Minutes:
Death of Member and Former Member of
the Council
The
Chairman referred to the sad news of the deaths of both a sitting member and a
former Leader of the Council.
Professor
Preston had been elected to the Council for the first time in 1993 representing
the former Fosse Electoral Division and subsequently the Syston
Ridgeway Electoral Division.
Following
the move to a Cabinet and Scrutiny system in 1999 he had become a member of the
Cabinet and was Deputy Leader of the Council between 2001 and 2003 supporting
the then Leader, Harry Barber. Between
2003 and 2005 he had been Chairman of the Education Scrutiny Committee and a
member of the Scrutiny Commission. He
had returned to the Cabinet in 2005 where he served until April of this year.
He
had served for a period on the Pension Fund Management Board and was Chairman
from 1999 to 2003.
From
2005 to 2010 he had also represented the Council on the Combined Fire
Authority.
He
had also served as Conservative Chief Whip from 2005 until April 2011.
Harry
Barber had been elected to the Council for the first time in 1989 and served
until 2005 representing the former Loughborough Forest Electoral Division.
Following
the move to a Cabinet and Scrutiny system in 1999 he had become Leader of the
Council in a joint administration formed by the Conservative and Liberal
Democrat Groups. He continued to lead
the Council following the 2001 elections, this time leading a Conservative
administration, when his deputy was the late Professor Mike Preston. He had given up the leadership of the Council
in 2003 but continued as a Cabinet member until he retired from the Council in
2005.
Mr
Barber had been made an Honorary Alderman of the County in July 2005 in
recognition of the eminent services he had rendered to the people of
Leicestershire.
Those
present joined the Chairman in standing in silent tribute to the memory of
Professor Mike Preston CC and Honorary Alderman Harry Barber.
Certificate of Outstanding Work
The
Chairman reported with pleasure the good work of the County Council's Trading
Standards Service which had recently been formally recognised by the
Leicestershire Constabulary.
Louise
Boyall and Sadie Hoyes, who
worked for the Service, had each received a Certificate for outstanding work
from Inspector Chris Brown, the Commander of the North West Local Policing
Unit.
Both
officers had showed impressive professionalism during a joint operation at this
year’s Download Festival at
Louise
had organised the deployment of Trading Standards Officers and Sadie had been
vigilant in recognising an organised crime group and bringing it to the
attention of the Police.
Members
joined the Chairman in congratulating these members of staff on their excellent
work.
Accreditation by the Service Desk
Institute
The
Chairman indicated that she was pleased to report that the County Council's ICT
Service Desk had recently been awarded a 'Three Star accreditation' in an
initial assessment by the Service Desk Institute and was seeking to achieve
'Four Stars' in 2012. This was an
international award held by only a select number of bodies. It demonstrated that the service was customer
led and made a valuable contribution to the Council's high quality ICT
provision.
Members
joined the Chairman in congratulating everyone concerned.
The
Chairman reminded members that this would be the last Council meeting that
Elizabeth McCalla would be attending before her
forthcoming retirement. She felt sure
that members would not want the occasion to pass without placing on record the
Council's appreciation of
The
County Council had a great deal to thank
In
particular, every Chairman of the Council since 1997 would have good reason to
be thankful to
The
Chairman on behalf of members of the Council was very pleased to wish
Mr
Parsons, Mr Galton and Mr Hunt each joined the Chairman
in associating their Groups with the thanks to Elizabeth McCalla.
Visitors
The
Chairman welcomed to the meeting all visitors and guests of members.