24 April 2026

Hello everyone, I hope you have had a lovely week. I have had quite a short one this week due to annual leave.

Yesterday, I attended our Corporate Induction for new employees who have joined the Council. These sessions are a great opportunity to meet our new starters from all services here and introduce them to what we do here. It is always good to present with our Chief Executive Mike Greene and explain our respective roles, and how the Council works, both corporately and politically.

I then met with colleagues and Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) officers to go through my Education, Employment and Skills portfolio ahead of a meeting next month.

Following this, I met with officers to discuss upcoming meetings to make sure that I'm fully briefed and prepared.

Later in the day, I met with one of our Members of Parliament to discuss plans that are going ahead across the Borough and talk about our priorities.

Later in the evening I chaired Cabinet. There were a lot of items on the agenda to cover including a paper on the Pride in Place project for Central Stockton and Portrack, and an update on our Strategic Asset Management Plan from 2025-2030.

Today, I am heading over to Teesside Airport to attend the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet, where I have three items on the agenda from my portfolio.

In the afternoon I have several briefings via Teams.

I'm still catching up on emails after annual leave but hoping to have them cleared before the weekend.

Saturday morning I'm on an early train to London to meet up with friends for a long awaited catch up and will return on Monday.

I hope you have a great weekend.