Agenda item

The Chair outlined the following procedural points before the meeting continued:

·        Members should be respectful to each other during the meeting;

·        While robust debate was part of the democratic process, Members should respect the views of others and not point fingers during debate;

·        Points of order could be made by individual Members if it was felt there had been an alleged breach of the Council Procedure Rules or the law, but once a point of order had been dealt with the decision was final and the matter would not be revisited;

·        If there was to be a vote Members should be present in the Chamber to cast their vote.

Since elected as Chair of the Council the Chair had attended a number of events including a special Cathedral Evensong for Venerable Bede and visits to schools.

The Chair had attended events to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, including the unveiling of a wonderful display on Gilesgate Roundabout created by the County Council’s Clean and Green and Civic Pride Teams, with help from children from Gilesgate Primary School.

The Chair had also been joined by the Council’s Armed Forces Champion Councillor Paul Sexton to raise the Armed Forces Day flag outside of County Hall, which symbolised Durham’s unwavering support for forces personnel to mark Armed Forces Day on Saturday 25 June and Reserves Day which was 22 June.