My ninth year has come to an end and as usual it has been a very busy one. I was re-elected again to stand in St. Michael’s Ward and thank everyone who has again put their faith in me to look after all who live in the Ward and in Tameside. I am always available to anyone who wants to contact me and also to go and visit those who are in need. I hold four surgeries per month and they are advertised in the local paper every week.

I still stand by what I have written in the past that a Councillor has many roles which involve the community not just politicians:

• A politician - work done in Wards and as a delegate
• A policy maker - work done in Council and at Council meetings
• A manager - getting Best Value, performance standards, contracting service providers
• A negotiator - in disputes with traders, planning and unions
• A carer - sitting with the elderly and housebound people having a chat about their problems and doing some shopping for them or taking them to hospital
• An equalizer - making sure that everyone has the same rights and status, and are free from discrimination or disadvantage
  

I will also add to that list good time management and the quality of assistance I have received from my fellow Councillors, officers, the Cabinet Team, the Member Services Team and the Democratic Services Team (we couldn't do without all of them).

I now have the pleasure of writing my ninth Annual Report, which consists of all the meetings and training sessions, events and conferences I have attended throughout the year.

Participation on Outside Bodies

• I am on the Assembly of the New Manchester University and I have attended meetings
• I am Chair of SACRE - Standing Advisory Council On Religious Education - and I have attended the meetings
• I am Chair of TRHMAP - we have now changed the name of this panel to THIP Tameside Hate Incident Panel and I have attended the meetings
• I am Chair of the PRU - Pupil Referral Units - and I have attended the meetings
• I am a Trustee/Director on the Groundwork Trust and I have attended meetings
• I am a member of TREC - Tameside Racial Equality Council - and I have attended the meetings and general meetings
• I am a member of the Community Cohesion Partnership and I have attended the meetings
• I am a member of the Multi Agency Forum, I have attended the meetings
• I am Chair of the Domestic Violence Forum and I have attended the meetings
• I am on the Governing Body of Tameside College and I have attended the meetings and the meeting of the Ethics and Audit Sub Group
• I am a Member of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund - I have attended the meetings and meetings of the Sub Group
• I am on the Interfaith Forum Steering Group - I have attended their meetings and meetings of the Interfaith Forum Network
• I am a member of the Older Peoples' Partnership and have attended the meetings
• I am a member of the Women's Project Management Committee

Participation in the Community

• I have helped at School Fetes and go to any presentations
• I attended Duke Street Youth Awards
• I attended the Crucial Crew, which is run by the Police for primary schools
• I attended the Spirit of the Streets Festival
• I attended the Faith United Day at King Georges Park - great day 
• I attended the Skills for Life at Hope Chapel
• I attended the African Refugee Association Event
• I attended the Dial Celebrations
• I attended the Pets Service at St Peters Church during which my husband released all his pigeons
• I attended the Interfaith Winter Festival
• I attended the Tameside Elders Association Group
• I attended the Khush Amdid Day Centre
• I attended the premier of a play at Tameside Hippodrome by the Youth Service
• I attended The St Peters Mela
• I attended The Breast Feeding Awards and presented certificates
• I have participated in the Cyclops Cycling initiative
• I have also attended residents association meetings
• I also attended Home Watch meetings
• I am also involved in the Church
• I am also involved in Youth Clubs
• I also attend the Hurst Community Centre Management Committee
• I am a member of the Denton West Lions Club
• I support Fair Trade and fundraise for numerous charities
• PACT meetings with the Police, Patrollers and New Charter Housing
• I hold three surgeries per month and just about to have a fourth one in Cockbrook
• I also visit people in their homes and if need be take them shopping
• I also visit any of my constituents if I know they have gone into hospital
• I do site visits with my constituents to look at their complaints
  

I am available to my constituents day and night by fax, phone and e-mail

Positions in Council

I am Cabinet Secretary for Co-ordinated Services and Lifelong Learning. This year's brief is as follows:

• I am Chair of The Pupil Referral Units Management Committee I have attended the meetings
• Monitoring of pupils' progress
• Monitoring truancy
• I am Chair of the Equality Champions Group and I have attended the meetings
• I am also The Older People's Champion for the BGOP - Better Governance for Older People - Tameside BGOP Champion and attend the North West Champions Network meetings
• I have attended Special Educational Needs group meetings and sub group meetings
• I have attended EBD group meetings
• I have attended Asset Management Plans Advisory Group meetings
• Monitored the LEA Action Plan
• Monitoring The MLD Review
• I am a member of the Economic Forum and Lifelong Learning Partnership, which has amalgamated, and I have attended meetings
• Monitoring education transport
• District Assembly - I have attended the meetings
• I chair the Equalities Champions Group and I have attended the meetings
• I am a member of Speakers Panel (Planning) and I have attended the meetings
• I have also attended meetings with unions
• I have also attended youth issues meetings
• I have also attended Admission Forum meetings
• I have also attended Full Council meetings
• I have also attended the Labour Group meetings
  

Participation in Training

I have also had the following training sessions:

• Children and Young Peoples Services “All Change” seminar
• Schools For The Future at Dukinfield Town Hall
• Domestic Violence training
• Rape and Sexual Violence training
• Health and Safety
• Planning Workshop
• Responding to Local Communities
• Understanding CA and JAR Training
• Inspector Assessment training
• TSP Training
• Corporate update on Council Matters
• Waste Management Briefing
• Achieving A Drugs Free Healthy Lifestyle Seminar
• Getting Your Point Across Training
• Liscensing training
• Hate Crime Reporting
• B.M.E. Issues Conference
• Corporate Governance Risk Management Training
• I attended a Leadership Training event in York
• I attended and opened a Disibility conference
• I attended the TSP conference
• I attended and spoke at the Supporting People Launch
• Local Green Bill Training
• ICT training
• 14 to 19 years Education Training

Participation in the Labour Party

• I have attended Ward meetings and given Verbal reports
• I am Secretary of the Ward
• I am a member of the Women's Forum
• I am a delegate to the Constitutional Labour Party (CLP)
• I was a Steward For The Deputy Leadership event in Manchester
• I am a Member Of The Co-op Labour Party

I have met a lot of fantastic people. I would like to thank all those who have supported me this year as well as my family. I would also like to thank all those groups of people who give their time and commitment to helping and working for the people of Tameside. They all deserve every credit for the work they do in the community. I now look forward to Labour winning again in the next Election. I also look forward to the challenge of new opportunities, and to continue to provide a service for the Community and any forthcoming issues at ward level and in the community.