Agenda item
Mayor's Announcements (including any petitions received)
To receive any announcements from the Mayor.
Decision:
NOTED the announcements from the Mayor in relation to:
· A Royal visit by HRH the Duchess of Cornwall
· Formally welcoming the newly elected councillors in Alperton, Barnhill and Wembley Central wards along with the Assistant Chief Executive
· Mayors Christmas Charity Event
· London New Year’s Day Parade
· Flag Raising Event – Bangladesh Victory Day
· Pride of Brent
· Holocaust Memorial Day
· LGBT+ Flag Raising Event and Rainbow Pedestrian crossing
· Brent International Women’s Day 2020
· Chinese New Year celebration
· Support for those affected by and tackling Coronavirus
· Abseiling Event for Mayors Charity
· Petitions
Minutes:
The Mayor made the following announcements:
(i) Royal Visit
The Mayor began by taking the opportunity to thank Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall for her visit to Brent earlier that day. He informed members that the Duchess had joined the Borough’s Deputy Lieutenant, Chief Executive, councillors and representatives from the Borough of Culture team to tour the Granville Centre and Kiln Theatre.
The visit had provided an opportunity to showcase the Borough of Culture programme and also the young talent taking part in each event, with the Duchess hugely impressed by the Borough’s commitment to culture and the contribution of young people.
The Mayor thanked all those who had made the visit such a success and also everyone who had contributed towards the Borough of Culture RISE opening ceremony, which had taken place in January.
(ii) Formal welcome of newly elected Councillors & Assistant Chief Executive
Following the by-elections held in January 2020, the Mayor moved on to formally welcome Councillors Akram, Georgiou, Lloyd and Shah as the four newly elected ward councillors for Alperton, Barnhill and Wembley Central. He wished them well, highlighting the rewarding nature of the role.
In addition, a welcome was also extended to the Council’s newly appointed Assistant Chief Executive – Shazia Hussain.
(iii) Mayors Christmas Charity Event
The Mayor advised members that he was grateful for their continued support in his fundraising activities and thanked everyone who had attended his Christmas Gala Dinner on 6th December. This had been an extremely enjoyable evening and raised a substantial amount of money for his chosen charities.
(iv) New Year’s Day Parade
The Mayor advised he had been pleased to attend the London New Year’s Day parade were he had been proud to support Mahogany in Harlesden, who had taken part on behalf of the Mayor’s office. The Mayor was delighted to announce that Brent had won first place in the competition, resulting in a £1,000 prize donation to his charities. Despite the cold, it had been a wonderful day and he congratulated all those who had taken part.
(v) Bangladesh Victory Day Flag raising
The Mayor thanked the Deputy Mayor for standing in on his behalf at the flag raising ceremony for Bangladesh Victory Day on Monday 16th December in the Paul Daisley Gardens.
(vi) Pride of Brent
The Mayor was pleased to advise that he and the Chief Executive had been able to invite many long serving staff, unable to attend the Pride of Brent awards, to tea in the Mayor’s Parlour. This had been an enjoyable morning providing a further opportunity to recognise the hard work and dedication of staff across the Council, some of whom had completed 50 years service.
(vii) Holocaust Memorial Day
The Mayor informed Members that he was honoured to have attended two memorial ceremonies to mark the Holocaust Memorial Day, one of which had taken place at the Civic Centre and the other hosted by the Greater London Assembly.
Providing a time for reflection, he felt the memorials had highlighted the importance in continuing to challenge hatred and prejudice at every level.
(viii) LGBT+ Flag raising & Rainbow Pedestrian crossing
The Mayor advised he had been delighted to join staff, councillors and residents to celebrate diversity, inclusion and tolerance at the recent ribbon-cutting event for the rainbow crossing outside the civic centre and also at the rainbow flag-raising ceremony hosted at the Civic Centre to celebrate LGBT+ History Month.
The Mayor felt that the crossing and flag-raising event were important in signaling the Council’s support for inclusion and LGBT+ communities in Brent and beyond, many of whom he pointed out were unfortunately still experiencing discrimination and violence.
(ix) Brent International Women's Day 2020
The Mayor was pleased to announce that Brent would be celebrating international women’s day, with an event on Tuesday 10 March. This would feature a range of key note speakers including Baroness Lola Young and Nabila Mallick who had high-profile experience in the areas of law, immigration, politics, campaigning, ethics, leadership and education. All members were encouraged to attend the event.
(x) Chinese New Year & Coronavirus
Along with the Deputy Lieutenant, The Mayor announced that he had been pleased to host an event at the Civic Centre on 2 February to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The event involved a show by the Chinese lions and provided an opportunity to bring together members of the Chinese community in Brent.
The Mayor also advised members that he had been following the recent outbreak of Coronavirus in Wuhan province and its spread across mainland China, which he pointed out had sadly led to significant loss of life. Offering his thoughts and prayers to all those affected, the Mayor had written, on behalf of the London Borough of Brent, to offer his solidarity with the people of China and the Sichuan province in the fight against the spread of the virus. The Mayor also paid tribute to the courage and bravery of those involved in tackling the spread of this virus across the world, including the health care professionals who are working so tirelessly to protect and treat their fellow citizens.
(xi) Gala Fundraising Dinner and other announcements
The Mayor reminded Members that his final Gala Fundraising dinner would be taking place towards the end of April 2019, with arrangements in the process of being finalised and confirmed.
The Mayor also informed members that due to adverse weather conditions, his charity abseiling event on 14 February had unfortunately had to be postponed. Attempts were being made to reschedule the event for early March so members were advised they could still donate if they had not already done so.
(xii) Petitions
Finally, the Mayor drew members’ attention to the list of current petitions along with action being taken to deal with them, which had been tabled at the meeting, in accordance with Standing Order 66.
Having finished his announcements the Mayor advised that given the change agreed to the order of the agenda, he would now move straight on to Agenda Item 6 – the Budget and Council Tax setting report 2020/21 – 2021/22 setting report 2020/21 – 2021/22.