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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tom Burrows and Councillor William Shropshire. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS BY COUNCILLORS Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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THE APPOINTMENT OF THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL Minutes: 18.1 The Chairman sought nominations for the office of Leader of the Council.
18.2 On the proposal of Councillor Gasper and seconded by Councillor Ridley a nomination for Councillor Ward to become Leader of the Council was MOVED.
18.3 The Chairman asked Councillor Ward if he accepted the nomination?
18.4 Councillor Ward confirmed that he accepted the nomination and delivered a short statement in response to his nomination as follows:-
“I wish to start by saying a little about myself, my history and how I believe I can give Babergh the leadership it deserves. I know I have only been a councillor for 2½ years, as many of us here have been, and therefore I am relatively inexperienced. However, I have held two portfolios: the environment for 6 months prior to the new cabinet governance model and the economy portfolio since then. I have built up a good understanding across other areas of the Council’s business. My career has provided me with valuable experience of leading teams – getting the best out of people and working to deadlines – and developing good relations with customers and suppliers, ensuring their requirements, concerns and expectations are met.
I am a native of south Suffolk – born and bred in what is now Babergh and, apart from a couple of periods away, I have lived all my life here. The first school I attended was Raydon primary school (sadly no longer in existence), in the ward I am now fortunate enough to represent. I know this part.
I will be a strong voice within and outside the county for Babergh, working with the Suffolk public sector leaders to ensure we get our fair share of the business rates pool and identify projects of benefit to Babergh that can receive funding from the transformation challenge award that Suffolk has won.
I also want to address the difficulties and challenges we face as highlighted in the recent social mobility report. We must concentrate on the two most important things that will improve this: housing provision and economic growth. We must do more for young people by providing homes and jobs.
For housing, we need to ensure more is available within the reach of people’s incomes. I want to see a substantial increase in the availability of social and affordable housing, which we are committed to do using the HRA. The recent acquisition of affordable housing in Holbrook is good news and I will work to ensure that it is followed by more in the coming months. We also, though, need to increase the supply of market value housing to try to reduce the high price/salary ratio in the district. And we must build more starter homes for first time buyers.
I will also see what we can do to support the government’s recent announcement of an investigation into stalled planning applications.
I will ensure that we are fully geared up to implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act requirements and that we continue to reduce both ... view the full minutes text for item 18. |