Herefordshire Council’s Leadership and Cabinet were given a vote of confidence following this morning’s (Fri, May 12) meeting of Council.
This was the annual meeting at which Councillors are voted into the key roles within the Council – which included the re-election of Cllr Roger Phillips as Leader of the Council.
The key roles include posts held by Cabinet Members – each member of the Cabinet is responsible for an area of the Council’s activities and takes the role to lead these services, supported by his Cabinet colleagues and those Councillors who chair scrutiny committees.
These scrutiny committees allow for checks and balances – they can formally challenge decisions made by Cabinet Members and force them to re-think policies.
The current, unchanged, line up of Cabinet is therefore:
Cllr Roger Phillips – Leader of the Council
Cllr Phil Edwards – Cabinet Member (Environment)
Cllr Brian Wilcox – Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation)
Cllr Don Rule – Cabinet Member (Children and young People)
Cllr Olwyn Barnett – Cabinet Member (Social Care Adults and Health)
Cllr Roy Stockton – Cabinet Member (Community Services)
Cllr Mike Wilson – Cabinet Member (Resources)
Cllr Charles Mayson – Cabinet Member (Rural Regeneration and Strategy)
Cllr June French – Cabinet Member (Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources)
Proposing Cllr Phillips as Leader of the Council, Cllr June French cited the recent Audit Commission inspection and assessment of the authority, in which Herefordshire was awarded “three stars,” where “strong and focussed leadership” was seen as a key element in the council’s success.
On his re-election, Cllr Phillips reaffirmed that he was “prepared to work with anyone who would put the interests of Herefordshire first, as there are plenty who would put it last”.
He warned that the county faced a continuing challenge in delivering good quality rural services against a background of rising costs in fuel and energy and said Herefordshire needed to continue to fight for its interests against the might of the metropolitan areas.