Leader's and Deputy Leader's Announcements
To receive such announcements as may be made by the Leader.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council, in summary:-
1. Thanked Cllr Stewart Gardiner for agreeing to continue as Champion for Equality and Diversity, Cllr Dorothy Flude for continuing as Champion for Mental Health and Cllr Suzie Akers Smith for agreeing to be Champion for Cycling and Walking.
2. Announced that Cllr James Barber would be the Champion for Young People. (Cllr Barber spoke in respect of his new role).
3. Referred to the Mayor’s announcement in respect of Jodrell Bank being made a UNESCO World Heritage Site and stated that he looked forward to working with the SKA in promoting this and Cheshire East.
4. Referred to the RHS show at Tatton Park, which would be taking place at the weekend.
5. Made reference to the LGA training event for new Cllrs across the North West, which would also be taking place at Tatton Park; and thanked the Interim Chief Executive for taking action to get the event arranged in the area, and encouraged all new Councillors to attend that event.
The Deputy Leader of the Council, in summary:-
1. Gave notice that there was to be a special meeting of the Cabinet to consider the next stage of the Local Plan, the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document, to be followed by a period of extensive public consultation. This would include provision for transit sites for gypsies and travellers.
2. Referred to the slow down in productivity, both locally and nationally. He reported that, in order to counter this, the Council would be developing an Economic Strategy and would be consulting with residents and businesses over the Summer. At the same time the Council was working closely with the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership on the development of a Local Industrial Strategy at sub-regional level.
3. Reported that the Council’s current Medium Term Financial forecast had a deficit of £11M for 1920/21 and that pressure on Local Authority funding had grown in recent years, with more responsibilities for services being placed on them, without adequate funding from central Government. He was concerned that this risked putting Local Authorities, such as Cheshire East, in a position where they would have to make cuts to other services, in order to balance the books. He reported that, following on from a letter sent by the previous Leader of the Council to the Prime Minister, he had written to the two Conservative leadership candidates, asking them what they intended to do to reverse this trend and any steps that they would take in order ensure that Cheshire East would get a fairer allocation of Government funding in the future.
4. Reported that Cllr Stott, as Portfolio Holder for Finance, would soon be bringing forward proposals for the following year’s budget setting process. Greater engagement from Members and members of the public was to be encouraged. A possible innovation for this would be workshops, to enable Members to develop the proposals. These would then be considered by the Scrutiny Committees, with feedback being invited ... view the full minutes text for item 24