Agenda and minutes

7.07pm – Councillor Patricia Quigley, as the outgoing Mayor, took the Chair at the start of the meeting.

Councillor Max Schmid proposed, seconded by Councillor Genevieve Nwaogbe, that Councillor Sharon Holder be elected Mayor of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for the 2025/26 Municipal Year.

There being no further nominations, the proposal was formally put to the vote:

FOR:                          UNANIMOUS

AGAINST:                  0

NOT VOTING:           0

The recommendation was declared CARRIED.

7.10pm – RESOLVED

That Councillor Sharon Holder was duly elected Mayor of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for the 2025/26 Municipal Year, following which she made the statutory Declaration of Acceptance of Office and signed the statutory undertaking to observe the Code of Conduct for Councillors.

The Mayor then made a brief speech thanking her constituents, her fellow Councillors, the outgoing Mayor Patricia Quigley, and her family for their support. She announced that she was appointing Nubian Life, Fulham Good Neighbours, and the Fulham Pearly Kings and Queens as her charities for the Mayoral year.

The Mayor announced that she was appointing her husband, Jim Shoesmith, to act as her Consort for the Mayoral year.

Councillor Stephen Cowan moved, seconded by Councillor Max Schmid, that the past Mayor's badge be presented to Councillor Patricia Quigley in recognition of her service to the Council in undertaking the office of Mayor, and in carrying out other associated civic duties as a Councillor, which was unanimously agreed. Councillor Quigley was taken ill and had to leave the meeting.

Speeches of thanks were given to the outgoing Mayor by Councillors Stephen Cowan, Jose Afonso, Nicole Trehy, and Stala Antoniades.

A vote of thanks was given to the past Consort, Councillor Florian Chevoppe-Verdier in undertaking his civic role in support of the past Mayor. Councillor Chevoppe-Verdier then came forward to receive the past Consort’s badge and a gift of appreciation.

The Mayor announced that she had appointed Councillor Daryl Brown to be Deputy Mayor for the 2025/26 Municipal Year and she had appointed Mr Benito Brown to act as her Deputy Mayor’s Consort.

7.43pm – Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ann Rosenberg, Lucy Richardson, Bora Kwon, Andrew Jones, Trey Campbell-Simon, Ross Melton, Liz Collins, Alex Karmel, and David Morton.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Laura Janes (who joined at 8.16pm).

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

7.44pm – There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the Council meeting held on 26 February 2025 as an accurate record.

7.44pm – RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2025 were agreed as an accurate record.

Resignation of Councillor Andrew Dinsmore

7.44pm – The Mayor noted that Andrew Dinsmore had resigned as a councillor of Fulham Town ward earlier in May. On behalf of the Council, she thanked him for his hard work over the years, serving his local community.

Speeches were made by Councillor Stephen Cowan (for the Administration) and Councillor Jose Afonso (for the Opposition).

7.47pm – The report on the appointments made by the party groups on the Council for 2025/26 was noted.

7.47pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

Speeches on the report were made by Councillor Max Schmid (for the Administration) and Councillor Adrian Pascu-Tulbure (for the Opposition).

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR:                      UNANIMOUS

AGAINST:               0

NOT VOTING:        0

The recommendations were CARRIED.

7.51pm – RESOLVED

1.    That Full Council approve the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks for Councillors policy attached as Appendix 1.

2.    That Full Council create a General Purposes Committee with the membership and terms of reference as detailed in Appendix 2.

3.    That Full Council approve the changes to the size of the membership of the Standards Committee from 6 to 5.

4.    That Full Council approve the changes to Lead Member responsibilities detailed in paragraph 10.

7.51pm – The report on the appointment of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Members was noted.

7.52pm – The report on the allocation of seats and proportionality on committees was noted.

7.52pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR:                      UNANIMOUS

AGAINST:               0

NOT VOTING:        0

The recommendations were CARRIED.

7.52pm – RESOLVED

1.    That the Council agrees the appointments of Chairs and Memberships of Regulatory, Policy and Accountability and other Committees under its Constitution for the Municipal Year 2025/26, as set out in Appendix 1.

2.    This Council also notes their respective portfolios and terms of reference, as set out in the constitution.

7.52pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR:                      UNANIMOUS

AGAINST:               0

NOT VOTING:        0

The recommendations were CARRIED.

7.52pm – RESOLVED

1.    That the Council’s appointments to Local Government Organisations for 2025/26, as set out in Appendix 1, be agreed.

2.    That the Council’s appointments to Outside Bodies for 2025/26, as set out in Appendix 2, be agreed.

7.52pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR:                      30

AGAINST:               0

NOT VOTING:        10

The recommendations were CARRIED.

7.54pm – RESOLVED

1.    That the recommendations of the Independent Panel on the remuneration of Councillors in London (January 2024) outlined in Appendix 2 be noted.

2.    That the Members’ Allowances Scheme 2025/26 as set out in the report and attached as Appendix 1, be approved.

3.    That the Members’ basic allowance be increased in line with the average basic allowance paid across London for the previous year and the special responsibility allowance be uplifted in line with the national local government pay settlement for employees.

7.54pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR:                      UNANIMOUS

AGAINST:               0

NOT VOTING:        0

The recommendations were CARRIED.

7.54pm – RESOLVED

1.    That His Honour Judge John Rylance be re-appointed as Independent Person for another 2 years fixed term.

2.    That the Council pay each appointed person a flat rate allowance of £1000 per annum payable in line with the Members’ Allowance scheme.

7.54pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR:                      UNANIMOUS

AGAINST:               0

NOT VOTING:        0

The recommendations were CARRIED.

7.54pm – RESOLVED

1. That a special dispensation be granted to Councillor Alex Karmel for non-attendance at meetings of the authority due to ill health pursuant to Section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972.

7.55pm – The Council received a verbal report from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan. The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Jose Afonso, made a speech on behalf of the Opposition.

This item includes an appendix which contains exempt information and is not for publication. Any discussion of the contents of the exempt appendix requires Council to pass the following resolution to exclude members of the public and the press from the proceedings for that discussion:

Under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of an item of business, on the grounds that it contains the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

8.04pm – The report and recommendations were formally moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

Speeches on the report were made by Councillors Frances Umeh and Alex Sanderson (for the Administration) and Councillors Aliya Afzal-Khan and Jose Afonso (for the Opposition).

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR:                      30

AGAINST:               9

NOT VOTING:        1

The recommendations were CARRIED.

8.17pm – RESOLVED

That Full Council:

1. Agrees that appendix 1 is not for publication on the basis that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) as set out in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

2.    Approves a capital budget to deliver the new homes and new school which will include contingency and internal costs, as set out in exempt appendix 1.

8.17pm – Councillor Lisa Homan made a speech on the report.

8.22pm – The Annual Report of the Policy and Oversight Board and the Policy and Accountability Committees 2024/25 was noted.

8.22pm – The Special Urgency Decisions Monitoring Report was noted.

8.22pm – The Petitions Monitoring Report was noted.