Friday 26 August

At the start of the week I was joined by Garry Cummings, the Council's Director of Finance, Development & Regeneration, and Iain Robinson, Assistant Director - Town Centre Development, to welcome visiting councillors and officers from North Lincolnshire Council. The authority's main town, Grimsby, faces many similar challenges to Stockton-on-Tees and they were looking to share knowledge from some of our own town centre investment as they aim to progress similar plans.

Later I met with Garry again to discuss licensing issues in the Borough.

On Wednesday morning I was accompanied by Garry and Iain again, alongside Managing Director Julie Danks and Deputy Leader Cllr Lisa Evans, as we welcomed the Chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA) Cllr James Jamieson to the Borough. During his visit we took Cllr Jamieson to see the Globe, followed by a walk around Stockton High Street before returning to Municipal Buildings to discuss our plans for Stockton High Street and the Borough's other town centres.

In the afternoon I joined the monthly online Tees Valley Leaders' Meeting where, among other things, we discussed the current Covid-19 situation in the region.

Today I'll be joined online by Managing Director Julie Danks, Gary Cummings and Deputy Leader Cllr Evans for an update on the Medium Term Financial Plan.

This weekend I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and hoping to see Middlesbrough's first win of the season as they host Swansea. It's been an indifferent start for Boro who currently sit second bottom of the table, but victory against Swansea, who are only three places higher, would kickstart the season for us.