Once again it give me great pleasure to submit my annual report.
As per usual I do not intend this to be a diary of events nor an essay, I will as usual give you a flavour and an overview of what I have been doing on behalf of my group and my constituents throughout the year.
Council meetings and committees
I have of course attended every council meeting in the civic year.
The Dewbury District committees I have attended most but on occasions I have had to miss when representing the authority elsewhere.
The Dewsbury Regeneration board.
I have substituted on many occasions at both the Heavy Woollen and Huddersfield planning committees.
I continue to sit on the standards board.
The councillors Commission.
Member of the substitutes Panel.
Outside Bodies
- WYCA deputy Chair of the Transport Committee.
- PTEG special Transport Interest Group
- Delegate from WYCA to The East Coast Mainline Consortium
- Chair Bus Committee
- Passenger Consultative Committee
- West Yorkshire pension fund investment Panel
- West Yorkshire pension fund advisory Group
- K C A
- Chair of the National Association of Councillors
- Chair of the Executive Committee NAC
- Deputy Chair for England NAC
- Trustee of One community
- Member of the Greenwood trust
- Co-operative Party member
Achievements
Continuing to represent my constituents in Dewsbury East, in exceedingly difficult times.
The second was to help re-elect my ward colleague Paul Kane with a very good majority.
Keeping my constituents informed by producing and distributing Newsletters, which I once again remind readers that we pay for these ourselves.
Holding monthly surgeries
Street surgeries Using increasingly electronic media.
Attending Tenants and residents meetings whenever possible.
Courses attended
I continue to attend courses whenever practical which enables me to better understand the challenges that local government faces, this I assure you I will continue to do.
- Partnerships
- Local Government Finance
- Safeguarding
- Councillor safety
- Emergency Panning
Ward work
Ward work continues to come in but we are fortunate in Dewsbury East to have three colleagues who work together. All have different strengths but together we make a formidable team and really good at finding solutions to difficult problems. But we welcome our constituents coming to us because as we tell the continually we are there to help and we also tell them that they are our eyes and ears. With the best will in the world we cannot be everywhere so, so in these difficult times we need them as much as they need us.
To conclude dear reader this is as I states when I started writing this short report it is but a flavour of what I do throughout the year. But my commitment to you, my ward, my party and to Local governance is undiminished.
We face many challenges this year because of the massive cuts to our budgets and as a consequence to the services we provide.
But be assured we will face up to these challenges to the best of our abileties.
