The new Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council has appointed the members of his administration.
The eight-strong administration includes a couple – Dan Yates and Karen Barford – who are both newly elected councillors, along with another new council member Tom Bewick.
Councillor Warren Morgan said: “I am proud and delighted to put forward the team of people who will lead the city council through the next four years.”
They are
- Councillor Warren Morgan – Policy and Resources and Economic Development and Culture
- Councillor Gill Mitchell – Environment and Transport
- Councillor Tom Bewick – Children, Young People and Skills
- Councillor Dan Yates – Health and Wellbeing Board
- Councillor Emma Daniel – Neighbourhoods, Communities and Equalities
- Councillor Anne Meadows – Housing and New Homes
- Councillor Karen Barford – Health and Wellbeing Board
- Councillor Les Hamilton – Deputy Leader and Finance
Councillor Morgan said: “My council administration will include a very strong mix of experience and knowledge, fresh ideas and new talent to meet the challenges that we face on housing and schools, refuse services and the city economy, neighbourhoods and equalities.
“We were elected to deliver a council that works for you, and we will deliver for every neighbourhood in every part of Brighton and Hove.
“We will as a group talk and listen to residents, businesses, partner organisations and neighbouring councils.
“And we will deliver on our clear vision and purpose to return the council and the city to the right track.”
The Brighton and Hove Labour Party published biographical details along with the appointments.
Councillor Warren Morgan – Policy and Resources and Economic Development and Culture
Having been closely involved over several years with the proposals to build a new King Alfred, new Churchill Square extension and new conference and concert arena at Black Rock, council leader Councillor Warren Morgan will chair the Economic Development and Culture Committee with the goal of delivering these new developments, homes and jobs on time and in budget. As leader, he will take forward the city’s economic and employment agenda at the Greater Brighton Economic Board and Local Enterprise Partnership, using his dozen years’ experience as a city councillor to pursue better paid and more secure jobs for all city residents.
Councillor Gill Mitchell – Environment and Transport
Councillor Mitchell has served as a councillor for 22 years, representing an East Brighton ward, and served as chair of the Environment Committee and deputy leader of the council from 2003 during the previous Labour administration. Having lived in Brighton for nearly 50 years, she has two children who live locally. She works part time in the NHS.
Councillor Tom Bewick – Children, Young People and Skills
Councillor Bewick has a professional background in education, skills and enterprise policy spanning two decades. He was an adviser to the Labour government from 1997 to 2004 on youth and adult education. He was chief executive of the Creative and Cultural Industries Skills Council between 2004 and 2010 (www.ccskills.org.uk). Currently he is chief executive of the International Skills Standards Organisation (INSSO) where he is an adviser to several overseas governments. Councillor Bewick is passionate about education, skills, entrepreneurship and apprenticeships. He grew up in foster care and left school initially with no qualifications. From the Midlands, he first came to the city in 1991 where he commenced a degree in social policy at the University of Brighton, completed at the University of Bath (BSc and MSc). He lives in Hove, with his partner and three young children.
Councillor Dan Yates – Health and Wellbeing Board
Councillor Yates has lived in Brighton for nine years. He works as an NHS manager and lead physiotherapist. He has broad experience of modernising NHS services and working alongside and within jointly commissioned NHS and social care services. He has also previously worked at the University of Brighton and still lectures there occasionally on the NHS, rehabilitation and new ways of working. Councillor Yates was previously a councillor on Adur District Council where he was leader of the Labour group and chaired the Direct Services Board, responsible for waste collection, housing maintenance and leisure services.
Councillor Emma Daniel – Neighbourhoods, Communities and Equalities
Councillor Daniel has over 15 years of experience as a CEO, trustee and volunteer in the voluntary sector. Most recently she has developed a national training programme for councillors to use social technology to collaborate with communities and is currently working in a school for the deaf and is learning BSL. Emma is passionate about tackling poverty and has run projects to enhance communities sharing with projects such as food banks. Last Christmas she led her ward in a giving effort that provided Christmas presents to over 50 families in financial crisis.
Councillor Anne Meadows – Housing and New Homes
Councillor Meadows represents a ward which is evenly split between social housing and private sector housing. She has been involved in housing-related issues for over 21 years, having previously been deputy chair of the Housing Committee. In addition, she chaired the successful scrutiny on studentification. She has also chaired the Adult Social Care Committee for a number of years.
