Agenda item

Paper No: COU/SE/19/003

(Council Procedure Rules 8.1 – 8.3)  Members may ask the Leader questions on the content of both his introductory remarks and the written statement itself.

A total of 30 minutes will be allowed for questions and responses. There will be a limit of five minutes for each question to be asked and answered. A supplementary question arising from the reply may be asked so long as the five minute limit is not exceeded.

Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, presented his Leader’s Statement as outlined in Paper No: COU/SE/19/003.

In his introductory remarks, Councillor Griffiths provided the following:

(a)     Tribute: Councillor Griffiths paid his own personal tribute to the late former Councillor Mike Jones.

(b)     Leader’s Statement: That this was the last Leader’s Statement for Councillor Griffiths as Leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council (SEBC) and he acknowledged the historic occasion of this final Council meeting of SEBC.

(c)     Metrolink: Ambitious plans for a £4billion metrolink in Cambridgeshire had been announced in a report commissioned by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.  Together with other towns in the Cambridge sub-region, the proposed Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM) would provide a vital transport link for Haverhill and Mildenhall to the Greater Cambridge area, thus providing West Suffolk with better opportunities for enhancing business and economic growth.

(d)     Future High Street Fund: the Council’s Expression of Interest for accessing the first round of this funding for Haverhill had been submitted.

(e)     Rough Sleepers: Special recognition was given to the Housing team and other Council staff who monitored the well-being of rough sleepers in West Suffolk every two months. The numbers of rough sleepers in West Suffolk had reduced from more than 30 to 10.

(f)      West Suffolk Operational Hub: Construction of the steel frame had been completed.

(g)     National Social Prescribing Week: This had taken place during week commencing 11 March 2019. Councillor Griffiths acknowledged the success of the LifeLink social prescribing project in Haverhill. Similar schemes were due to become operational in Mildenhall and Brandon shortly. 

Whilst not a question, however, as this was the final SEBC Council meeting, Councillor Robert Everitt wished to place on record his thanks on behalf of the Conservative Group and the Council itself, to Councillor Griffiths for his work as Leader of the Council for the past 16 years, and as Leader of the Opposition for one year prior to that. 

Councillor Max Clarke, wished to seek Councillor Griffiths’ condemnation of the recent attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and whether he supported the abolition of Islamophobia on an international scale.  In response, Councillor Griffiths wholeheartedly shared Councillor Clarke’s sentiments, not only against Muslims, but prejudice against all faiths and denominations.

Councillor Paul Hopfensperger referred to the first sentence of paragraph 3 of Councillor Griffiths’ written statement and wished it to be clarified that as a non-grouped independent Member of the Council, it was not only “councillors of all parties….” that had improved “….the quality of life, prosperity and [given] value for money for services….” for residents.  Councillor Hopfensperger felt that all councillors elected to SEBC should be acknowledged regardless of whether they had a particular political party affiliation or not. 

In response, Councillor Griffiths assured Councillor Hopfensperger that it was a combination of all Members’ efforts in respect of trying to achieve the very best for St Edmundsbury’s and West Suffolk’s local communities and businesses, irrespective of personal or political interest. 

Councillor John Burns was delighted to hear the announcement referred to in (c) above, stating that Haverhill had been seeking a rail link to Cambridge for around 30 years or more.  He congratulated all those involved in lobbying for the link.