Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

The Council considered a report, which was introduced by the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, which outlined the work which had continued following the award of City Status to the Doncaster Borough, to ensure full compliance with The Crown Office requirements, alongside engagement with residents, local communities, businesses and other organisations, to help shape the future name of the Borough and to maximise the opportunities that becoming a City brought.

It was reported that since being awarded City Status, the Council had seen the passing of the previous Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and had proclaimed the new King, Charles III, and it was a historic day for Doncaster when the Council welcomed His Majesty the King and the Queen Consort, to Doncaster and received the letters patent and officially became a City.

Mayor Ros Jones was sure that everyone was pleased to hear in May that Doncaster had been successful in being granted the prestigious honour of City Status as part of Her late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.  This was a great achievement for the whole of the Doncaster Borough and that it was always clear that the bid to become a City should be led and developed by local residents and communities, the voluntary sector and the local business community.  The Team Doncaster City Status Project Board comprised representatives from across that whole spectrum, and members of the Youth Council played a key role in shaping the submission and had continued to work as part of the Project Board to identify and maximise the opportunities that becoming a City would bring.

Members noted that school children, local residents and businesses whole heartedly supported the campaign, recognising the positive impacts that would come from being a City and that work was ongoing to ensure that momentum continued for the benefit of everyone.

Members were informed that a consultation exercise was undertaken across the Borough asking people their preference on whether that name should be ‘City of Doncaster’ or ‘Doncaster City’, which resulted in over 12,000 responses being received with ‘City of Doncaster’ being the majority preference with 62% of the vote.  Subsequently, Members were requested to consider the options in the report with the recommended option being to endorse that preference and adopt ‘City of Doncaster’ as the name of the whole Borough.

RESOLVED that

(1)      the results of the engagement on the options for a name for Doncaster to reflect City Status be received and noted,

(2)      the preferred option of ‘City of Doncaster’ be agreed;

(3)      it be agrred that ‘City of Doncaster Council’ will be the legal title that Doncaster Council is known by with effect from 1st January, 2023, and will form the basis of future branding, signage and livery for all Council-related operations phased in over time;

(4)      it be noted that there is no timescale to replace or update assets and any changes will be cost effective, and made over time; Digital Assets such as the Website can be changed quickly and at no cost,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.