Leadership role

I WISH to respond to the recent letter from Ms York referring to Councillor Wellington. 
On being appointed leader I made several changes to the responsibilities of the executive member roles which I felt necessary to ensure a smooth transition to new leadership. 
Bob has indicated that he will be standing down as a councillor in May. In the meantime, he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge, which I want to utilise over the next few months as I begin the job of leader.
No additional roles were created and the number of executive members remained at eight. So to be clear, the changes did not bring any additional costs or payments. Both myself as Leader, Richard Clark as Deputy and Bob as an Executive Member also opted to take the old, lower pay rates, saving the council around £1000. 
Perhaps the most significant milestone to date was council’s unanimous decision to confirm its involvement in the £1.2 billion city deal. It is something that council leaders, including Bob, have spent considerable time negotiating.
 As leader I will be continuing this work, to maximise the benefits for our communities.