Agenda item

To receive any announcements from the Mayor.

Announcements from the Mayor were noted in relation to:

·            Kings News Years Honours List 2023 – including congratulations to former councillor and Deputy Leader Margaret McLennan for her MBE

·            Pride of Brent Youth Awards

·            Holocaust Memorial Day event 2023

·            Death of a former councillor – Tom Bryson

·            100^th birthday celebration – Peter Adkins

·            Coronation “Big Lunch”

·            Petitions

Members also took the opportunity during the Mayors Announcements to pay tribute to Carolyn Downs as Chief Executive, ahead of her retirement at the end of April 2023.

Prior to his announcements, the Mayor asked all members to join him in observing a minutes silence in memory of all those who had lost their lives as a result of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

All those present at the meeting then stood to observe a minutes silence.

The Mayor then made the following announcements:

(i)       Kings New Years Honours List 2023

The Mayor began his announcements by congratulating all those associated with Brent who had received an honour in the Kings New Year Honours list for 2023.  He was pleased to announce this had included Margaret McLennan, as former Deputy Leader of the Council, who had received an MBE for services to digital inclusion and the community in Brent.

Members congratulated all those who had been honoured for their awards.

(ii)      Pride of Brent Youth Awards

The Mayor advised he had been delighted to have taken part in the Pride of Brent Youth Awards in December in order to celebrate and recognise the achievements of young people across Brent making a difference in their communities.

(iii)    Holocaust Memorial Day event 2023

The Mayor advised he had been privileged to attend the commemoration event for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day.  The theme had focussed on “ordinary people” with the event highlighting many moving and inspirational stories.

In reflecting on the human tragedy, the Mayor urged everyone to consider how they could stand against hate and discrimination in order to ensure it was no longer tolerated and to prevent such atrocities from happening again in the future.  Thanks were extended to all those involved in organising the event.

(iv)     Death of Former Councillor Tom Bryson

The Mayor informed members that it was with regret he had to advise of the sad death of former Council Leader and Brent Councillor Mr Tom Bryson.

Speaking on behalf of the Council, the Mayor took the opportunity to express his sincere condolences to Tom’s family and to highlight how much he would be missed by all those who knew him.

In addition to the Mayor’s comments, Councillors Nerva & Long also took the opportunity to pay tribute and offer their condolences to former Councillor Bryon’s family, remembering the way he had worked to develop the Council and represent his party and constituents during his time in office.

(v)        100^th Birthday Celebration

The Mayor took the opportunity to celebrate and congratulate Mr Peter Adkins on reaching the milestone of his 100^th birthday.

(vi)       Coronation “Big Lunch”

Moving on, the Mayor advised he was pleased to announce that he would be hosting a Mayors Coronation lunch on Sunday 7 May 2023 as part of the “Coronation Big Lunch” initiative.  This would be held in the Grand Hall, Civic Centre with the aim of encouraging communities to come together as part of the coronation celebrations.  It was hoped that as many Members as possible would be able to attend, with invites shortly due to be issued.

(vii)   Tributes to Chief Executive

Prior to ending his announcements the Mayor, in marking what he felt was a significant change for both Brent and the Council, reminded members that the meeting would be Carolyn Downs final Full Council as Chief Executive, pending her retirement at the end of April.

In paying personal tribute to Carolyn, he took the opportunity to thank her for the support provided during his time as Mayor along with what he regarded as her significant and far reaching impact on Brent and advised he would be happy to provide an opportunity for other members wishing to pay tribute to do so at this stage in proceedings.

A summary of the comments made were as follows:

Councillor Muhammed Butt, the Leader of the Council, opened the tributes by thanking Carolyn for her dedication to Brent, highlighting how everyone had benefitted from the hard work and leadership provided during her tenure.  As specific examples he referred to the role Carolyn had played in leading the Council’s response to the covid pandemic as well as Brent being awarded London Borough of Culture and the Council also being selected as the LGC’s Council of the Year, which it was felt would all contribute to her legacy and the commitment displayed to serving residents of the borough.

Following on from the Leader’s comments, Councillor Afzal also took the opportunity to thank Carolyn for the support provided to all councillors and the work undertaken to support residents across Brent.

Councillor Georgiou, as the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, then spoke to thank Carolyn on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, highlighting what he felt had been the fair way in which she had treated and supported members of the Opposition to ensure their voices were heard and for the leadership provided during the challenges in responding to the pandemic.

Councillor Kansagra, as Leader of the Conservative Group, also spoke in tribute to Carolyn remembering his role as a member of the Senior Staff Appointments Sub Committee who had recommended her initial appointment.  He also took the opportunity to commend the fairness and pragmatic approach adopted in the way she had treated the Opposition Group(s) during her time in office and wished her all the best for whatever followed her retirement.

Other members who spoke to pay tribute and wish Carolyn a happy retirement were as follows:

·                Councillor Ethapemi, who expressed his gratitude for the support and advice Carolyn had provided when he had first been elected and to all other councillors.

·                Councillor Collymore, who took the opportunity to praise Carolyn for her work to support the community champions network and Brent Health Matters programme.

·                Councillor Dixon, expressing appreciation for what she felt had been Carolyn’s dedication, energy, openness and transparency and the outstanding leadership and collaborative support provided, particularly in terms of the response to the Grenfell tragedy and pandemic.

·                Councillor Nerva, as Cabinet Member for Public Health and Adult Social Care, who commended Carolyn for the work undertaken to develop Brent as a borough and deliver for all residents.

·                Councillor Ahmed, who thanked Carolyn for her knowledge, experience and commitment to Brent as well as the personal support and guidance she had provided during his time as Mayor.

·                Councillor Dar, who in echoing the sentiments expressed by other colleagues, also took the opportunity to wish Carolyn and her family all the best for the future.

·                Councillor Miller, who commended Carolyn for what he felt had been her inspirational leadership, ownership, clarity of vision, compassion, integrity and challenge in seeking to support members addressing the various needs and issues identified across the borough during her time in office. He also took the opportunity to wish Carolyn a happy retirement.

·                Councillor Grahl, as Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools, who was keen to praise Carolyn as an advocate and role model for women across the Council and local government in general and for her work to protect the most vulnerable as well as engage with children and young people across the borough.

·                Councillor Maurice, who also took the opportunity to personally thank Carolyn for the support and work undertaken on behalf of the Council and to wish her well in her retirement.

·                Councillor Farah, as Cabinet Member for Safer Communities and Public Protection, who praised Carolyn for her public service and engagement with residents and advised that she would be missed by all.

·                Councillor Long, who in supporting the previous comments wished Carolyn a long and happy retirement.

·                Councillor Fraser, who also thanked Carolyn for the way she conducted herself and delivered in her role as a female Chief Executive.

·                Councillor Moeen, who commended Carolyn’s strong leadership and advised she would be missed by all those that had worked with her during her time as Chief Executive.

As a final contribution, Councillor Johnson felt it important to recognise and commend Carolyn’s integrity and grace in the way she had delivered her role as Chief Executive.  This was not only in terms of the support provided for members but also to officers across the Council and residents.  He ended by highlighting how much she would be missed and wishing her all the best in her retirement.

The Mayor thanked all members for their contributions and kind tributes.

(viii)  Petitions

To conclude his announcements, the Mayor then referred Members to the list of current petitions tabled at the meeting, in accordance with Standing Orders which also detailed the action taken to deal with them.