Here is a summary of the agenda for the extraordinary meeting of Peterborough City Council scheduled for 12 September 2025. The agenda included the election of a new Leader of the Council, following the resignation of Councillor Dennis Jones, and the appointment of the Executive and the Leader's Scheme of Delegation. Councillors were also scheduled to discuss the political balance and allocation of committee seats, and appointments to committees and other authorities.

Election of the Leader of the Council

Following the resignation of Councillor Dennis Jones as Leader of the Council on 4 September 2025, the council was expected to elect a new leader. According to the agenda, the elected leader would serve a four-year term, ending at the close of the 2028/29 municipal year.

The agenda outlined the voting process:

• Councillor Judy Fox, Mayor of Peterborough, was to seek nominations for the position, which would require a proposer and seconder.
• A debate, limited to three minutes per speech, would consider all nominations.
• A vote would be taken on all nominations, with councillors voting in favour of a specific candidate or abstaining.
• The councillor with the fewest votes would be removed from the list, and the vote would be repeated until one candidate achieved a majority. In the event of a tie in the final vote, Councillor Judy Fox, Mayor of Peterborough, would have the casting vote.

The agenda stated that the election of a leader relates to all of the council's corporate priorities, as it is the leader's responsibility to consider them in their decision making.

Appointment of the Executive and Leader's Scheme of Delegation

The council was also scheduled to note the Leader's Scheme of Delegation regarding appointments to the cabinet and delegations made to officers, as well as appointments to the Shareholder Cabinet Committee. The Director of Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer was expected to be delegated authority to update the constitution to reflect these changes.

The Peterborough City Council uses the term Cabinet to describe its Executive. The Leader is required to confirm the appointment of the Cabinet and delegations of their executive functions to Cabinet, and Cabinet committees, including any Cabinet members and officers, to the Council meeting.

According to the agenda, all executive functions are delegated to the Leader of the Council, who may then delegate further to the Cabinet, committees of the Cabinet, Cabinet Members, and officers. The Leader retains responsibility for the functions so delegated and may exercise those functions in person regardless of the further delegation.

The agenda included several appendices:

• Appendix 1: Peterborough City Council Constitution, Part 3, Delegations Section 3 - Executive Functions
• Appendix 2: Peterborough City Council Constitution, Part 3, Delegations Section 3 – Officer Delegations
• Appendix 3: Shareholder Cabinet Committee Membership

The Shareholder Cabinet Committee will have functions relating to all the Council's companies, partnerships and charities. The Shareholder Cabinet Committee membership of the Council will be determined by the Leader and will comprise a maximum of five Cabinet Members and one member from each of the opposition political party groups of the Council.

Political Balance and Allocation of Committee Seats

Following recent changes to political group membership, the council was expected to discuss the political balance and allocation of committee seats.

Section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 imposes a duty on the City Council to review the allocation of seats on its committees between political groups as soon as reasonably possible following any change to those groups. Political groups are allocated seats proportionate to their size, subject to the majority group being first given a majority of seats on the committees.

The committees to be included in the allocation of seats were:

• Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee
• Economy, Inclusive Growth and Environment Scrutiny Committee
• Prevention, Independence and Resilience Scrutiny Committee
• Sustainable Future City Council Scrutiny Committee
• Regulatory Committee (Non-Licensing Act 2003 Committee)
• Planning and Environmental Protection Committee
• Appeals and Planning Review Committee
• Employment Committee
• Audit Committee
• Constitution and Ethics Committee
• Investigation and Disciplinary Committee
• Appeals Committee

The agenda included calculations to determine the strict entitlement of political groups to seats on committees:

% from table 1   x   Total No of seats available (108) – see above 100

The following committees are automatically exempt from the internal political balance rules:

• Joint Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Health and Wellbeing Board/Integrated Care Partnership
• Licensing Act 2003 Sub-Committee

Appointments to Committees and Other Authorities

The council was also scheduled to make appointments to council committees and other authorities. This included approving the appointment of members to committees where the allocation of seats has been determined, as well as the chair and vice-chair of each committee.

The council was also expected to approve appointments or nominations for the 2025/2026 municipal year to the following:

• The Leader of the Council to act as the Council's appointee to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Board and one substitute member
• Two members to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and two substitute members
• One member to the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Audit and Governance Committee and one substitute member
• Two members to the Police and Crime Panel and two substitute members
• Four members to the Fire Authority and four substitute members

The agenda also included the appointment of a position of Armed Forces Champion, a role previously held by Councillor Jason McNally.

The following non-elected members were also scheduled for appointment:

• Andrew Read, Statutory Education Co-opted Member Representing the Church of England
• Dr Andy Stone, Statutory Education Co-opted Member Representing the Roman Catholic Church
• Gillian Holmes, Independent Person
• Daniel Schumann (Chair), Mike Langhorn, and Dr Stuart Green as independent Members of the Audit Committee