Minutes:
Mr David Jennings
CC
With great sadness the Chairman reported the death of David Jennings, a sitting member, and the current Vice Chairman, of the County Council.
Mr Jennings died on 30 August aged 72. He had been a member of the County Council since 1997 and represented the Cosby and Countesthorpe Electoral Division. He was also an employee of the County Council between 1987 and 1996, working at Curtis Weston Care Home.
Mr Jennings was a longstanding member of the Development Control and Regulatory Board and served as its chairman between 2003 and 2011. He had also been a former chairman of the Standards Committee, Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee and a Scrutiny Commissioner.
Mr Jennings had been Vice Chairman of the County Council since May 2018.
Mr Jennings had had a long career in public service. He had been a member of Blaby District Council for 40 years and was made an Honorary Alderman after stepping down at this May’s election. He was also a parish councillor, a position he had held for 48 years.
Mrs Valerie
Pulford
The Chairman reported with sadness the death of Mrs Valerie Pulford,
on 30 August aged 75. She was a member of the County Council between 1985 and 1989, representing the Breedon electoral division.
Mrs Pulford mainly served on the Education Committee, Employment Committee and Social Services Committee.
Members of the Council joined the Chairman in standing in silent tribute to the memory of David Jennings and Valerie Pulford.
Cheryl Davenport
The Chairman congratulated Cheryl Davenport, Leicestershire’s Director of Health and Care Integration who had been appointed as Honorary Professor of Health and Care Integration at De Montfort University.
Over the last five years Cheryl had brought partners together to improve health care for residents and led the delivery of Leicestershire’s £56million Better Care Fund, a pooled budget between the County Council and the NHS, which was helping to transform health and care.
The appointment was recognition for her contributions and achievements and the students at De Montfort University would benefit from real life examples of how to apply policy into practice.
Professor David Wilson DL
The Chairman reported that Professor David Wilson, who had chaired the Council’s Independent Remuneration Panel, had recently tendered his resignation.
Prof Wilson served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of De Montfort University until his retirement in 2015 and had written extensively on public sector management and local government. He was also a Lay Minister at Rothley Parish Church, a Canon of Leicester Cathedral and a member of the Crown Nominations Commission which was responsible for the appointment of the last three Bishops of Leicester.
Prof Wilson had chaired the Panel since 1999 and the Council was greatly indebted to him for his service. Members joined the Chairman in extending thanks to him and wishing him well in the future. Prof Wilson would be continuing in his role with the Cathedral and as Deputy Lieutenant.
Recent Visits and Events
The Chairman reported that she had been on a number of visits and events since the Council had last met and highlighted four of them:
She had had the pleasure of being at Beaumanor Hall the previous week when the Lord Lieutenant and four of the Deputy Lieutenants presented British Empire medals announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. She had enjoyed meeting people who were being recognised for the work that they've done in their local communities
The Chairman had visited Rainbows, the Children’s Hospice, the previous Saturday which, she felt, was a wonderful place to visit. She urged members to attend a future Open Day.
The previous evening The Chairman had been with the Sea Cadets in Loughborough. She had also attended the Chief Scout’s Award Evening. The Chairman paid particular credit to the Scout Leaders for their efforts in this area.