Minutes:
Election of New Councillors
The Mayor congratulated all of the Councillors who were re-elected to office following the Local Government Elections held on 5 May 2022, and extended a warm welcome to the 5 new Councillors elected to office:
Councillors Danny Burns, Judith Hardman, Gareth Lloyd-Johnson, Laura Lunn-Bates and Carol Richards.
Councillors Not Re-Elected
The Mayor also placed on record, the gratitude of the Council to Tony Carr, Denise Dutton and Yvonne Sayers, the three former Councillors, who were not re-elected to office, for their dedicated service to the Borough of Sefton over a period of 12 years for Tony Carr and Denise Dutton and a period of 4 years for Yvonne Sayers.
Death of Thomas Mann
The Mayor reported with great sadness on the loss of former Councillor Thomas Mann who passed away on 28 April 2022.
The Mayor advised that Thomas Mann was elected to the Cambridge Ward on 4 May 1995 and served on the Council for 12 years; that during his time on the Council Mr. Mann served on the Transportation Committee, the Environmental and Licensing Committee, the Leisure Services Committee, the Education Committee, the Standards Committee, the Licensing Committee and the Southport Area Committee; that Mr Mann also represented the Council on the Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority; and served as Mayor of the Borough in 2006/07.
The Mayor concluded that she had attended Mr. Mann’s Civic Funeral held earlier in the afternoon at Southport crematorium.
Councillors Brough, Byrom, Shaw and Sir Ron Watson paid tribute to former Councillor Thomas Mann.
The Council then observed a one-minute silence as a mark of respect for former Councillor Thomas Mann.
Citizens 4 Good Awards
The Mayor referred to the Citizens 4 Good Awards that she attended on 28th April 2022 and indicated that Citizens for Good Awards was a fantastic awards scheme that recognised all the hard work and help members of the public provided in their communities; and the Mayor urged Members to bear in mind these awards when the next nominations opened and to consider nominating deserving residents for such an award.
The Mayor further advised that following the awards she met several people who she had promoted via her twitter account and that the extra help it had given their projects, just by highlighting them on the Council’s social media platforms, really did help. The Mayor therefore encouraged Members who didn’t follow the Mayor of Sefton’s twitter account to do so and retweet posts as this support could be crucial. The Mayor provided a recent example of her visit to open the Birkdale Food Pantry and that from highlighting this on the Mayor of Sefton’s twitter account, the Pantry had more referrals come through than they had previously received so it really did help and made a difference.
Manchester Arena Terrorist Attack
The Mayor reported that 22 May 2022 would be the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Manchester Arena in which twenty-two people were killed, over one thousand were injured, many of them children and several hundred more suffered psychological trauma.
The Mayor indicated that the Manchester bee symbol had become synonymous with support and remembrance for the victims of the outrage and a copy of the symbol had been placed on each Member’s seat; advised that she would like to hold a one-minute silence to remember those who lost their lives and had been affected by this tragedy; and that during the silence the Mayor indicated that she would really appreciate it if Members could hold up the bee symbol as a mark of solidarity between Sefton and Manchester.
The Council then observed a one-minute silence to remember those who lost their lives and had been affected by the Manchester Arena terrorist attack.
Mayor’s Lottery
The Mayor reported that at each Council meeting she would take the opportunity to remind Members to sign up for the Mayor’s Lottery. The Lottery cost £2 per month to enter and would be deducted directly from Members’ allowances. Half of the proceeds from the lottery would go towards the Mayor’s Charity Fund.
Platinum Jubilee Pudding
Congratulations were extended to Southport resident and amateur baker Jemma Melvin who was the Platinum Jubilee Pudding contest winner. Jemma’s Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti trifle, inspired by the Queen’s wedding menu, beat more than 5,000 entrants in the national competition to find a dessert for the Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.
The Mayor advised that she had sent a card to Ms. Melvin offering her congratulations on behalf of the Council.