STIRLING COUNCIL MINUTES of the STATUTORY MEETING of STIRLING COUNCIL held in the COUNCIL CHAMBERS, OLD VIEWFORTH, STIRLING on THURSDAY 17 MAY 2007 at 7.30pm Present: Councillor Neil BENNY Councillor Graham LAMBIE Councillor Alistair BERRILL Councillor Alasdair MacPHERSON Councillor Margaret BRISLEY Councillor Corrie McCHORD Councillor Ian BROWN Councillor Colin O’BRIEN Councillor Callum CAMPBELL Councillor Gerard O’BRIEN Councillor Scott FARMER Councillor Paul OWENS Councillor Tony FFINCH Councillor Steven PATERSON Councillor Colin FINLAY Councillor Graham REED Councillor David GOSS Councillor Andrew SIMPSON Councillor John HENDRY Councillor Jim THOMSON Councillor Graham HOUSTON Councillor Fergus WOOD In Attendance: Peter Broadfoot, Solicitor to the Council & Corporate Governance Manager, Corporate Services David Cameron, Director of Children’s Services Brian Devlin, Director of Environment Services Claire Dunbar, Committee Officer, Corporate Services Fiona Fulton, Communications Officer, Corporate Services Janice Hewitt, Director of Community Services Bob Jack, Director of Corporate Services (Clerk) Lyn Kennedy, Community Governance Manager, Corporate Services Michael Lyon, Council Officer/Civic Photographer, Corporate Services Rebecca Maxwell, Assistant Chief Executive Willie Watson, Head of Resource Management, Corporate Services Keith Yates, Chief Executive The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 required that the election of a Convenor should be the first business transacted at the first meeting of a Council following an ordinary election of Councillors and that until the election of a Convenor, the Returning Officer should preside. Accordingly, Keith Yates, Returning Officer for the Stirling Council area, chaired the meeting until the election of a Convenor. The Returning Officer welcomed everyone to the meeting. He tabled the results for both the Stirling Council and the Scottish Parliament elections on 3 May 2007 (attached as Appendix 1 to this minute), and congratulated the Councillors on their election to the Council. It was noted that 8 Scottish Labour Party, 7 Scottish National Party, 4 Scottish Conservative & Unionist and 3 Scottish Liberal Democrat Councillors had been elected and therefore no political group had an overall majority on the Council. SC1 ELECTION OF CONVENOR The Director of Corporate Services advised that Section 4 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 required Councils to elect a Convenor as the first item of business at its first meeting held after an ordinary election of Councillors. The Council also had the option to appoint a Depute Convenor. The legislation further provided that the Council could decide the title by which the Convenor would be known. Stirling Council had elected its first Convenor on 4 April 1996, when it was agreed that the Convenor would be known as the Provost. In addition, Section 4 provided that it was for the Council to determine the duration of the term of office of the Convenor and Depute Convenor. Since 1996, Stirling Council has deemed the term of office to be the four year term of the Council. Title of Convenor The Council unanimously agreed that the Convenor of the Council would continue to be known as Provost. Term of Office Motion “That the term of office of the Provost be reduced from 4 years to 2 years”. Moved by Councillor Tony Ffinch, seconded by Councillor Neil Benny. Direct Negative Councillor Corrie McChord, seconded by Councillor John Hendry moved the Direct Negative. The Direct Negative having been duly moved and seconded, the vote was taken for and against the Motion. The vote on the Motion was as follows:- For 4 Against 11 Not Voting 7 Decision The Motion was defeated by 11 votes to 4, with 7 Members not voting. The Council then agreed that the term of office of the Provost would be 4 years. Election of Provost Councillor Corrie McChord, seconded by Councillor Graham Reed nominated Councillor Margaret Brisley as Provost of Stirling Council. Councillor Alistair Berrill, seconded by Councillor Neil Benny nominated Councillor Tony Ffinch as Provost of Stirling Council. Voting was as follows: Margaret Brisley 11 votes Tony Ffinch 4 votes There were 7 abstentions Decision The Council appointed Councillor Margaret Brisley Provost of Stirling Council. The Council agreed to a short adjournment at this point in the proceedings. The meeting re-convened at 8.10 pm, at which point the Returning Officer invited Councillor Margaret Brisley to accept the chain of office of Provost of Stirling Council and to take the Chair. Upon taking the Chair, Provost Brisley thanked Members for the privilege of being appointed to the office of Provost and undertook to work in her new role for the benefit for the people of the Stirling Council area. Councillor Corrie McChord, seconded by Councillor John Hendry moved that consideration of the remaining items of business be deferred to a re- convened meeting of the Council to be held on Thursday 24 April at 7.30pm. This was agreed. (Reference: Report by Director of Corporate Services, dated 24 April 2007, submitted) The Provost closed the meeting at 8.00pm Returning Officer's Report to Council on the 3 May Elections STIRLING COUNCIL ELECTIONS – THURSDAY 3 MAY 2007 WARD CANDIDATES ELECTED PARTY 1 – Trossachs and Teith Tony Ffinch Scottish Conservative and Unionist Paul Owens Scottish Labour Party Candidate Turnout 63.9% Fergus Wood Scottish National Party (SNP) 2 – Forth and Endrick Alistair Berrill Scottish Conservative and Unionist Graham Lambie Scottish National Party (SNP) Turnout 68.22% Colin O’Brien Scottish Labour Party Candidate 3 – Dunblane and Bridge Callum Campbell Scottish Conservative and Unionist of Allan Colin Finlay Scottish Labour Party Candidate David William Goss Scottish Liberal Democrats Turnout 62.32% Graham Houston Scottish National Party (SNP) 4 – Castle John Hendry Scottish Labour Party Candidate Graham Reed Scottish Liberal Democrats Turnout 52.04% Jim Thomson Scottish National Party (SNP) 5 – Stirling West Neil Benny Scottish Conservative and Unionist Scott Farmer Scottish National Party (SNP) Turnout 66.01% Andrew Simpson Scottish Labour Party Candidate 6 – Stirling East Ian Alexander Brown Scottish Liberal Democrats Corrie McChord Scottish Labour Party Candidate Turnout 58.72% Steven Paterson Scottish National Party (SNP) 7 – Bannockburn Margaret Brisley Scottish Labour Party Candidate Alasdair MacPherson Scottish National Party (SNP) Turnout 55.09% Gerard O’Brien Scottish Labour Party Candidate SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTION - THURSDAY 3 MAY 2007 Stirling Constituency The Member elected to the Scottish Parliament for the Stirling Constituency is Bruce Crawford the Scottish National Party (SNP) Candidate. Total Electorate: 52864 Total Number of Votes Cast: 32,625 Turnout: 61.7% Mid Scotland and Fife The seven Regional Members elected to the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife are:- Murdo Fraser - Scottish Conservative and Unionist John Park - Scottish Labour Party Elizabeth Jane Smith - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Claire Barker - Scottish Labour Party Chris Harvie - Alex Salmond for First Minister Ted Brocklebank - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Richard Simpson - Scottish Labour Party Turnout: 61.7% Keith Yates Returning Officer 10 May 2007 .