My front-line role
I am the Liberal Democrat County Councillor for St Albans North division. The ‘Your Community’ section provides local service information, news, events, and contacts about the area.
My first and foremost responsibility is to the residents that I represent. The St Albans North Division is extremely diverse as it covers Batchwood Ward and Marshalswick South on St Albans City & District Council and as such I have the honour of representing people from all walks of life.
As is the case with every County Councillor, I have a locality budget of £10,000 a year to spend on community projects in the division. Follow the links for more details of the scheme and details of applications I have previously agreed and declined.
My County Council responsibilities
I am the Liberal Democrat lead on Overview & Scrutiny where I hold the position of Vice-Chairman on the Committee. This is an important role as it helps to ensure that the work of the council, partners and services are scrutinised in the interest of local residents.
I also sit on the Health Scrutiny Committee and the Audit Committee.
In the past I have been a member of the Shadow Cabinet and held roles such as the Opposition Spokesman for Adult Care Services and the opposition nominee on the Childrens’ Trust Partnership Board.
Roles on outside bodies
Locally I try to get involved on based on the needs of the organisations rather than on-going commitment simply because meetings already take up a large number of days and evenings. So for example in the past I have been supportive of groups such as St Albans Judo Club and The Pioneer which are in my division and taken part in litter picks and meetings.
I do however sit on the LINKS ESC Board (equivalent of a School governor) which provides support both for schools and individuals who have real educational needs.
In the past I have represented local residents on bodies such as Hertfordshire Police Authority where I was the lead member for St Albans and also the Local Government Group which campaigns nationally on local issues. Whilst there I was the Deputy Chairman for the Safer Communities Board and campaigned on a number of different issues.
Other activities have included taking part in the local government Next Generation Leadership Academy and other events.
Personal, professional and political details
Until recently I worked for the neighbouring authority, Central Bedfordshire Council in performance management and consultation, unfortunately my role was one of the ones made redundant as part of the austerity measures. Prior to this I worked for St Albans City & District Council as Community Safety Co-ordinator and Hertfordshire Police Authority where I was Communications Assistant.
I went to University College London where I completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Physical Sciences having studied an eclectic combination covering areas as diverse as Physics and Chemistry through to Archaeology and Management. Whilst there I was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the student union and shortly after graduating was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts as part of the International Year of Volunteering.
Outside of this I have been active in several international youth organisations and NGOs such as JEF (Young European Movement in the UK), LYMEC (European Liberal Youth) and IFLRY (International Federation of Liberal Youth) as well as a period on the British Youth Council. All of these are members of the European Youth Forum where I have been involved in issues as diverse as EU-Africa and EU-China relations.
I am also a District Councillor and Vice-Chairman Overview & Scrutiny (Internal Performance) on St Albans City & District Council where I represent the Western half of St Albans North, Batchwood Ward where I work alongside my colleague Cllr Amanda Archer. Of course I also work closely with councillors Melvyn Teare and Rod Perks on issues effecting Marshalswick South.
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