In the absence of the Leader of the Council, the Chair was occupied by the Deputy Leader (Councillor I J Henderson).

The Cabinet is asked to note any apologies for absence received from Members.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors M E Stephenson (Leader of the Council & Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance), J D Bray (Leader of the Reform UK Group) and P B Honeywood (Leader of the Conservative Group).

To confirm and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Cabinet held on Friday, 24 April 2026.

It was moved by Councillor Henderson, seconded by Councillor Barryand:-

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet, held on Friday 24 April 2026, be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members on this occasion.

The Cabinet is asked to note any announcements made by the Leader of the Council.

In his absence, there were no announcements by the Leader of the Council on this occasion. However, the Deputy Leader of the Council (Councillor Henderson) referred to a recent event that had taken place at one of the District’s primary schools which had involved a number of Council Officers at which a formal, proper election had been held. He thanked the Officers that had been involved and regretted that he had been unable to attend due to a prior engagement.

Councillor Henderson then invited the Chief Executive (Ian Davidson) who made remarks along the following lines:-

·      it had been a really good day involving over 300 young people;

·      the polling station had been run by students from the school (Spring Meadows School, Harwich);

·      election was for an elected representative and for a deputy representative to sit on the Sir David Amess Children’s Parliament which would actually meet in the Houses of Parliament precincts;

·      each of the six candidates had produced a video to state what they stood for and those videos had been superb;

·      they had espoused good behaviour and culture and how they would represent their school and the community;

·      TDC election staff had been present and had set it up a proper polling station including polling booths and ballot papers with a photo of the candidate in the place where a party logo would normally be placed as they all had stood as “independents”;

·      the polling station staff had then conducted the counting of the votes, followed by the usual declaration of result process;

·      Anna Firth, former MP, who had succeeded Sir David Amess in the by-election held following Sir David’s murder had been in attendance and had “sworn in” the successful candidates in the same way as MPs were sworn into the House of Commons;

·      Sir Bernard Jenkin MP had acted in the “Speaker of the House of Commons” role in welcoming them to the Children’s Parliament;

·      all credit was due to Spring Meadow School in taking part and also to the Sir David Amess Trust who had organised it and above all to all of the children who had taken part.

The Assistant Director (Corporate Policy & Support) (Keith Simmons) recorded his thanks to those Councillors who had provided “rosettes” for the six candidates to wear, and they had been kept as mementoes by them.

Councillor Henderson felt that this was something that should be shared around as it was important to get young people involved and to recognise the importance of the democratic process in the hoping of improving electoral turnouts at future elections.

The Cabinet is asked to note any announcements made by Members of the Cabinet.

Launch of the Lynch Plant & Haulage Construction Training Centre

The Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (Councillor Henderson) announced that, accompanied by the Partnerships Portfolio Holder (Councillor Placey), he had attended that event at the Colchester Institute on 11 June 2026. He felt that this facility met the employment needs of the District, and possibly the whole of the County. Councillor Henderson read out an outline of the Centre as follows:-

·      the training centre was designed to equip individuals with the practical skills and industry knowledge required to access careers within the infrastructure construction sector; and

·      the partnership would deliver specialist programmes including plant operation, traffic marshalling and rollers.

The emphasis was therefore on heavy plant machinery. Adam Ward, the Assistant Principal at the Colchester Institute had stated that this was an important early milestone in their journey as a clean energy technology excellence college supporting adults to access high profile in-demand careers and was a clear, strategic priority as it provided a pipeline of skills and labour for the clean energy sector.

The Portfolio Holder had subsequently had conversations with the Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute that they presently had funding provided by Essex County Council for 96 places at the centre and hoped to be awarded more. The Institute were also investigating the opportunities for military ‘leavers’ funded by Sizewell ‘C’ and had four employers already interested in taking on apprenticeships.

Councillor Henderson felt that the good news for this District was that the Institute intended to work with the Council and the Department for Work & Pensions in targeting the District’s NEETs to join the scheme. He reported that Sizewell ‘C’ would require over 800 plant operators with a similar demand at the Lower Thames Crossing. Other projects seeking such skills included National Grid, Anglian Water and likely the Tendring / Colchester Borders Garden Community.

