Accessibility Toolbar
•
Accessibility Statement
Leader's Blog
Councillor Brenda Warrington, Executive Leader of Tameside Council
Taking Stock and Looking Forward at Full Council
Friday, 12 October 2018
This Tuesday evening the familiar surroundings of Guardsman Tony Downes House in Droylsden played host to the penultimate Full Council meeting of the year. As always, it allowed to take stock of what has gone before, and to look forward to what the last few months of 2018 have in store for us.
It was also the first time we were able to formally welcome Tameside’s newest Councillor, Pauline Hollinshead. Councillor Hollinshead joins us after a successful by-election in Ashton Waterloo last month, following the sad death of Cath Piddington. Anybody who remembers Cath knows that she’ll be a hard act to follow, but I’m totally confident that Pauline is up to the task and will make her own mark on the area.
Following the publishing of the latest feedback letter from Ofsted after their recent monitoring visit, it was only natural that children’s services were a major topic of discussion. At the meeting, I accepted Ofsted’s conclusions in full, and pledged that they would serve as a focus for the next steps in our improvement journey. Councillor Ryan, the Executive Member for Children, also informed us about the work undertaken by the Tameside Youth Council and the continuing progress of improving the quality of children’s homes in the borough. Our appreciation was also expressed to everybody in our Children’s Services, who have been working tirelessly to drive forward real and lasting change. As a Council we will be unwavering in our commitment to give them the support they need to finish the job.
We also took the opportunity to move forward on our campaign to protect our shared environment for future generations. It’s easy to be sceptical about what a place like Tameside can do in the face of a global issue like climate change, but I firmly believe if residents and businesses all commit to making small changes in consumption and lifestyle it will build up to a big impact. There are several things we’re working on to make this happen. At the end of last month we joined the nine other Greater Manchester councils and Recycle4GM to support the 2018 edition of Recycle Week, raising awareness of the importance of recycling and engaging residents in fun and innovative ways to make them think about their own use and waste. You can expect to hear much more about our plans for a Green Tameside in the very near future.
A number of motions were also debated and passed on a series of important local and national issues including combating anti-Semitism, and toughening the stance of the council and our partners on raising awareness of and preventing modern slavery. Our commitment to the environment was reinforced by pledging to end the council’s use of disposable and non-recyclable plastics whenever it can be avoided, encouraging our residents and partners to do the same, and writing to the Environment Secretary to request the strengthening of legislation against plastic pollution. We also recorded our opposition to the closure of yet more high street banks in the UK and Tameside. Nearly 3,000 across the country have shut since 2015 – a rate of almost 60 a month. These banks are an important part of our local communities, especially for elderly people who may not be comfortable with online banking or travelling long distances.
My thanks go out to everybody who attended Full Council or followed it online or on social media. We should be proud of what we’ve all achieved so far this year, and prouder still that we did it by drawing once more upon the shared values of Tameside; our respect for each other, our belief in the power of our communities, and our determination to see a job through to the successful finish. It is these values that have carried us to the progress that we’ve made so far. It is these values that will continue to drive us further still.
Posted by: Executive Leader
Related Links
Leaders Blog Homepage
Executive Members Blogs
Post Archive
March 2022(
4
)
February 2022(
5
)
January 2022(
3
)
December 2021(
4
)
November 2021(
4
)
October 2021(
4
)
September 2021(
5
)
August 2021(
5
)
July 2021(
5
)
June 2021(
5
)
May 2021(
3
)
March 2021(
4
)
February 2021(
4
)
January 2021(
4
)
December 2020(
4
)
November 2020(
4
)
October 2020(
5
)
September 2020(
4
)
August 2020(
4
)
July 2020(
4
)
June 2020(
4
)
May 2020(
4
)
April 2020(
4
)
March 2020(
5
)
February 2020(
4
)
January 2020(
4
)
December 2019(
2
)
November 2019(
1
)
October 2019(
4
)
September 2019(
3
)
August 2019(
6
)
July 2019(
4
)
June 2019(
4
)
May 2019(
1
)
March 2019(
6
)
February 2019(
3
)
January 2019(
3
)
December 2018(
3
)
November 2018(
5
)
October 2018(
3
)
September 2018(
4
)
August 2018(
5
)
July 2018(
4
)
June 2018(
5
)
May 2018(
4
)
March 2018(
6
)
February 2018(
1
)