engage our neighbourhoods in such an important election next May.

The Leader went on to say that there seemed to have been surprise within the Opposition regarding the financial remuneration that a 71^st elected member would require together with suitable support. This had been highlighted in the report and will need to be reflected in the budget.

The Leader congratulated Councillor Perry on his selection to be his party’s candidate for Mayor but questioned the lack of diversity in the shortlist and continued by stating that the Administration had worked hard to reduce spending and achieve a balanced budget even though no reductions had been suggested by the Opposition.

Councillor King seconded the motion and reserved his right to speak.

Councillor Perry stated that last week was a truly historic event where 80% of those who voted chose to have a directly elected Mayor. This issue brought all residents of Croydon together through the DEMOC Campaign. He accused the Administration of delaying this vote as his opinion the referendum should have been held in May 2021 or not needed at all had there been a motion to Council some months ago.

Councillor Perry then went on to question the Leader’s support for an elected mayor. However, he stated that councillors must now ensure that the elected mayor will be a positive influence on the borough. The mayor must give a vision of hope to the diverse communities in Croydon. Croydon had been devastated since 2014 by the decision made which led to bankruptcy. Every ward in the borough voted to have an elected mayor and he stated that this proved that the Administration were out of touch with the people of Croydon.

In concluding, Councillor Perry stated that he supported the recommendation.

Councillor Hale stated that the push from the residents of Croydon had been quite extraordinary but that this came from the struggles they had had in getting their views heard. She went on to thank the DEMOC team for their hard work, including the Chairman Gerry Meredith-Smith. It was down to their persistence that the Administration gave in to their demands for a referendum which was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17/21

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This item was not required.