This week the new Lib Dem administration at Shropshire Council picked the members of the Cabinet. The Leader and Deputy Leader finalising the appointments.
I have been honoured to have been picked by my colleagues for a cabinet roll. On Monday Leader of the Lib Dem group called to offer me the Planning Portfolio, which I gratefully accepted.
I am pleased to part of a strong 10 member Cabinet. There is such a lot to fix, not least the Local Plan mess left by the Conservatives. Shropshire Council withdrew their draft local plan after Planning Inspectors found it unsound. This leaves Shropshire grossly exposed to unplanned and inappropriate development, with no 5-year land supply. I will be working with officers and colleagues to rectify that mess as soon as possible.
The Leader, Deputy Leader, Cabinet and other roles will be ratified on 22nd of May
Leader-elect, Heather Kidd, said:
“We’ve brought together a strong team that are raring to go, serving communities across Shropshire as the new Cabinet.
“There’s a really good breadth of experience, a number of strong public and private sector backgrounds, and councillors from all corners of the county.
“I believe this a very powerful mix of talent who will be laser-focused on delivering the change that Shropshire has voted for.
“This will mean reducing spend on consultants, repairing even more potholes, improving customer service across the council and resetting our relationship with town and parish councils to deliver better partnership working.
“Everyone knows that this will be difficult – and we still face very a tough financial situation – but the new administration is working to hit the ground running.
“We really feel that with fresh thinking and a new and different approach, we can change Shropshire Council for the better.”
The Cabinet:
- Leader – Heather Kidd
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Policy Delivery – Alison Williams
- Deputy Leader & Communities – Alex Wagner
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities – Josh Dickin
- Finance – Roger Evans
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Finance – Sho Abdul
- Social Care – Ruth Houghton
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Social Care – Sarah Marston
- Children & Education – Andy Hall
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Children & Education – Neil Bentley
- Planning – David Walker
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning – Ben Jephcott
- Highways & Environment – David Vasmer
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Highways &Environment Tom Dainty
- Housing & Leisure – James Owen
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Housing & Leisure – Jeremy Blandford
- Transport & Economic Growth – Rob Wilson
- Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport &Economic Growth – Robert Jones
- Health – Bernie Bentick (no Deputy)
