To receive apologies for absence (if any).

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are invited to disclose any interest in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting. 

Members may still disclose any interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no disclosures of interest.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The outgoing Mayor presented a Mayor’s Merit Award to a representative of Havering Daily. The Mayor also thanked all supporters of the Mayor’s charity – the MCA Trust. It was announced that a total of £88,770.65 had been raised for the charity.

The Mayor thanked her Deputy – Councillor Barry Mugglestone and the Deputy Mayoress – Councillor Stephanie Nunn. The Mayor also gave best wishes to her successor.

(a)  To elect the Mayor of the Borough for the Municipal Year 2026/27.

(b)  To receive notice of the appointment of Deputy Mayor of the borough for the municipal year 2026/27.

Motion on behalf of the Havering Aligned Residents’ Associations Group

That Councillor Barry Mugglestone be elected Mayor of the London Borough of Havering for the municipal year 2026/2027.

Motion on behalf of the Reform UK Havering Group

That Councillor Maggie Themistocli be elected Mayor of the London Borough of Havering for the municipal year 2026/2027.

Councillor Maggie Themistocli elected as Mayor for the municipal year 2026/27 by 41 votes to 11 for Councillor Barry Mugglestone with 3 abstentions.

Motion on behalf of the Havering Aligned Residents’ Associations Group:

That Councillor Barry Mugglestone be elected Mayor of the London Borough of Havering for the municipal year 2026/2027.

Motion on behalf of the Reform UK Havering Group:

That Councillor Maggie Themistocli be elected Mayor of the London Borough of Havering for the municipal year 2026/2027.

Following proposing speeches by the respective Group Leaders. Councillor Maggie Themistocli was ELECTED as Mayor for the municipal year 2026/27 by 41 votes to 11 for Councillor Barry Mugglestone with 3 abstentions (see division 1).

Councillor Maggie Themistocli, having made the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Mayor, as required by the Local Government Act 1972, then took the Chair and thanked the Council for the honour bestowed upon them.

Councillor Gillian Ford expressed the thanks of the Council to the outgoing Mayor – Councillor Sue Ospreay for her service during 2025/26. Councillor Ospreay suitably replied.

The Mayor indicated that the Mayoral Consort for the year would be Mr Starbuck Coleman.

In accordance with the Local Government Act 1972, the Mayor signified in writing the appointment of Councillor Christine Vickery as Deputy Mayor for the coming year and to carry out the duties of the Mayor in case of the Mayor’s illness or absence.

Councillor Christine Vickery made the Declaration of Acceptance of Office accordingly. The Mayor indicated that the Deputy Mayor’s consort for the year would be Councillor Tom Vickery.

To sign as a true record the minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 18 March 2026 (attached).

Minutes of the Council meeting held on 18 March 2026 agreed a as correct record without division.

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 18 March 2026 were AGREED a as correct record, without division.

To consider motions appointing the Leader of the Council for the four year period ending at the Annual Meeting of the Council following the Borough elections in 2030.

Motion on behalf of the Reform UK Havering Group:

That Councillor Keith Prince be elected Leader of the London Borough of Havering for the Council term 2026 – 2030.

Councillor Keith Prince elected as Leader of the Council for the 2026/2030 by 43 votes to 1 against with 11 abstentions.

Motion on behalf of the Reform UK Havering Group:

That Councillor Keith Prince be elected to the office of Leader of the Council for the period ending at Annual Council following the 2030 Council elections.

Councillor Keith Prince was ELECTED as Leader of the Council for the 2026/2030 period by 43 votes to 1 against with 11 abstentions (see division 2).

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Keith Prince be elected to the office of Leader of the Council for the period ending at Annual Council following the 2030 Council elections.

Council noted that the following Members would form the Cabinet:

Councillor Sue Benjamins – Deputy Leader and Finance

Councillor Terry Brown – Planning and Public Protection

Councillor Martynas Cekavicius – Public Realm

Councillor Graham Day – Adults and Healthcare

Councillor Kevin Gill – Children

Councillor Marttin Lardner – Housing Allocation

Councillor Sean McMahon – Customer Services

Councillor Alex Sibley – Highways

Councillor Robert Whitton – Regeneration and Property

Note: The deadline for receipt of amendments to all reports published with the final agenda (item 9) is midnight, Friday 22 May.

To consider a report of the Chief Executive regarding appointing the Committees of the Council and the Scheme of Delegation (attached).

Report agreed without division.

In accordance with the Constitution, a report of the Chief Executive asked Council to agree the structure and size of its Committees as well as some related matters such as the allocation of seats on Committees in lie with the principles of political balance.

The report was AGREED without division and it was RESOLVED:

(1)  That, so far as necessary to enable any changes proposed and agreed during this meeting to be carried into effect, Council Procedure Rule 20.2 (proposals to amend the Constitution to be referred to Governance Committee without discussion) be suspended.

(2)  That, subject to the Council’s consideration of any motion or amendment to this report relating to changes in the Committee Structure, the Committees listed in Appendix 1 of the report be appointed for the 2026/27 Municipal Year and that:

(a)  As required by statute, two voting co-optees representing the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church and three parent governor co-optees selected in accordance with the appropriate Regulations, be appointed to the People Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

(b)  The other non-elected member “appointments” and invitations to attend shown in the Appendix (and particularly its annexes) be confirmed.

(3)       Those Committees be appointed with:

(a)  the membership sizes and

(b)        the political balance

indicated in Appendix 2.

(4)  That the delegation of non-executive functions (as defined by the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000 (amended) to officers be agreed as set out in the Council’s Constitution.

