New Mayor and committee system for Worcester City Council

Worcester's new Mayor has taken up residence in the Parlour at the Guildhall with outgoing Mayor, Councillor Paul Denham, offering up his robes to Cllr Steve Mackay, who was voted in at last night’s Annual Council meeting. 

The meeting also saw Labour’s Cllr Adrian Gregson voted in as Leader of the Council, with the Conservatives’ Cllr Marc Bayliss appointed Deputy Leader.

The Annual Council marked the start of the Council’s new Committee system, replacing the previous Cabinet. Under the new system, members of all parties having a greater say in decisions. The Chair and Vice-Chair of each committee – elected at last night’s meeting – is from a different party, reflecting the political balance of the Council.

Cllr Jabba Riaz was voted in as Deputy Mayor.

The new Mayor, Cllr Steve Mackay, said: “It is a great honour to be elected as the Mayor of Worcester and to follow in the footsteps of so many memorable holders of the chain of office. I will be working hard promoting Worcester and my theme for the year of valuing volunteers.”

The new Committees:

Policy & Resources Committee

Chair: Cllr Louis Stephen (Green)

Vice-chair: Cllr Marc Bayliss (Conservative)

Vice-chair: Cllr Adrian Gregson (Labour)

Communities Committee

Chair: Cllr Mike Johnson (Conservative)

Vice-chair: Cllr Lynn Denham (Labour)

Environment Committee

Chair: Cllr Joy Squires (Labour)

Vice-chair: Cllr Alan Feeney (Conservative)

Place and Economic Development Sub-committee

Chair: Cllr Lucy Hodgson (Conservative)

Vice-chair: Cllr Geoff Williams (Labour)

Income Generation Sub-committee

Chair: Cllr Paul Denham (Labour)

Vice-chair: Cllr Roger Knight (Conservative)

Personnel and General Purposes Sub-committee

Chair: Cllr Louis Stephen (Green)

Vice-chair: Cllr Marc Bayliss (Conservative)

Vice-chair: Cllr Adrian Gregson (Labour)

Planning

Chair: Cllr Chris Mitchell (Conservative)

Vice-chair: Cllr Geoff Williams (Labour)

Licensing and Environmental Health Committee

Chair: Cllr Simon Cronin (Labour)

Vice-chair: Cllr Allah Ditta (Conservative)

Audit and Governance Committee

Chair: Cllr Alan Amos (Conservative)

Vice-chair: Cllr Pat Agar (Labour)

Standards Committee

Chair: Cllr Jo Hodges (Labour)

Vice-chair: Cllr Gareth Jones (Conservative)