Participation At Council Panels And Committees

I have attended most of the following meetings:

• Full Council meetings
• TMBC Monthly Community Safety Panel
• Services for Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel
• Tameside Adoption Panel
• Labour Group Meetings
• District Assembly Meetings
• District Assembly Community Safety Meetings
• Liquor Licensing Panel Hearings & Briefings
• Tameside Housing Partnership Meetings
• Cabinet Deputy Briefings
• Audit Panel Meetings
• Overview (Audit) Committee Meetings
• Denton West PACT Meetings
• Denton South Partnership
• Denton South Community Task Group

Any meeting that I was not able to attend was due, in the main, to other work commitments.

Participation At District Assemblies

I have regularly attended meetings of the Denton and Audenshaw District Assembly and enjoy a good working relationship with all of the officers and staff working on behalf of the District Assembly at Denton Town Hall.

During the last municipal year I have been the Lead Member responsible for Community Safety and have set up and chaired regular meetings of the District Assembly Community Safety Group.

I have been working closely with the Police, Town Patrollers, Tame Valley Partnership, relevant Housing Associations, Councillors and TMBC Officers and staff on a number of issues – in particular anti social behaviour problems – throughout the DA area.

Participation On School Governing Bodies

I continue to sit on the governing bodies of the following schools.

• Two Trees Sports College, Denton
• Denton West End Primary School

I am currently the Deputy Chair of Governors and Chair of the Curriculum and Standards Committee and the PESH Committee at Two Trees Sports College.

I am pleased to have been selected to sit as a LA Governor on the Temporary Governing Body of the ‘New Denton High School’, and equally pleased to be elected as Deputy Chair of that Body. The Temporary Governing Body is working hard to ensure that the timetable is met for the new school to be ready to occupy in 2010.

Constituency Work And Surgeries

In the Denton West Ward there is a very positive approach to providing reasonable and frequent facilities for residents to have access to their elected Councillors.

Surgeries are held every Tuesday evening (with the exception of those weeks when there is a meeting of the Full Council) at the Community Centre on Hulme Road and Saturday morning surgeries are held on the first and last Saturdays of the month at the St George’s Church Hall, Windmill Lane and Denton Town Hall. These surgeries are usually very well attended and are a vital link between Councillors and constituents.

Denton West Councillors organise ‘walkabouts’ within the Ward and invite residents to indicate a requirement to meet us by displaying a notice in the window. I find this exercise to be extremely useful in both affording a facility to residents and allowing us, as Councillors, to note any irregularities that we observe – e.g. pavements/roads in need of repair, grot spots, etc.

During the municipal year I have attended most of the surgeries organised and all of the ‘walkabouts’ organised.

It is the policy and practice of the Denton West Councillors to distribute newsletters and information bulletins on a regular basis to all residents throughout the Ward.

I have attended several site meetings with the Town Manager and other Council officers and fellow Councillors to discuss problems/issues raised by residents.

I have attended numerous residents meetings, public meetings and community events.

I regularly attend the PACT meetings, which I consider are a vital link between the Police, Councillors and Ward Residents. Since the introduction of Neighbourhood Policing in October 2006 and the PACT meetings, many local issues have been addressed and resolved, to the satisfaction of Residents.

I am really pleased that Residents have now formed a formally constituted ‘Friends of Granada Park’ Group, and are currently working very hard to access funding for use in transforming the Park. A consultation process has been concluded affording local people to say what facilities they want to see in the park for the future.

I have supported residents in their desire to rid their communities of anti social behaviour and associated problems.

Together with my fellow Councillors, we have supported many community groups within the Ward by donating Ward monies and where possible attending functions.

Fellow Denton West Councillor Mike Smith has been extremely busy as the Civic Mayor of Tameside during this municipal year and has done a tremendous job of promoting the Borough. I have been very pleased to support him. 

Training And Development Activities Undertaken

I have attended a number of training activities throughout the year, in particular a number of conferences, seminars and training events relative to the legislation regarding licensing laws.

I was invited to apply to serve on Tameside’s Adoption Panel, and undertake essential training as required.

Achievements During The Year

2007–2008 has been my sixth year as an elected Councillor and I continue to be extremely busy.

I was re-appointed as a Cabinet Secretary in May 2007, to continue working with Cllr John Taylor who is Cabinet Deputy, Personal and Health Services. I maintained responsibility to deal with Tameside’s Housing strategies and partnerships and also to keep up to date on the issues of homelessness within the borough. I have found this work to be very interesting and also challenging. The issue of ‘affordable housing’ is high on the Government agenda and Tameside is currently undertaking a survey of needs within the Borough.

In my role as Chair of the Liquor Licensing Panel I have ensured that the views and concerns of residents have been fairly considered and that licenses granted have been appropriate to the circumstances.

It became necessary to review a number of licenses during the year and as a consequence I chaired Panels when decisions to revoke licenses were deemed necessary and appropriate. These decisions were made in the best interests of Community Safety and the promotion of Tameside’s licensing objectives. One of these decisions was appealed and I gave evidence to the Magistrates Court on behalf of Tameside. I was pleased that the Magistrates upheld the actions of the Panel and dismissed the appeal. The Panel that I chair is now responsible for issuing gambling licenses.

I continue to gain knowledge of the day to day issues that exist within the Ward and also within Tameside as a whole.

I continue to chair the Denton South Community Safety Task Group, a part of the Denton South Partnership initiative, and consider that important achievements have been made in addressing the many ASB and crime and disorder issues that were prevalent in the area. It is pleasing to note that as a result of the Partnership and Neighbourhood approach, incidents of crime and disorder are considerably reduced.

I have, with varying degrees of success, been able to assist many people and help them to deal with concerns and problems.

I feel that I have been able to compliment and add value to the work and commitment that exists between the Labour Councillors within the Denton West Ward and also within the Denton and Audenshaw District Assembly.

I continue to make new friends.