13 October 2023

A busy week began with a monthly briefing from Jonathan Nertney, Head of Democratic Services, keeping me updated on important topics like elections and scrutiny. I also had my regular catch-up with Deputy Leader, Councillor Lisa Evans, and Chief Executive, Mike Greene.

In the afternoon, I again met with Councillor Lisa Evans to discuss regeneration and business updates from across Stockton-on-Tees.

I then joined a meeting with Mike Greene, Ann Workman, Chair for Catalyst, and Jon Carling, Chief Executive Officer for Catalyst. Catalyst is the Borough's voluntary development agency, offering support and guidance to the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. Our catch-ups are always a valuable opportunity to discuss our partnership across a number of projects in Stockton-on-Tees.

On Tuesday, I attended an induction meeting held by the Environment, Leisure and Green Infrastructure Team about Carbon Literacy, an important topic for the Council.

On Wednesday morning, I attended the opening of the third The Bread and Butter Thing hub at the New Life Family Centre in Billingham. They are a great initiative that offer good food cheaply across the Borough - for more information, visit The Bread and Butter Thing webpage. I then joined the pre-agenda meeting for the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Yesterday I attended Cabinet where we discussed the update of the Council Plan and school performance for 2022 to 2023, among other things.

Today is a quieter day which will allow me to catch up with important paperwork.

This weekend, I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my family. Middlesbrough conquered local rivals Sunderland at the Stadium of Light last weekend, winning 4-0 in a thrilling match. This weekend it's an international break, so we won't be able to capitalise on our momentum, but I hope we keep it up for our next match on 21 October against Birmingham.