Minutes:
The Chair informed Council that since the last Council meeting she had attended several events, including the following:
· an Honorary Freedom Ceremony on 27 September 2022 which admitted Miss Meghan Borthwick as an Honorary Freewoman of the City of Durham in recognition of her services to Women’s Football in the City of Durham;
· on 13 October she hosted a lunch for retiring co-optees from Scrutiny Committees who, between the three of them, had contributed 24 years’ service in their co-optee role.
Colourful artworks created by young adults who need additional support had gone on show as part of a free exhibition. The ‘We Can We Will’, by The Wider World Project, would be displayed at Gala Gallery in Durham City until Friday 30 December. The exhibition followed months of art workshops led by North East artist Dawn Felicia Knox, which had been held at Gala Durham, Wharton Park and Belmont Community Centre since May. The project had been funded by Durham County Council.
Locations throughout County Durham had been celebrating after winning honours in the Royal Horticultural Society Northumbria in Bloom competition.
· Durham City won gold in the Small City category
· Sedgefield won gold in the Small Towns category
· Stanley claimed the silver gilt to win the Large Towns section with Chester le Street taking silver in the same category
· Seaham took gold in the Coastal Resort group
· Belmont was awarded silver for Urban Community
· Gilesgate Primary School took home the Best School honour
· Stanley Park Care Home scooped Best Care Home.
· Durham BID won Best Town Centre Retail Area.
· Seaham Town Park and Wharton Park were both awarded gold in the Best Park section.
· Grade II-listed Ceddesfeld Hall, in Sedgefield, took gold in the Best Grounds of a Hospital, University or Public Building category, while Belmont Allotments won Best Allotment.
· The Just for Women Centre in Stanley meanwhile won Best Commercial Premises (Small).
Finally, the Chair was pleased to report that Durham County Council had won the Best Innovation or Demand Management Initiative Award at the Association for Public Service Excellence Awards for its mobile repairs system app, which had been developed in-house initially for the Council’s building repairs and maintenance teams. The Council was also a finalist in the categories of Best Climate Action or Decarbonisation Initiative; Best Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship Initiative; Best Efficiency and Transformation Initiative; Best Service Team: Facilities Management and Building Cleaning Service; Best Service Team: Housing, Construction and Building Service and Overall Council of the Year in Service Delivery.
The Chair and Council congratulated all staff involved in the achievement of these awards.