Time has certainly flown by during my first two weeks as council leader which can no doubt be explained by how busy I’ve been!
The role is all-consuming, as many council leaders before have told me, but I’m enjoying the challenge. One of my first tasks was reaching out to key players in the city to ensure we can work together effectively.
I visited the fantastic Dr Who exhibition at the museum, and met the man behind it, and chatted to the team at the cathedral about the fantastic work they are doing to bring visitors to the city. I've also reached out to Paul Bristow, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s and I look forward to working with him, particularly around his vision for tourism and culture. Well done also to our MP, Andrew Pakes, for bringing together key partners in a meeting recently to work on a tourism strategy moving forward.
I will lead a progressive administration fully focused on strong collaboration and delivering key priorities. The support of councillors from all parties is key, which is why I’ve reached out to many of them, with our initial discussions being positive.
By working collaboratively, we can best navigate some difficult challenges. For example, one of my key priorities is ensuring the authority has good, long-term, financial health.
Like many councils, we have faced huge financial challenges in recent times, caused by reductions in government funding and huge increases in demand and costs.
Yet what we achieve is simply amazing. Every day we support thousands of adults and older people to remain safe and well. We empty bins and clear waste and we provide homes for those who are in housing crisis, to list just a few things we do.
We will continue to provide these services and more in 2026/27, but we must look at how we can balance our budget. We are working hard, as a cross-party group of councillors, with the support of officers, on this task.
It is incredibly positive that our Labour Government is listening, and we have seen more support for a review of the way councils are funded than we have from any previous Government.
That review, known as Fairer Funding, is ongoing and should mean there is light at the end of the tunnel for councils like ours, which are vastly underfunded per head of population in comparison to those of a similar size. Importantly, it recognises what our council has been saying for many years, that our funding has not kept pace with our population growth.
One of our immediate priorities is managing a high-level of demand for taxi license renewals and I met with drivers at Sand Martin House recently to hear their concerns.
Our licensing officers are actively working to manage this and have issued temporary licence extensions. I fully understand the pressures that drivers and operators are experiencing and we will continue to work closely with them to resolve this situation.
Achieving better outcomes for all children in Peterborough is another key aim and I’m delighted that our Children’s Services department has made huge strides since being rated as inadequate back in 2023.
I will support Councillor Katy Cole, our Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, to ensure this progress continues, as well as delivering key goals of making Peterborough a ‘child friendly city’ and establishing a Youth Zone.
Children’s services will also be carrying out a Child Sexual Exploitation audit over the coming weeks, alongside our partners. This is in response to Baroness Casey’s recent national review of the issue, and we will do everything in our power to help keep children safe.
Finally, I’m filming an episode of Ask the Cabinet in early October, so if you have a question or an issue affecting you then please get in touch.
I will endeavour to answer your questions during the session which we record and promote on our social media channels. Get in touch by emailing askthecabinet@peterborough.gov.uk