Minutes:
Councillor A Hopgood, Leader of the Council welcomed all Members to the last full council before the summer break.
The Leader hoped Members had been managing to keep cool in the hot weather. Although it looked as though the next few days would be cooler, with the summer ahead the Leader took the opportunity to remind Members of the need to take extra care in the sunshine and to look out for those who were most vulnerable during heatwaves. Members were encouraged to look at the Council’s heatwave plan, which was available on the Council’s website, to ensure the warmer weather could be safely enjoyed.
The Council’s initiative to create a network of electric vehicle charging points across the county had recently been recognised at the MJ Awards, where the Scaling of On Street Charging Initiative won the award for Best EV Charging Project. The Council’s eLearning course to tackle littering was highly commended in the Digital Transformation category. The Leader placed on record her thanks to staff involved in these projects.
Members of the Council’s Warm and Healthy Homes Team had been crowned National Energy Champions of the Year at the Energy Awards. The award recognised the team’s work to support people affected by higher living costs, who may suffer ill health as a consequence of not being able to pay their energy bills.
Finally, the Council had once again made it onto the list of the country’s top 100 employers for apprenticeships. As well as being one of only two local authorities on the list, the Council was now ahead of household names such as BP, Jaguar Landrover and Santander.
The Leader was sure that the Council would join her in congratulating everyone involved in these projects and thanking them for all their hard work.
As already mentioned, this was the last Council meeting before the summer recess and the Leader hoped that all Members would have an enjoyable break. Over the coming weeks, there would be a lot to do across County Durham, including the fantastic Seaham Food Festival at the beginning of August.
Councillor Marshall asked whether the Leader would join him in thanking all the emergency services and Council staff for keeping communities safe in the extreme weather conditions of the past few days. The Leader of the Council confirmed she would as, she was sure, would the whole Chamber.