Toggle menu
  1. Home
  2. Our Council
  3. Get to know your council
  4. Leader's blog

Friday 13 November

It has been another very busy week with a lot of focus on coronavirus and the new national restrictions which were imposed by the Government last week.

On Monday I caught up with the Council's Director of Community Services and Transport, Jamie McCann. This was in preparation for an informal cabinet meeting of the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership Board which took place on the same day. A formal cabinet meeting will be held on Friday 27 November 2020.

I joined our Managing Director, Julie Danks, and Director of Public Health, Sarah Bowman-Abouna, for a virtual meeting on Wednesday. This was to discuss coronavirus with Tees Valley Council Leaders, Mayor and Chief Executives alongside Directors of Public Health. At the meeting we talked about the local and national Covid-19 picture and the NHS Test and Trace system.

Later on Wednesday I caught up with the Council's Assistant Director of Admin, Democratic and Electoral Services, Margaret Waggott. We discussed the next phase of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England's electoral review, which is looking at the number of councillors elected to the local authority as well as the boundaries, names and number of wards. The final recommendations are due to be published in August 2021.

There was a virtual Cabinet meeting on Thursday. A busy agenda included a scrutiny review of hospital discharge and a discussion on Targeted Action Areas. The Council's financial position and Medium Term Financial Plan were also included on the agenda.

Today I have held my regular catch up with Julie Danks and the Council's Deputy Leader, Councillor Jim Beall. We discussed the Council's ongoing coronavirus response.

A busy week in the diary will finish this afternoon where I will chair a virtual meeting of the Local Outbreak Engagement Group, where we will discuss the latest coronavirus picture in Stockton-on-Tees. 

There's no Middlesbrough game to look forward to this weekend as it is an international break. I'm looking forward to next week to see if Boro can carry on their unbeaten run against Norwich.