The Partnerships Portfolio Holder (Councillor Placey) endorsed Councillor Henderson’s comments. Councillor Placey had been particularly impressed that they were not just teaching individuals how to use the machinery but also good work ethics such as punctuality.

Tendring Jobs and Skills Fair

The Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (Councillor Henderson) informed Cabinet that this year’s Fair would be held on 1^st October 2026 in the Princes Theatre, at the Town Hall. He encouraged all to spread the word. Last year’s fair had attracted 900 – 1,000 job seekers.

Another Jobs and Skills Fair would be held on 7^th July 2026 at the Sunspot in Jaywick Sands.

Science, Technology, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Event – 12 June 2026

The Partnerships Portfolio Holder (Councillor Placey), accompanied by the Environment & ICT Portfolio Holder (Councillor Smith), had attended this latest annual event, held on this occasion at the University of Essex for Year 6 pupils. Out of 14 schools attending, 11 had been from the District of Tendring. In total 624 pupils had attended with 504 pupils being from Tendring Schools.

There had been six workshops covering wind energy, health care science, conservation, drama,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

There are no matters referred to the Cabinet by the Council on this occasion.

There were no matters referred to the Cabinet by Full Council on this occasion.

To enable the Cabinet to consider the recommendations made to it by the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee in relation to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy.

RESOLVED that Cabinet formally -

(a)     adopts the revised Essex Coast RAMS and associated tariff, as set out at Appendix 1 to this report (A.1), superseding the original Essex Coast RAMS (2018-2038) Strategy;

(b)     approves the implementation of a revised RAMS tariff of £476 per net additional dwelling (or equivalent qualifying development), to take effect from 1 August 2026;

(c)     withdraws the adopted Essex Coast RAMS Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), noting that its content is no longer fully aligned with the revised Strategy, evidence base and tariff;

(d)     agrees to replace the SPD with an Essex Coast RAMS Technical Advice Note (TAN); and

(e)     authorises the Corporate Director (Planning and Community), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, to finalise and publish the TAN for use alongside the updated RAMS Strategy.

Cabinet considered a reference report that enabled it to consider the recommendations made to it by the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee in relation to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy.

It was reported that the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee (“the Committee”), at its meeting held on  8 June 2026 (Minute 8 referred), had considered a detailed report of the Corporate Director (Planning and Community) (A.3) which had sought the Committee’s agreement to the adoption of the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex Coast RAMS) and associated tariff, and which had set out the changes from the original 2018 RAMS strategy. That report had also sought the Committee’s agreement to the updated governance framework supporting Essex Coast RAMS, including the withdrawal of the existing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and its replacement with a Technical Advice Note (TAN).

Following such approval by the Planning Policy and Local Plan Committee the revised Essex Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (Essex Coast RAMS) and associated tariff, as attached in Appendix 1, (replacing the existing 2018–2038 Strategy), was required to be submitted to Cabinet for formal adoption.

At its aforementioned meeting, the Committee had been reminded that the Essex Coast RAMS set out how the Council, working in partnership with other Essex authorities, would protect the unique wildlife of the Essex coastline whilst enabling new homes and development to come forward. It provided a co-ordinated, partnership-led approach to mitigating the recreational impacts of new residential development on protected coastal habitats and bird populations, ensuring that planned housing growth across Essex could take place in a lawful and sustainable way, whilst safeguarding sensitive species and habitats protected by international nature conservation designations.

Members were made aware that the strategy established a strategic framework to address the in-combination effects of residential development on internationally designated coastal habitats and enabled the Council, in its role as Competent Authority, to meet its statutory duties under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017(as amended).

It had been reported to the Committee that RAMS funding had already delivered tangible mitigation measures along the Tendring coastline, including the Coastal Ranger Service, targeted visitor engagement and behaviour change initiatives, and partnership projects such as Share Our Shores to protect beach-nesting birds. Those interventions, supported by ongoing monitoring, had demonstrably improved ecological outcomes and were particularly important in managing peak seasonal visitor pressures.

