Minutes:
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Shaun Macdonald, informed Members of the steps being taken to be a more transparent and inclusive Council, including: moving the item on public questions to earlier in the Council agenda and adopting gender neutral terminology. An item was also due to be considered at the next Governance Working Group meeting on introducing public questions for all committees.
The Council was updated on recent achievements and priorities, including the adoption of the Short Term Plan by the Executive the previous week and the recent completion of the Local Government’s Peer Challenge process. Councillor Macdonald also referred to the financial challenges being experienced by local authorities and, although this Council was not facing an immediate crisis, it was necessary to take its financial challenges seriously by focusing on the relevant actions in the Short Term Plan, along with the Medium Term Financial Strategy prior to the budget setting in February 2024.
The Council was informed that the Armed Forces Covenant signed in 2012 had now lapsed and a report would be considered at the Executive meeting in September proposing that the Council signs up to the new Armed Forces Covenant.
Members were reminded that the Council had launched its summer of fun campaign, which promoted the many affordable activities available for families, including visiting one of the borough’s four award winning Green Flag parks.
The Leader welcomed a number of new starters to the Council, including seven interns on summer placements.