28 March 2025

A busy week started with the monthly Tees Valley Leaders' meeting. Our regular catch ups are a useful opportunity for myself and other leaders to discuss what's happening in our areas, and keep us up-to-date on current events in the region.

I then met with Mike Greene, Chief Executive, and Councillor Lisa Evans, Deputy Leader of the Council, for our regular catch-up. There are lots of key policy developments nationally which will influence the way in which local government drives forward our priorities. It was a good opportunity to discuss these with the Chief Executive.

On Tuesday, I had a follow-up call with Tees Valley Leaders and Chief Executives further to our Monday meeting.

I then attended the General Licensing Committee, which included consideration of hackney carriage and private hire driver applications.

In the afternoon, I visited The Beeches Care Home as the Council's Armed Forces Champion to celebrate their Veteran Friendly accreditation success, which the Council supported them to achieve.

I also joined a briefing session for all Council which covered updates from Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) and the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Midweek, I chaired the Health and Wellbeing Board, where discussion included the Stockton-on-Tees Better Care Fund and the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.

Yesterday, I had a quieter day, affording me some time to catch up on important paperwork and other items.

Today, I am attending the TVCA Cabinet Meeting being held at Teesside International Airport.

This weekend I'm looking forward to spending some time with my family and will be relaxing. Middlesbrough are back in action following an international break which saw England confidently win both of their matches. The Boro take on Oxford United at the Riverside, which we should be winning. It'd be good to pick up three points immediately after the break and hopefully start a run of positive performances.