(5)  To agree that all officers with delegated powers have power to further delegate those powers to other officers under s. 101 of the Local Government Act 1972 or as provided for by any other legislation and may agree a scheme of delegation to officers for their service areas.

To consider motions concerning appointing Committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen (nominations and explanatory note attached).

Motion to amend the nomination of Reform UK Havering Group for the position of Vice-Chairman of Governance Committee, agreed without division.

Members were appointed by Council to positions as follows:

Sub-Committee of the Governance Committee:

Nominations for Committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen are attached as appendix 1 to these minutes.

A motion to amend the nomination of Reform UK Havering Group for the position of Vice-Chairman of Governance Committee was AGREED without division.

It was AGREED that the following Members be appointed to positions, without division:

Governance Committee Chairman: George Harwin

Governance Committee Vice-Chairman: Joe Lock

Licensing Committee Chairman: Christine Vickery

Licensing Committee Vice-chairmen: Kevin Ayres, Petru Eugen Dinsorean and Geoff Starns

Overview and Scrutiny Board Vice-Chairman: Angelica Ola

Appointments Sub-Committee Chairman: Keith Prince

Appointments Sub-Committee Vice-Chairman: Sue Benjamins

Councillor Luke Barry was ELECTED Chairman of the Audit Committee by 39 votes to 11 for Councillor Julie Wilkes and 3 for Councillor Martin Goodes with 2 abstentions (see division 3).

Councillor Chris David Johnson was ELECTED Chairman of the Pensions Committee by 39 voted to 5 for Councillor Chris Wilkins with 5 abstentions (see division 4).

Councillor Geoff Burgess was ELECTED Vice-Chairman of the Audit Committee by 39 votes to 13 for Councillor Chris Wilikins with 3 abstentions (see division 5).

Councillor Graham Edwards was ELECTED Vice-Chairman of the Pensions Committee by 41 votes to 12 for Councillor Chris Wilkins with 2 abstentions (see division 6).

Councillor Gary Payne was ELECTED Chairman of the Planning Committee by 40 votes to 11 for Councillor Michael Fisher with 4 abstentions (see division 7).

Councillor Sathya Maddasani was ELECTED Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee by 42 votes to 11 for Councillor Michael Fisher with 2 abstentions (see division 8).

Councillor Kevin Ayres was ELECTED Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee by 41 votes to 12 for Councillor John Tyler with 2 abstentions (see division 9).

Councillor Alex Donald ELECTED Vice-Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee by 42 votes to 11 for Councillor John Tyler with 2 abstentions (see division 10).

Councillor Barry Mugglestone was ELECTED Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board by 11 votes to 3 for Councillor Brian Eagling with 41 abstentions (see division 11).

Councillor Khuram Amin was ELECTED Chairman of the People Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee by 39 votes to 13 for Councillor Gillian Ford and 3 for Councillor Trevor McKeever (see division 12).

Councillor Tom Vickery was ELECTED Vice-Chairman of the People Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee by 40 votes to 13 for Councillor Gillian Ford and 2 for Councillor Matt Stantion (see division 13).

Councillor Alex Donald was ELECTED Chairman of the Places Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee by 39 votes to 11 for Councillor Oscar Ford, 3 for Councillor Darren Wise and 2 for Councillor Matt Stanton (see division 14).

Councillor Bailey Nash-Gardner was ELECTED Vice-Chaiman of the Places Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee by 39 votes to 14 for Councillor Oscar Ford and 2 for Councillor Trevor McKeever (see division 15).

RESOLVED:

That Members be appointed by Council to positions as follows:

To consider motions regarding the appointment of the Member Champions (nominations and explanatory note attached).

Report proposing additional categories of Member Champion agreed without division.

Member Champions were appointed by Council to positions as follows:

Nominations for Member Champions are attached as appendix 2 to these minutes.

A report proposing additional categories of Member Champion was AGREED without division.

The following Member Champions were AGREED without division:

Disabilities – Della Morton

Historic Environment – Martynas Cekavicius

Over 50s – Liz Tyler

Veterans – Luke Barry

Wildlife – Kevin Ayres

Councillor Alex Donald was ELECTED Member Champion for the Armed Forces by 42 votes to 11 for Councillor Barry Mugglestone with 2 abstentions (see division 16).

Councillor Angelica Ola was ELECTED Member Champion for the Voluntary Sector by 40 votes to 13 for Councillor Gillian Ford with 4 abstentions (see division 17).

Councillor Khuram Amin was ELECTED Member Champion for Young People by 40 votes to 11 for Councillor Oscar Ford with 4 abstentions (see division 18).

Councillor Terry Brown was ELECTED Member Champion for Anti-Knife Crime by 39 votes to 14 for Councillor Sue Ospreay with 2 abstentions (see division 19).

Councillor Della Morton was ELECTED Member Champion for Equalities & Diversity by 40 votes to 13 for Councillor Stephanie Nunn with 2 abstentions (see division 20).

RESOLVED:

That Member Champions be appointed by Council to positions as follows:

To receive a statement by the Leader of the Council.

The Leader stated that he was honoured and privileged to hold this position and there would be many challenges and difficult decisions to be made. He thanked residents for placing Trust in the Administration. He also recorded thanks to the previous Leader and Mayor.

A 100 day plan and details of longer term ambitions for Havering would be produced shortly. The Leader welcome all new Councillors and said that he wished for Havering to be clean, safe and a borough to be proud of.

The record of voting decisions is attached as appendix 3 to these minutes.