Greenwich Council has approved its meeting calendar for the upcoming municipal year, with no June meeting being rescheduled. The decision was made during the Council's Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
The outline calendar of meetings for the municipal year is approved at the Annual Meeting of the Council. An amendment was proposed by Councillor Matt Hartley to reinstate the June Council meeting, which was debated and ultimately not carried. Councillor Okereke explained the rationale for the removal of the June meeting due to mandatory training and the scheduling of an additional meeting in September. There was also a debate regarding the appointment of chairs to scrutiny panels, with an amendment proposed by Councillor Tamasin Rhymes and a further verbal amendment by Councillor Stewart Christie, both of which were not carried.
A proposed amendment to reinstate the June Council meeting, which had been removed from the draft calendar, was debated. Councillor Matt Hartley argued for its reinstatement, stating it would provide the first opportunity for councillors to discuss local issues
and that the removal of the June Council meeting meant this was lost. He also mentioned that it was the first full Council meeting which normally takes place in June on the last Wednesday and it has been removed.
Councillor Hartley expressed concern that this was part of a pattern of restricting the ability of opposition councillors and residents to fully engage in democratic processes, citing previous instances of converting full council meetings to special meetings that excluded the public and disgraceful constitutional changes in March
.
However, Councillor Okereke explained that the June meeting was cancelled due to mandatory training, including children's training
, legal training
, and overview and scrutiny training
, all scheduled to take place up until July. Councillor Okereke stated, You've got your children's training on that same week which is mandatory. You've got legal training which is mandatory. You've got overview and scrutiny which is mandatory. All training all the way up until July.
An additional Council meeting has been scheduled for September to compensate for the cancellation of the June meeting. Councillor Okereke stated, We've asked officers to put an additional four Council meeting into the diary in September. So we're not losing any meetings and I think it's sufficient.
This additional meeting in September is unusual, as Councillor Okereke mentioned, Which we tend not to usually do.
The calendar for 2026-27 shows Council meetings scheduled for May 27th, July 22nd, September 23rd, October 21st, January 27th, February 25th, March 24th, and May 19th. An additional meeting is scheduled for March 24th, and the Civic Ceremony for the Mayor's inauguration is on June 3rd. Council meetings typically occur on the last Wednesday of June, and this year's schedule deviates from that norm due to the cancellation and subsequent rescheduling.
Further details regarding the council's proceedings can be found in the Supplementary Agenda, the Public reports pack, and the Agenda frontsheet for the meeting.
