The inaugural meeting of the Shadow Authority for Cumberland Council took place this morning at the Civic Centre in Carlisle.
The council will act as a Shadow Authority for the next 11 months as it oversees the planning and preparation for the new authority.
On April 1, 2023 - Vesting Day - the new council will officially take over responsibility for all services and the existing councils in Cumbria will be dissolved.
Until Vesting Day the existing councils will continue to operate and deliver all current services.
Cumberland Council will cover the area currently served by Carlisle City Council, Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council.
It has 46 councillors representing 46 wards.
At the meeting, the following people were appointed:
- Leader - Cllr Mark Fryer.
- Deputy Leaders - Cllr Lisa Brown (Statutory) and Cllr Emma Williamson (Non-Statutory).
Cllr Mark Fryer has twice been a councillor for Allerdale Borough Council. The first time was between 1995 and 2003 and then for a further eight years between 2011 and 2019. He has been both Leader and Deputy Leader on the council. On 5 May 2022, he was elected to the Cumberland Council seat of St John’s and Great Clifton ward in Workington.
Cllr Lisa Brown is currently a Carlisle City Councillor. She was first elected on to the City Council in September 2018 and has represented Denton Holme and Morton South ward since May 2019. She was elected to Cumberland Council’s Currock ward in the recent local elections.
Since 2017 Cllr Emma Williamson has been a Cumbria County Council councillor for Kells and Sandwith ward and was elected to represent the same ward in the recent Cumberland Council elections.
Speaking on his appointment, Cllr Fryer, said: “It’s a real honour to be Leader of the new Shadow Authority for Cumberland Council and to get the opportunity to create a fantastic new council, which will build upon the work done by the district and county councils over the years, and make improvements for the better.
“The next 10 months or so will be about setting our priorities and establishing the new authority so that it can provide the best set of services for our communities to ensure all our residents will be getting the help and support they need from 1 April 2023.
“Today has also been about creating my Shadow Executive. This is a great team that I have with me, and we’ll work hard to make sure we can hit the ground running from day one. This is an opportunity to reset. From April next year there will be no more Allerdale, Carlisle, Copeland and Cumbria county councils.
“Our focus is the people of Cumberland. We must do things differently. If you do what you've always done you will get what you've always got.”
The Shadow Executive is:
- Cllr Mark Fryer - Strategic overview, external relations, economy & regeneration and community devolution.
- Cllr Lisa Brown - Corporate Governance and Legal.
- Cllr Emma Williamson - Children’s and Families.
- Cllr Elaine Lynch - Education, skills and training.
- Cllr Denise Rollo - Environment, waste and highways.
- Cllr Bob Kelly - Corporate Plan, strategy, policy and performance.
- Cllr Chris Southward - Organisational Development, HR, ICT, digital and customer.
- Cllr Barbara Cannon - Corporate finance and assets.
- Cllr Martin Harris - Adults’.
- Cllr Anne Quilter - Community services including leisure, parks, museums and libraries.
A Chair (Cllr Carni McCarron-Holmes) and Vice Chair (Cllr Abdul Harid) for the Shadow Authority for Cumberland Council meetings were also appointed.
A number of appointments to interim statutory officer roles for the Shadow Authority for Cumberland Council were also confirmed:
- Interim Head of Paid Service - Andrew Seekings.
- Interim Monitoring Officer - Catherine Parkinson.
- Interim Chief Finance Officer - Pam Duke.