“We have got straight back
down to work.”
LEADER’S
NOTES
Councillor Julian Bell
Leader of the council
Julian and other candidates observe the election count
I
would like to thank everyone who
went out to vote in the local and
European elections at the end of
May. Our borough had a strong
percentage of voters turning out, and
the Labour party was humbled by the
trust shown in us.
I held it as an enormous honour to
be leader of the council throughout the
past four years, and I am very pleased
to be continuing in the role. We
achieved so much as a council, despite
the difficult prevailing economic
conditions, and there is so much
more we all want to do yet. I thank
you for giving us the opportunity, and
mandate, to carry these through over
the next four years.
Challenges, as ever, will lay in wait;
difficult decisions will come our way;
but exciting new times are also ahead
of us and we have got straight back
down to work.
We promise to stay true to our
manifesto, and to prioritise key
commitments including: Making sure
the borough receives the best health
care possible; keeping council tax
low; working closely with the police
on combating crime and anti-social
behaviour; making the borough cleaner,
and recycling 50% of household waste
by 2018; and to continue building
new council homes and creating
apprenticeships for young people.
With such a strong majority this
time around (53 of the 69 seats are
occupied by Labour) we are mindful
of maintaining the correct balance
and level of examination. As a
consequence, we will be extending
the number of scrutiny panels at the
council from five to six, to keep a
closer eye on the decisions made
and processes followed. One of
these panels will have a Conservative
chairman, and all of the other five
panels will have a vice-chairman
selected from among the Conservative
or Liberal Democrat councillors.
My cabinet team has been chosen,
too, to help lead the agenda on
specific issues and areas of the
council’s work. You can see them on
page 41, alongside the full list of 69
elected councillors.
There were quite a large number of
completely fresh candidates voted into
seats this year and I would like to take
this opportunity to welcome them. I
look forward to working with them all
to make our borough an even better
place to be.
around ealing
Summer 2014
5