Agenda item - Mayor's Communications.

46.1         The Mayor noted that today marked 6-months’ since the Grenfell disaster, and stated that she wished to take a moment for all those present as a Council to reflect on that and to say that our thoughts remain with all those affected by that tragic event.

46.2         The Mayor thanked the Council and stated that school travel officers working in the Transport Projects team had won the ‘Excellence in Walking’ award at the National Sustainable Travel Awards 2017.  Sher noted that the winners were announced at the Modeshift National Annual Convention in November.  These awards recognised and rewarded Modeshift Members for schemes, projects or other activities that supported and encouraged active and sustainable travel.  The winning projects highlighted best practice, showed innovation and were inspirational.

The ‘Excellence in Walking’ award was won by the team for their ‘Walking Week for Early Years’ scheme.  The campaign encourages families and staff to walk, scoot, and cycle to their nurseries and early years settings.  If families needed to drive, they were encouraged to park away from the setting and walk at least the last 5 minutes.

The scheme first took place across the city in October 2015.  It has now become ‘Walking and Wheeling Week’ and ran twice a year in May and October, alongside ‘Walk to School’ week.  The school travel officers support the early year’s settings with the campaign by providing resources and a pack of ideas on how they can participate. About 50 settings take part each May and October.  This simple and cost-effective campaign reaches out to around 5000 families across the city twice a year, and allows settings to participate in their own imaginative ways, such as having travel themed healthy snacks, and having a ‘bling your wellies’ day where children decorate their wellies and walk to nursery in their decorated wellies!

46.3         The Mayor then stated that she had been made aware of some changes to the agenda: 

46.3.1     Firstly, Councillor Penn was unable to be at today’s meeting because of illness and had therefore asked that her Notice Motion, Item 59 (2) on Mental Health be deferred to the next meeting, which she had agreed to.

46.3.2     Secondly, Councillor Knight had informed her that she no longer needed to ask an oral question, listed as Item 54(2) in the agenda.

46.3.3     The Mayor stated that there was an error in the printing of Item 59(7), Brighton and Hove and Brexit, where the wrong supporting information had been transposed from Item 59(2).  She noted that a revised version of the Notice of Motion had been included in the addendum papers on page 33.

46.4         Finally, the Mayor thanked everyone who had joined her at the Mayor’s Christmas reception at the Royal Pavilion on Tuesday evening and noted that in keeping with the Christmas spirit, members of the Democratic Services team as part of their volunteering joined Councillors Ann and Ken Norman on the Martlet’s Santa Bus last Friday and raised a total of £737 pounds.