Issue - items at meetings - Cabinet Member's Communications

3.1             Councillor Kennedy praised Councillor Theobald in recognition of his work as Cabinet Member during the last four last years and noted that he had chaired his Cabinet Member Meetings openly, encouraging debate and participation from Members and the public. She advised that the new Cabinet Members looked forward to continuing to encourage participation at meetings and to working openly and collaboratively with all Groups over the coming months.

3.2             Councillor Kennedy explained that, during the previous week, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Bill Randall, had appointed the council’s new Cabinet. The former Environment portfolio had been divided up to reflect the new Administration’s belief that it was too large a brief for one Member to lead on. The Administration believed passionately in all areas covered by the former Environment portfolio and wanted to increase the focus on those areas in order to move forward on some of their key manifesto commitments, such as improving public transport, getting a better deal for walkers and cyclists, creating a zero waste city and a city that placed sustainable development at the heart of everything it did.

3.3             Councillor Kennedy stated that the following new portfolios had been created:

§         Transport and public realm

§         Environment and Sustainability

§         Planning, Employment, Economy and Regeneration 

3.4             Councillor Kennedy advised that over the next few weeks the Administration would consider the best ways of working in terms of meetings to reflect the new arrangements, but that today’s meeting would follow the previous format, having been set up prior to the election, and that the agenda had been divided between the relevant portfolios, with herself and Councillor Davey taking decisions as appropriate.