Cabinet was informed that the updated Strategy was supported by a refreshed evidence base, including a new visitor survey, and introduced significant changes to the scale and duration of mitigation required. Most notably, it ensured mitigation was secured for the full lifetime of development and reflected a substantial increase in planned housing growth across the Zone of Influence (ZOI) arising from the Government’s revised mandatory housing targets. As a result, the RAMS tariff was proposed to increase to £476 per dwelling (or qualifying unit), ensuring that the full cost of mitigation was applied  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report follows the decision by Council on 2 June 2026 to accept the recommendations from the Community Governance Review in respect of Clacton-on-Sea, Holland-on-Sea and West Clacton & Jaywick Sands. That decision approved the creation of three separate parishes for those communities with effect from 1 April 2027. As part of Council’s decision, it was resolved:-

“invites Cabinet to consider the next steps to be undertaken and allocation of resources and, as part of this, to determine the steps the Council considers sufficient to secure that persons who may be interested in the review are informed of the outcome and the reasons behind the Council’s decision in this matter.”

The Council’s Section 151 Officer specifically drew Council’s attention to two of those ‘next step’ matters as being special expenses and initial precepts. This report addresses those maters and other ‘next step’ matters.

In this report the generic term of ‘parish’ is used rather than specific styles approved for the three parishes concerned (town, village and community).

RESOLVED that –

(a)     the contents of the report be noted, including the reference to the Council (in due course) determining the budgets for the three new parish councils for Clacton-on-Sea, Holland-on-Sea and West Clacton & Jaywick Sands and the Council Tax precepts for 2027/28 for those new parish councils;

(b)     the Assistant Director (Corporate Policy & Support) be authorised to commission the Essex Association of Local Councils (subject to an approval from the Leader of the Council and the Council’s Section 151 Officer in relation to the Council’s Procurement Procedure Rules) to undertake a range of work with the District Council to support the transition from the decision to create the three new parish councils to them commencing in existence from 1 April 2027 in the sum of £52,500 (on the basis that £25,000 would be recoverable from across the three new parish councils);

(c)     the required financial impact in 2026/27 of £27,500 be met from the Corporate Investment Fund (Revenue);

(d)     the associated work, including tax bases and special expenses that will be undertaken as part of the Council’s wider annual budget setting processes for 2027/28 later in the year, be noted; and

(e)     it is noted that the costs incurred by the Returning Officer in administering the elections to the three new Parish Councils will be costs to be recovered from those Parish Councils.

Cabinet was aware that full Council, at its meeting held on 2 June 2026, had decided to accept the recommendations from the Community Governance Review in respect of Clacton-on-Sea, Holland-on-Sea and West Clacton & Jaywick Sands. That decision had approved the creation of three separate parishes for those communities with effect from 1 April 2027.  As part of Council’s decision, it had been resolved:

“invites Cabinet to consider the next steps to be undertaken and allocation of resources and, as part of this, to determine the steps the Council considers sufficient to secure that persons who may be interested in the review are informed of the outcome and the reasons behind the Council’s decisions in this matter.”

The Leader of the Council’s report (A.2) therefore invited Cabinet to consider the appropriate level of resource to be allocated to work with community groups, residents and District and County Councillors for the three separate areas to support the establishment of the new parish councils.  It also addressed the necessary arrangement to ensure that the tax base for the three new parishes was as accurate as possible in the time available; the development of an initial budget for each of the three parish councils; and, thereby, identify the appropriate initial precept for those three parish councils for 2027/28.  Those precepts would need to be determined by the District Council in early 2027 as they would need to be in place ahead of the parish councils being formed on 1 April 2027. 

Cabinet was reminded that provisions under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 provided for different amounts of Council Tax to be calculated for different parts e.g. parished and unparished areas, of a district, depending on what, if any, special items related to those parts. A special item was an item (service) which related only to part of the district council’s area.

