6 October 2023

This week started with a visit from the Vice Lord Lieutenant for County Durham, Michael Poole. The Vice Lord Lieutenant joined myself, our Chief Executive Mike Greene, and other senior officers for a tour of the Borough. We visited local schools, businesses and attractions to showcase what the Borough has to offer.

In the afternoon we had a pre-agenda meeting of Cabinet ahead of next week's meeting.

On Tuesday I attended a School Improvement Committee for Billingham South Primary School, where I am a Governor.

Mid-week myself and other senior officer had a partnership meeting with Superintendent John Wrintmore from Cleveland Police. Having update meetings like these with our partners is vitally important to make sure we're all serving our residents to the best of our ability.

Later in the afternoon I attended a meeting to set the agenda of the Tees Valley Area Integrated Care Partnership. The partnership works with the Council and other local authorities to lead and plan care in our area, and I met with partners to set an agenda of what we want to cover in November's meeting.

Yesterday I took advantage of a quiet diary to catch up on emails and paperwork.

Today is a meeting of Leaders and Elected Mayors of the Association of North East Councils to consider a range of issues happening across the region.

This weekend I look forward to spending some relaxing time with my family. Middlesbrough are back in action on Saturday against local rivals Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. It'll be a really tough fixture, but I hope we can continue our recent form and leave with a point, or even aim for a win.