Last Friday saw the annual meeting for Crawley Borough Council take place, and the beginning of the new civic year, with a Labour administration continuing following very successful elections earlier in the month.

I took this opportunity to announce my new Cabinet, as well as giving special mention to Cllr Chris Mullins for being my Deputy Leader this past year.  He remains as the portfolio holder for Leisure and Wellbeing, continuing his long track record of success.

Diversity is an important theme of these Cabinet appointments, to even better reflect the communities from which our councillors come from.  There will be three women on the Cabinet, the joint highest that it has ever been at this council, and there continue to be three members of the Cabinet from the BAME community.

Cllr Atif Nawaz remains portfolio holder for Planning and Economic Development where he has brought forward important things for the Borough.  He also becomes my new Deputy Leader and I warmly welcome him to that role.

Cllr Sue Mullins continues for Community Engagement and Culture.  I will be tasking Sue this year with putting together a refreshed cultural strategy for the Borough.

Public Protection will always be a major priority for this council under my leadership.  By creating a portfolio specifically focused on this, in appointing Yasmin Khan as the first Cabinet Member, I believe she will help deliver this important council duty even more successfully.

I am pleased that Cllr Ian Irvine has agreed to become the Cabinet member for Housing once again, he has a wealth of experience in this important role looking after our tenants and those in housing need as well as continuing this council’s extremely impressive record of providing council housing.

Councillor Bob Noyce is joining the Cabinet and bringing his experience and expertise to the Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change portfolio and Cllr Tahira Rana completes the Cabinet, fresh from her role as Deputy Mayor as our Cabinet Member for Resources.

I wish the new Cabinet well, they will enable us to make the Borough an even better place to live, work and visit.

Cllr Michael Jones

Leader, Crawley Borough Council