Proposed Administration for Municipal Year Announced
THE formation of the proposed Administration for Reading Borough Council for the year ahead has been announced.
Following this month’s Local Borough Election, the Labour Group will again form the Administration for the Municipal Year ahead in Reading. Councillor Jason Brock will remain Leader of the Council, with Councillor Tony Page continuing as Deputy Leader.
They are today announcing the proposed Lead Councillor portfolios ahead of the Council's Annual General Meeting on Wednesday May 26th, where they are due to be ratified. They are:
Adult Social Care: Councillor John Ennis
Children: Councillor Liz Terry
Corporate and Consumer Services: Councillor Ruth McEwan
Culture, Heritage and Recreation: Councillor Karen Rowland
Education: Councillor Ashley Pearce
Health, Wellbeing and Sport: Councillor Graeme Hoskin
Housing: Councillor Ellie Emberson
Neighbourhoods and Communities: Councillor Adele Barnett-Ward
Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport: Councillor Tony Page
The Covid 19 pandemic has meant a heavily disrupted Mayoral year in 2020-21 for Councillor David Stevens. As a result of the unique circumstances, it is being proposed that Cllr Stevens will continue in the post as Mayor of Reading until the Autumn of this year. Current Deputy Mayor, Councillor Rachel Eden, will continue in post until that time at which point she will be become Reading’s Mayor at a Mayor making ceremony in November, with a new Deputy appointed for a shorter six month period. It is then proposed that from May 2022 Councillor Eden will continue as Mayor of Reading, with a new Deputy Mayor also elected, for a full Municipal Year in 2022-23.
Councillor Jason Brock, Reading Borough Council Leader, said:
“It has been an extremely tough year for our town, but we have throughout always sought to do the right thing by residents and businesses in responding to all the challenges we have faced together. As we look forward to a period of recovery, although being forever mindful that the threat of Covid has not disappeared, we will be redoubling our efforts to drive forward key projects, focus on the priorities of our community and make tackling inequality a central element of all our work.
“We remain committed to all of our ambitions for Reading. These are ambitions that the electorate have backed us once again to drive forward and we are striving for a future that delivers benefits for everyone across Reading, whatever their circumstances, and a future that is sustainable in social, environmental and economic terms. We will continue our successful agenda to reduce carbon emissions and promote a greener environment, we will continue our work to deliver the best leisure facilities Reading has ever had, and we will continue to tackle a housing crisis through the most ambitious Council house building programme in a generation, alongside further work to secure more affordable homes across the town.
“None of us expect an easy ride over the forthcoming period, but I’m extremely confident in the ability and imagination of my team of Lead Councillors – a team that will always do their utmost to ensure Reading’s residents get the very best from their Council.”
The proposed Committee Chairs for 2021/22 are:
ACE: Councillor Sophia James
HNL: Councillor Richard Davies
SEPT: Councillor Paul Gittings
PAC: Councillor Jo Lovelock
LAC: Councillor Deborah Edwards
TMSC: Councillor Mohammed Ayub
The agenda for the Council's AGM on Wednesday May 26th can be found at https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=342&MId=4665