Leader's blog

Friday 22 November 2024 

I started this week with an interview with the Care Quality Commission in my role as Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board. The Care Quality Commission, known as the CQC, are inspecting the Council's Adult Services as part of their Assurance Framework for Local Authorities. They've spoken with more than 400 staff during this inspection - if you see them around Dunedin House, please do make them feel welcome.

I then had a meeting with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Pauline Beall. Immediately after myself and the Deputy Leader of the Council, Lisa Evans, met with our Chief Executive, Mike Greene, to catch up on a number of things including our budget and also a few items ahead of the full Council meeting later in the week.

On Tuesday morning it was the Tees Valley Combined Authority's Education, Employment and Skills Advisory Group (or EESAG), for which I am Chair. In the meeting we discussed youth unemployment, construction jobs at Teesworks, and also had an update on the Local Skills Improvement Plan.

Mid-week I attended a briefing from the Tees Valley Combined Authority to discuss their growth plan which focuses on employment and the economy.

On Wednesday afternoon it was the full Council meeting. The agenda included items on the Stockton-on-Tees plan, which is our Council plan from 2024 to 2028, and a report on the budget requirements for our Powering Our Future programme which aims to improve services for residents whilst also giving us better value for money.

I had a quieter day on Thursday and managed to catch up on emails and important paperwork.

This afternoon I am attending a consultation and engagement event for the Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Safeguarding Children Partnership, where people from across the two Boroughs will contribute towards setting the priorities for the partnership going forward.

This weekend I'm looking forward to relaxing with my family. Middlesbrough are back in action following a successful international break for England, who landed two convincing wins over Greece and Ireland. Boro take on Oxford and are strong favourites following their recent results. This match could be the one that lifts us into the playoff spots.