This Council currently incurred certain costs in respect of Open Space, Playgrounds and Recreation across Clacton, Holland and Jaywick.  Those costs had been applied in a way that meant all Band D properties in those three areas funded the special expenses equally.  With the formation of the three separate parishes there was a need to review the incurred expenditure and the recovery of those costs from households in the three separate areas.  In 2026/27, this Council had allocated £714,519 as Special Expenses and £442,297 of that total related to the combined areas of Clacton-on-Sea, Holland-on-Sea and Jaywick Sands.

Members recognised that in the Community Governance Review for the area concerned there had been a good working relationship with the Essex Association of Local Councils (EALC).  In the Phase II consultation (across December 2025-February 2026) EALC had supported the various community meetings with senior representatives from their organisation and this had assisted attendees to hear more about live experiences from parish councils across the county.  Given the limited capacity of the District Council to continue the community-based activity (undertaken in the review) for the period to the new parish councils coming into existence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To update Cabinet on the Milton Road and Victoria Street schemes following completion of a competitive tender process identifying a preferred bidder.

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

(a)     notes and welcomes the progress on the second procurement exercise in securing a high level of interest from the market and a Preferred Bidder, and enacting the lessons learned from the previous exercise;

(b)     reinforces its ongoing commitment relating to the use and management of the Milton Road and Victoria Street sites, with Milton Road retained for public car parking provision, and the Victoria Street sites retained for housing purposes and being retained within the Housing Revenue Account (together with associated car parking provision), with no current intention to appropriate or dispose of any of the sites; and

(c)     notes and supports the progression of the project to the next stage, including entry into a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA) with the preferred bidder, in accordance with the existing operational delegated authority.

Cabinet considered a report of the Economic Growth, Regeneration & Tourism Portfolio Holder (A.3) which updated it on the Milton Road and Victoria Street schemes following completion of a competitive tender process identifying a preferred bidder.

Members recalled that the Homes for Dovercourt scheme was one part of the regeneration of Harwich town centre along the peninsula corridor from Dovercourt seafront to the Dovercourt station. A refurbished library with new accessible skills centre was already complete; upgrades to the town centre’s public realm and connection to the seafront were underway, and with this scheme, new social housing and improved car parking was planned. This suite of regeneration projects was expected to revitalise the town, improve outcomes for residents and encourage private sector investment ahead of the planned arrival of the Freeport East Green Energy Hub at Bathside Bay.

The Homes for Dovercourt scheme would also see two disused and derelict sites in Dovercourt transformed by the Council, building on the Dovercourt Revisited masterplan that is:- 

·      At Milton Road, a derelict car park would be refurbished to provide a modern, fit-for-purpose car parking provision, with EV charging, cycle storage, soft landscaping and decorative railings celebrating local heritage;

·      At Victoria Street, the site of the historic Victoria Hotel would be rebuilt, echoing the history of the site’s design and Conservation Area, to provide eight new affordable homes and amenity space.  

It was reported that the project would deliver an estimated £1.04m in Social Value, including four local employment opportunities, 52 apprenticeship weeks and student placement opportunities, c.£970,000 of local supply chain spend, alongside wider community and environmental benefits

A summary of progress made to date, including design, planning and procurement milestones and recent updates following the March 2026 Cabinet report, was as follows:-

·      RIBA Stage 3 design completed, and planning permission secured (Feb–Apr 2025);

·      An initial tender exercise undertaken in 2025 had not achieved a viable outcome;

·      The procurement strategy was revised to a two-stage approach to improve cost certainty, supported by a pre-market engagement exercise;

·      Second procurement (April – May 2026) had attracted strong interest (13 submissions, 12 compliant);

·      The tender evaluation had now been completed and a preferred contractor identified; and

·      Project funding had been confirmed in the Council’s Capital Programme within the April 2026 Cabinet Finance Report.

Cabinet was informed that the Corporate Director (Place & Wellbeing) would use his delegated authority to enter into a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA) with the preferred contractor, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holders.

Through the PCSA, the contractor would work with the Council to finalise the design, delivery approach and cost. This would help manage risks early and improve cost certainty. A final construction price was expected in September 2026 and, if within budget, would be subject to a further Officer decision, in consultation with relevant Portfolio Holders.

