21 March 2025

To begin the week, I met with Majella McCarthy, Director of Children's Services, to prepare for the Children and Young People Board meeting held on Thursday.

I then attended a briefing alongside Cabinet members and the Corporate Management Team which included an update on Tees Active's achievements and current strategic priorities.

On Tuesday I met Jonathan Nertney, Head of Democratic Services, for an update on the Council's democratic, electoral and scrutiny services. We discussed the Mayor's Civic Awards 2024 to 2025 as winners have now been chosen, the campaign to encourage postal voters to reapply, and the Scrutiny Work Programme 2024 to 2025, amongst other items.

In the evening, I travelled to Billingham Forum for a run-through of the annual Council meeting being held on 2 April.

Midweek I joined the Children and Young People Board meeting. I then met with Chris Renahan, Assistant Director of Inclusive Growth and Development, to discuss adult skills funding.

Later in the day, I attended the full Council meeting, which included discussion of the proposed dispensation for non-attendance at meetings, as well as the regular public question time and members' question time.

Yesterday I joined the Association of North East Councils (ANEC) for the Leaders' and Elected Mayors' Meeting. ANEC allows local authorities in the North East to come together and collectively have a stronger political voice. Another busy agenda included discussion of North East Culture Partnership and updates from the Local Government Association (LGA) on artificial intelligence and housing.

Today is a quieter day, affording me some time to catch up on important paperwork.

This weekend I'll be spending some time with my family and relaxing. Middlesbrough's final match before the international break finished with a draw - costing us two valuable points in the play-off race. England have two World Cup qualifiers this weekend against Albania tonight and Latvia on Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing who Tuchel picks for the team in two games we should be comfortably winning.