Councillor Karen Barford – Health and Wellbeing Board
Councillor Barford has extensive experience at strategic and operational level within local community organisations, social enterprises and national charities. She has been responsible for the creation, bidding, implementation and effective delivery of small to multimillion-pound services, focusing on disadvantaged groups, such as older people and adults with mental health support needs, learning disabilities and life-limiting conditions. Her main focus has been to support and empower local people to live full and active lives while maximising positive social, environmental and economic impact. This includes emotional and practical support, meaningful occupation, service user commissioning, social enterprise start-ups and welfare to work.
Councillor Les Hamilton – Deputy Leader and Finance
Councillor Hamilton was first elected as councillor in Portslade Urban District in 1971 and served as a councillor on Hove Borough Council and then on Brighton and Hove City Council. Altogether he has been a Councillor for 43 years. He has been the Labour lead on finance since 2007. Councillor Hamilton worked as a secondary school mathematics teacher in the city for over 40 years. In addition, he is a trustee of two charities, a school governor and the chairman of the Mile Oak Football Club.
The eight-strong team will speak for the party and the administration on their respective subjects. They are expected to chair the relevant committees although this will be formally decided by the council and its committees over the coming weeks.
Two other key posts have also been filled, again subject to formal confirmation. Newly elected Julie Cattell will chair the Planning Committee and Mo Marsh will chair the Licensing Committee.
a question for councillor Mitchell, please can you tell me what is the point of the giant flower pots on North Street, being currently used as rubbish bins? What is their purpose? Also can you remove a lot of the massive street bins taking up road/0pavement space. They are unsightly. I trust you will rewiden a lot or our beautiful avenues, and roads so that brighton and hove can become a car/tourist friendly town again, making parking charges better value instead of extortionate. Thank you
Hi Julie Cattell, it may not be feasible to rid us of these awful bus lanes, but you could make them part-time as is the case in many London Boroughs. As a suggestion for times 7:30-9:30 and 16:30-18:30, these as you will note cover the two rush hour periods Monday to Friday and suspend them from 18:31pm Friday until 7:30am Monday.
Kind Regards
Guy Preston
The Chair of Planning presides over the determinaton of planning applications – so Julie has no say in the matter that concerns you.
Please,please sort out the dreadful traffic lights on the seafront,especially the three sets by Regency Square.It causes massive tailbacks.Also Pedestrian lights go green in seconds as soon as a pedestrian presses the button.It is not necessary and again causes massive queues.
It is surprising that cllr Morgan has taken two posts – P and R and Economic Development/Culture – rather than allocate the latter’s workload and allowance to somebody else (Kevin Allen is well suited to it). What’s more, at a hustings this spring about that very Committee, Morgan said that he was not that interested in Culture. That is up to him, of course, but it sits oddly with then Chairing it.
Could one infer that he wants to be on it to ensure that nothing much happens Economic-wise, no pesky Major proposals that inflame the Ahgoose moaners who hate any change?
Seems to me that the King Alfred and Libraries are set to be flashpoints across the next four years. We saw a decade ago that Labour wanted to close Hove Library, and it will be interesting to see how it copes with the figures now…
Mr Hawtree people do like change,however please could You explain in detail the real benefits in the £40m that You and Your fellow Councillors spent on Transport Infrastructure and would it not have been a better Idea to have spent it on introducing an Electrified Public Transport System into the City?
We gained outside funding for Transport improvements (though I think your figure not accurate). An Electrified system would indeed be interesting but that goes beyond a four-year administration (the Dutch system of lasers to propel trams – instead of track – came up, but that is a long-term idea and, alas, Local Govt so often falls victim to such short-term mentality as Labour showed time and again as the Minority Party).
And now Labour now sweats when it finds itself a minority Administration: cllr Morgan declared that if he were not allowed a majority on P and R and on Economic Development, he “would not form an Administration”. The other Parties said, all right, don’t form one…. with which he backed down. A harbinger of very interesting times ahead!
As I see it, there will be no interesting initiatives in the next four years, and a Hell of a time in coping with £100 million further cuts.
At a theatre this evening I chanced upon a Council officer who recognised me – and said that he wondered how many of them will have jobs before too long. Officers reckon that, in awful times, the first-time and minority Green administration did pretty well in dealing with an amazing series of tough calls.
As I have said before, I think that many new Councillors do not realise what they have let themselves in for. It’s going to be an awful time.