The New Cornwall Council - in their own words

Here is an extract from the minutes of Cornwall Council's Annual Meeting held in June:

Report of Leader

To receive details of the Leader’s appointments to the Cabinet including the allocation of Portfolios

Minutes:

The Leader congratulated Councillor Ansari for the ability and dignity that she had shown in her role as Chairman.

In thanking Members for his election, Councillor Robertson (the Leader) stated that he hoped that party politics would be put to one side so that all Members and officers could work together for the benefit of Cornwall. He advised that an agreement for working together had been achieved with the Independent and Mebyon Kernow groups; however, he was disappointed that the Liberal Democrat group had given notice that they would become the Opposition.

The Leader said that his main priorities were: priority support for vital front line expenditure; removal of wasteful expenditure; and transparency and openness.

He added that he had appointed the Cabinet as follows:-

Corporate Support - Councillor Currie;

Economy and Regeneration – Councillor Rule;

Highways, Transport and Planning – Councillor Hicks;

Housing- Councillor Kaczmarek;

Strong Communities – Councillor Kennedy;

Children’s – Councillor Bain;

Adults – Councillor Toms;

Health and Well-being – Councillor Burden; and

Waste and Environment – Councillor German.


The Leader had asked the Chief Executive to organise an internal audit of the Council’s expenditure, the report of which would be made public.

In respect of planning, there were concerns with the current arrangements and a cross-party working group had been established to consider and report to Council regarding local knowledge and accountability.

In response to concerns expressed by Members, the Monitoring Officer advised that the Deputy Leader could be appointed at a later date and confirmed, therefore, that the appointments to Cabinet were valid.

Councillor Ansari, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, advised that her group would not be in opposition in respect of all issues and that they would ensure that public services were supported. The Liberal Democrat Group had asked for the Leader’s detailed plans to be made available so that it could be ensured that they were in accordance with the wishes of the people of Cornwall. It was also requested that officers should provide the Liberal Democrat Group with separate briefings.

I post this because I suspect I may well be referring to it over the coming months and years.