New leader lined up for county council
Monday, 18th April 2011.
A new leader for Suffolk County Council is being lined up to take over from Cllr Jeremy Pembroke, who announced his retirement recently.
Cllr Mark Bee from Beccles has this morning been elected leader of the Conservative Group at Suffolk County Council.
He will now be proposed as the new leader of the council at the full council meeting on May 26.
Jane Storey, who is acting leader of the council until that May meeting, was re-elected un-opposed as deputy leader of the Conservative group.
The leadership election follows Cllr Pembroke’s decision earlier this month to retire, having served as Conservative group leader for eight years – the last six of which were as leader of Suffolk County Council.
Upon being elected as Conservative leader, Mark Bee first paid tribute to his predecessor: “Jeremy Pembroke has served the people of Suffolk tirelessly and with great integrity for the last six years, and I pay tribute to the hard work and dedication with which he carried out his job.”
Of his ambitions for the future, he said:
“First and foremost, it is important to listen to the people of Suffolk and to the concerns they are expressing.
“I am clear that we must continue to seek out alternative ways of funding our services: that won’t change - the financial climate demands this.
"But in doing so, I will ensure that we take great care that those alternative ways are actually in place before we take away the funding.
“In the case of school crossing patrols, I can assure residents that in the areas where the patrols are most needed, they will not now be stopped, unless or until a suitable alternative arrangement has been found.
“Across the board, with services such as libraries, household waste recycling centres, school and college transport, we need to take time to think through the consequences, consider the implications, listen to the concerns and be clear what the end result will be, before we make the final decisions.”
Cllr Mark Bee from Beccles has this morning been elected leader of the Conservative Group at Suffolk County Council.
He will now be proposed as the new leader of the council at the full council meeting on May 26.
Jane Storey, who is acting leader of the council until that May meeting, was re-elected un-opposed as deputy leader of the Conservative group.
The leadership election follows Cllr Pembroke’s decision earlier this month to retire, having served as Conservative group leader for eight years – the last six of which were as leader of Suffolk County Council.
Upon being elected as Conservative leader, Mark Bee first paid tribute to his predecessor: “Jeremy Pembroke has served the people of Suffolk tirelessly and with great integrity for the last six years, and I pay tribute to the hard work and dedication with which he carried out his job.”
Of his ambitions for the future, he said:
“First and foremost, it is important to listen to the people of Suffolk and to the concerns they are expressing.
“I am clear that we must continue to seek out alternative ways of funding our services: that won’t change - the financial climate demands this.
"But in doing so, I will ensure that we take great care that those alternative ways are actually in place before we take away the funding.
“In the case of school crossing patrols, I can assure residents that in the areas where the patrols are most needed, they will not now be stopped, unless or until a suitable alternative arrangement has been found.
“Across the board, with services such as libraries, household waste recycling centres, school and college transport, we need to take time to think through the consequences, consider the implications, listen to the concerns and be clear what the end result will be, before we make the final decisions.”
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