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:
· High Court judgement regarding the Barnhill By-Election result
· Queens New Year Honours List 2021
· 100th Birthday celebrations
· Holocaust & Genocide Memorial Day Event
· Death of former Councillor Lawrie Nerva
· NHS Vaccination Centre & thanks to Council staff for their efforts in responding to the pandemic
· Petitions
Minutes:
The Mayor made the following announcements:
(i) Barnhill By-Election Result
The Mayor began by informing members that the election petition issued on 4 February 2020, which had sought to challenge the result of the by-election held on 23 January 2020 in the Barnhill ward, had been dismissed by the High Court on 19 February 2021.
He explained that as a result of the High Court ruling, Mansoor Akram and Gaynor Lloyd had been confirmed as being duly elected and correctly returned as councillors of Barnhill ward. Members were advised that in reaching their judgement the High Court had ordered the petitioners to pay the legal costs of the respondents, namely the Returning Officer and the duly elected candidates, in the total sum of £68,000.
Following a request to speak from Councillor Kansagra, the Mayor ruled that he would not be willing to accept any further comments on this matter as part of his announcements.
(ii) Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2021
Moving on, the Mayor advised it was his pleasure to be able to announce that the following Brent residents and staff had received awards as part of the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List:
· Lisa Knight - MBE for services to nursing during the pandemic.
· Martine Clark (former Executive Head Teacher of Byron Court Primary School_ - MBE for services to education.
· Sasi Srinivasan (Early Years Manager at Brent Council) – MBE for services to education.
· Sanjay Kara (Trustee at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir) - British Empire Award for his voluntary work at the temple.
· Sandra St Louis-Kandapah - British Empire Award for services to diversity, inclusion and charity work.
Members congratulated all those who had been honoured for their awards.
(iii) 100th Birthday Celebrations
The Mayor then took the opportunity to pass on belated congratulations to two Brent residents who had recently celebrated their 100th birthdays - Keith Routley, who had served in World War Two and Norman Mitchell MBE, who was the founder of the West Indian Citizens Organisation.
With the permission of the Mayor, Councillor Kansagra also took the opportunity to congratulate a further resident Santokben Patel who had also recently celebrated their 100th birthday.
(iv) Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Day 2021
The Mayor advised he had been honoured to attend an online event commemorating the Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Day, the theme of which had been “Be the Light in the Darkness”. He urged everyone when remembering the victims to consider how they could stand against hate and discrimination today and “be the light in the darkness”. Thanks were extended to all those involved in organising the event.
(v) Former Councillor Lawrie Nerva
The Mayor announced it was with much sadness he had to announce that former Councillor Lawrie Nerva had recently passed away. Members were reminded that Lawrie had served as a councillor in Brent in the 1970’s and 80’s and had also helped to found the Brent Council for Community Relations. He had also received a Merit Award from the Labour Party in 2012 for over 50 years of campaigning with his autobiography, ‘A Campaigning Life’ also having been published earlier in the year.
The Mayor advised he was pleased to see Lawrie’s son, Councillor Neil Nerva, continuing his father’s legacy of public service as a member of the Council and in his role as Cabinet Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure.
The Mayor then invited attendees to observe a minute’s silence in memory of Lawrie.
The online meeting was then paused to observe a minute’s silence.
(vi) NHS Vaccination Centre
The Mayor advised he was pleased to be able to report the opening of the large-scale NHS Covid vaccination site in Wembley, which had delivered its first jabs to residents on 18 January 2021. It was pride that he drew members attention to the support provided for the NHS by the Council, local businesses, the local community and Network Homes in establishing the site, which was seen by all members as a positive step forward in tackling the pandemic.
The Mayor encouraged all residents to take up the offer of a vaccination when they were called upon as it would protect them, their friends, work colleagues, family and the wider community from the effects of Covid-19. He then thanked all staff within Brent for their hard work during the pandemic, especially those who had needed to adapt to temporary roles or been working on the front line in order to deliver the Council’s response.
(vii) Petitions
The Mayor ended his announcements by drawing 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.