The procurement process had identified a preferred bidder and included:

·      A fixed cost of the PCSA stage of £69,300 (excluding of VAT);

·      An estimate of the main works cost which would be refined during the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To present to Cabinet a review of the current Food & Safety Service Plan and the Food & Safety Environment Policy that has been undertaken by the Food & Safety Manager to amend both documents, to include all legislative changes introduced and to ensure both documents actively reflect the work undertaken by the Food & Safety service in 2026 and beyond.

RESOLVED that -

(a)     the Food & Safety Service Plan 2026 – 2027 in the form appended as Appendix A to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.4) be approved in so far as it relates to executive functions;

(b)     the Food & Safety Enforcement Policy 2026-2028 in the form appended as Appendix B to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.4) be approved in so far as it relates to executive functions;

(c)     both documents be referred to the Licensing and Registration Committee for consideration of the non-executive functions, which fall within that Committee’s responsibility; and

(d)     subject to the decisions of the Licensing and Registration Committee, the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery) be authorised to approve amendments or updates as may be required to the Food & Safety Service Plan and Food & Safety Enforcement Policy 2026-2027, and on an annual basis thereafter.

Cabinet considered a report of the Environment & ICT Portfolio Holder (A.4) which presented to Cabinet a review of the current Food & Safety Service Plan and the Food & Safety Enforcement Policy that had been undertaken by the Food & Safety Manager to amend both documents, to include all legislative changes introduced and to ensure both documents actively reflected the work undertaken by the Food & Safety service in 2026 and beyond.

The report’s recommendations sought Cabinet’s approval of both documents, and for them to be published accordingly.

The Food & Safety Service Plan – 2026-2027 (Appendix A)

Members were aware that the Food and Safety Service Plan was an expression of Tendring District Council’s continuing commitment to the provision of Food Hygiene and Safety, Health and Safety, Animal Welfare and other related services.

The Council was designated as a Food Authority under the Food Safety Act 1990.

It was reported that the Food Service Plan had been produced, as it was a requirement of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in its Framework Agreement on Official Feed and Food Controls by Local Authorities. The FSA was the governing body that oversaw all areas that related to food safety and standards. The Council was working with the FSA to ensure Food Businesses within the District were safe and registered in accordance with the Food Law Code of Practice (FLCOP).

This plan highlighted what the Food Safety service at Tendring District Council would do moving forward in relation to the statutory functions undertaken by the service, and how the Council would deliver Food Safety enforcement in accordance with current guidelines up to and including 2028, and would be reviewed annually in accordance with FSA requirements to include updates of the work completed during the previous year. The document set out the following priorities:

·      Food safety objectives detailing the Council’s responsibilities as set out in legislation, associated statutory code of practice and national Guidelines.

·      The current work programme within the Service.

·      The Council’s policy on food safety, sampling, provision of information to business, investigation of complaints and allegations of Food Poisoning, response to Food Safety Alerts and infectious disease control.

·      Ensure that food and drink intended for sale for human consumption, which is supplied, manufactured, produced, stored, distributed, handled or consumed within Tendring complies with the law, is free from contamination and is without risk to the health of consumers (for people who work, live or visit Tendring District).

·      Be committed to ensuring that satisfactory standards of food hygiene are practised and maintained throughout the district.

·      Undertake an effective and planned programme of quality risk-based food safety inspections of food premises (by qualified and suitably trained officers), to ensure compliance with food law and to minimise risks to health and safety.

·      Take appropriate enforcement action proportional to the risks involved and in accordance with the Council’s Food Safety Enforcement Policy with due regard being given to the Primary Authority Scheme and guidance from relevant external bodies.

·      To monitor foodstuffs manufactured, imported, stored or on display for sale in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To advise Cabinet of the Council’s outturn performance against the Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures for 2025/26.

