Agenda item

To receive the report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services on any Notices of Motion received by him (Lilac pages).  Councillors are asked to note that any Notices of Motion must be received by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services no later than noon on Thursday, 18 May 2017.

The Council had before it a Notice of Motion standing in the names of Mr P M McDonald, Mr R C Lunn, Mr A Fry, Ms P Agar, Mr R M Udall, Ms P A Hill and Mr P Denham.

The motion was moved by Mr P M McDonald and seconded by Mr R C Lunn.

The Council agreed to deal with the motion on the day.

Those in favour of the motion made the following comments:

·         The resignation of the current Chief Executive provided the ideal opportunity to reign in the pay of the Chief Executive which was in excess of that of the Prime Minister. The salary of the Chief Executive was claimed to have increased at a time when the majority of Council staff were the subject of a pay freeze and services including youth provision and homecare were subject to budget reductions

·         The appointment of an interim Chief Executive gave the new Council time to properly examine the job description, salary, and terms and conditions of the post and to determine the appropriate leadership model for the Council. The Council did not necessarily need a traditional Chief Executive post

·         The post was in relation to the whole Council, not just the administration. The appointment of the Chief Executive should be a cross-party decision. The OSPB should be given the time to come to a conclusion on the future of the role based on the relevant facts and evidence 

Those against the motion made the following comments:

·         The Leader of the Council thanked the Chief Executive for her work on behalf of the Council. He argued that the Council needed strong managerial leadership to complement political leadership. It was vital to attract the right calibre of candidate to the role in order to drive the Council's Strategic Economic Plan forward. July Council would debate the nature of the permanent role. The precise nature of the role would be considered by a cross-party Appointments Panel with a recommendation to Council

·         The request for the OSPB to undertake an investigation into the role of the Chief Executive would unnecessarily delay the appointments process. The position should be filled as soon as possible

·         The recruitment of the Chief Executive was a matter of research not a scrutiny issue

·         The comparison to the Prime Minister's salary was misleading.

On a named vote the Motion was lost.

Those voting in favour were:

Ms P Agar, Mr C J Bloore, Mr P Denham, Mr A Fry, Ms P A Hill, Dr C Hotham, Mr M E Jenkins, Mr R C Lunn, Mr P M McDonald, Mr L C R Mallett, Prof J W Raine, Mrs M A Rayner, Ms C M Stalker and Mr R M Udall. (14)

Those voting against were:

Mrs A T Hingley, Mr R C Adams, Mr A T Amos, Mr T Baker-Price, Mr R M Bennett, Mr G R Brookes, Mrs J A Brunner, Mr B Clayton, Ms R L Dent, Mr N Desmond, Mrs E A Eyre, Mr S E Geraghty, Mr P Grove, Mr I D Hardiman, Mr A I Hardman, Dr P B Harrison, Mr M J Hart, Mrs L C Hodgson, Mr A J Hopkins, Mr A D Kent, Mr S M Mackay, Ms K J May, Mr P Middlebrough, Mr A P Miller, Mr R J Morris, Mr J A D O'Donnell, Mrs F M Oborski, Ms T L Onslow, Dr K A Pollock, Mrs J A Potter, Mr A C Roberts, Mr C Rogers, Mr J H Smith, Mr A Stafford, Mr C B Taylor, Mr R P Tomlinson, Mrs E B Tucker, Mr P A Tuthill, Ms R Vale, Mr S A Webb and Mr T A L Wells. (41)