RESOLVED that –

(a)     the Council’s Outturn Performance Report against the Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures for 2025/26, as set out in Appendix A to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.5), for publication on the Council’s website and submission to the Regulator of Social Housing by 30 June 2026, be noted;

(b)     the Council’s Performance against the Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures for 2025/26 compared with performance for 2023/24 and 2024/25, as set out in Appendix B to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.5) be noted;

(c)     the current progress against the Tenant Satisfaction Measures Action Plan for 2024/25, as set out in Appendix C to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.5) be noted;

(d)     following the Council’s Tenants’ Panel examination of the data presented in this report and its appendices, the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, be required to develop a new action plan for 2026/27 focusing on continuous improvement, with consideration to prioritisation, resources and on-going delivery; and

(e)     the Action Plan for 206/27 be presented to the Council’s Audit Committee in due course to review its effectiveness and the monitoring arrangements.

Cabinet considered a report of the Housing & Planning Portfolio Holder (A.5) which advised it of the Council’s outturn performance against the Regulator of Social Housing’s Tenant Satisfaction Measures for 2025/26.

Cabinet recalled that Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) were metrics that all social housing landlords in England were required to collect and report on to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The TSMs should also be published by those organisations for others to see.

It was reported that the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 had set in place measures intended to improve standards for people living in social housing. It had set out a new regulatory framework for the consumer regulation of social housing to strengthen the accountability of landlords for providing safe homes, quality services and treating residents with respect. The introduction of TSMs had formed part of this framework.

Since 1 April 2023, all social housing providers has been required by the RSH to collect data to inform TSMs and those were aimed at helping improve standards for people living in social housing by:

·      Providing visibility by allowing tenants to see how well their landlord is doing and enabling tenants to hold their landlords to account

·      Letting tenants see how well their landlord is performing in comparison with other landlords

·      Giving the RSH insight into which landlords might need to improve things for their tenants

There were 22 TSMs and those were grouped into the following five themes:

·      Keeping properties in good repair

·      Maintaining building safety

·      Respectful and helpful engagement

·      Complaints handling

·      Neighbourhood management

Members were reminded that ten of the TSMs were measured by landlords through their performance indicators and 12 were measured by an annual tenant perception survey. The RSH also set out its requirements (including mandatory questions and methodology) for data collection and reporting.

Landlords with 1,000 or more homes were required to send their data to the RSH by 30 June 2026 and the data for all landlords would be published by RSH in Autumn 2026.

Cabinet was informed that the Council’s Outturn Performance Report against the TSMs had indicated a slight decline in tenant satisfaction with the proportion of respondents who reported that they were satisfied with the overall service from their landlord decreasing from 81.3% in 2024/25 to 78.7% in 2025/26.

Satisfaction with repairs, both overall satisfaction with repairs and satisfaction with the time taken to complete a repair, had further decreased. The reasons for this would be explored in more detail with the members of the Tenants’ Panel. Conversely, the proportion of non-emergency and emergency repairs completed within the Council’s target timescale had increased.

It was notable that there had been an overall increase in the number of complaints received. The number of complaints received at Stage 1 that had been responded to within the Housing Ombudsman’s Compliant Handling Code timescales had improved when compared to 2024/25 figures but the opposite had happened in respect of Stage 2 complaints.

The proportion of homes that failed to meet the Decent Home standard had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

There are no items submitted to the Cabinet by Management Team on this occasion.

There were no formal items submitted to the Cabinet by the Management Team on this occasion.

The Chief Executive (Ian Davidson) stated that today’s agenda had clearly demonstrated the amount of work that was being carried on despite the focus on, and distraction of, local government reorganisation. The Council’s statutory duties and its duties to residents and to the area showed the amount of work that was going on as demonstrated by the Portfolio Holders’ announcements and by the reports on today’s agenda such as place shaping within the District; the increase in local democracy through the parishing of the previously unparished areas of the District; the economic improvements coming to fruition; improvements to the quality of life; increased housing provision.

Mr. Davidson gave the assurance that despite the distraction of LGR the Council continued to deliver on its responsibilities to residents as well as actively moving to increase the quality of life of those residents. Today’s meeting had been all about the Council’s staff and what they were doing and the importance of Portfolio Holders’ responsibilities to see that work through. He therefore extended his thanks to the staff and to the Portfolio Holders.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet members thanked Mr. Davidson and endorsed the comments that he had expressed.