One of the most important discussions I had in December was regarding the economic situation inNorth Wales. I was asked to chair the first Economic Management Board inNorth Wales. The board consists of lead members and senior officers and the intention is to develop a framework for working across the region in a more strategic way. There is a lot of evidence to support this approach – the most concerning one being that North Wales has only 74.4% GVA (Gross Added Value) for Wales, which is concerning. Apart from developing a framework, the focus will be inward investment, infrastructure, enterprise, skills and youth unemployment.

There has been a focus over the last 12 months to develop plans for the major towns in Denbighshire. I am pleased that the first plan was presented to Cabinet for Denbigh and was well received. I am hoping these plans will provide confidence to the private sector, make it easier to draw down funding for projects and allow our services to work in a more co-ordinated way.

I presented a paper on the Corporate Plan, which showed continual improvement in our performance. It is also pleasing that as we set our budget, money is being allocated to our priorities which are beginning to make a difference, particularly to our highways.

We are presently setting our budget for next years and I would welcome your suggestions on what services should be protected and where we should be reining back spending through the Big Debate.

And finally…

I was honoured to receive an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List and feel this is for the improvements in Denbighshire that have happened due to the hard work and dedication of staff and councillors who genuinely want to provide the best services for our residents.

There are consequences to this new profile, the first is that my wife will expect a new outfit for the visit to the palace, and also I have become a question at a local quiz – fame at last!

The Chief Executive and myself are in the process of making business associations across the county. These are proving to be a very worthwhile exercise as we learn about concerns of the private sector and to understand what the role of the local authority could be.

It was pleasing to welcome the First Minister to the opening of the Nant y Mor Extra Care Scheme in Prestatyn. These are fantastic facilities which will meet the needs of our ageing population.

I also went on my first foreign trip as Leader of Denbighshire and visited the European Parliament inBrusselswhere I met four MEPs. The aim of the visit was to understand the opportunities and processes for drawing down funding for projects in Denbighshire. This proved really useful as our capital allocation from the Welsh Government has been reduced by 25%, meaning we will have to be far more innovative in how future projects are funded.

The budget process has started with a series of Service Performance Challenges, which enable us to identify potential savings within every department within the authority. Two of these were joint ones with Conwy; one with highways and the other with planning and public protection. As part of the consultation regarding the highways restructure, a joint council was held with Conwy, which was well attended.

As part of the budget setting process, we would also like to hear from members of the public as part of the Big Debate, where we are asking people to let us know where they think we should be protecting services and where we should be reining in spending. Details can be found on the DCC website or you can get involved on Facebook at Denbighshire’s Big Debate.

I was pleased to see that all councillors in Denbighshire agreed to the recommendation to formally adopt the Charter between Denbighshire and our town and community councils. This shows a commitment to work closer with elected members at grass root level and is a continuation of the process of becoming closer to our communities.

It was also good at Cabinet to see the Rhyl Going Forward Delivery Plan being approved. The plan summarises the proposed projects that will start the regeneration of Rhyl in a co-ordinated way.

And finally, I mentioned that it has been a month of celebration as the authority held its second Excellence Denbighshire Awards at the Scala in Prestatyn. This is where staff are recognised for their good work. The commitment and dedication was clear to see and I thank the staff for their work in delivering services in Denbighshire.

Also, at the farm, I’m celebrating having five new calves within two weeks. Unfortunately, they all decided to be born between midnight and 5am, which has led to some sleepless nights!!

Lastly, I would just like to wish you all a very, merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

It is important to meet staff and celebrate the progress that Denbighshire is making, particularly with reference to being the ‘highest performing council’ inWales for two years running, but it is also important for staff to raise issues that are important to them. I have put much emphasis on having good working relationships between staff and councillors, and this has been one of the main ingredients for why/how DCC has moved forward.

It is also important, in the present climate, that the private sector is listened to. It is good to have a dialogue and already some important issues have been raised, ie the promotion of towns in the build up to Christmas.

I was pleased to meet with staff at the ‘Customer Service Week’ and I visited staff at the ‘First Contact Team’ in Rhyl. I was very impressed as to how they dealt with difficult and complex issues and I could see that this service is already working close to the community. One aspect of our aim to bring the Council closer to its communities which has not worked as well as usual in some parts, are the Community Forums, as attendance has been very low and we will need to review this.

I recently attended a meeting regarding the extension of Llangollen Railway which had been organised by Corwen Councillor, Huw Jones. It was good to see politicians from Westminster and the assembly present and a good debate was had. It is clear that there is a financial shortfall to complete the project but hopefully through the joint commitment shown, the project will be on track!

A workshop had been arranged for Conwy and Denbighshire Councillors to input into the new highway structure. It was good to meet councillors from Conwy and it was clear that they shared the same concerns as us, as to not only maintaining but improving the service in the two counties.

Finally, my wife and I were looking forward to an extra hour’s sleep this Sunday (changing the clocks) as we usually get up at 4.30am every day, however it was not to be. We were awoken by cattle mooing on the yard. My neighbour’s cattle had broken through the fence and were grazing the lawn at 5am (old time). Instead of phoning our neighbours we moved them ourselves and got back to the house at around 6.30am. Typical!

The final decisions by Cabinet were led by the educational arguments as opposed to impact on the community and the discussion proved to be well informed as all eventualities were considered. Local Government is in an impossible position as the Welsh Government expects us to manage surplus places (the definition of a small school is under 80) and the communities want to defend their schools. Some decisions will therefore be unpopular, but the focus at all times must be to provide stable and sustainable education for our pupils. I have to say it is disappointing that some of our AMs comment against the authority even though they know that these reviews have to happen.

As Chair of the North Wales Regional Board, I opened the workshop on collaboration in North Wales, which was well attended, and we discussed the challenges that this agenda brings. It is important that we are familiar with these as all local authorities inWales will be signing up to the Compact with the Welsh Government by the end of the year.

I attended Prestatyn Town Council to discuss the impending Charter with town and county councils. It proved to be an interesting debate. The Charter will lead to an improved level of engagement and bring the authority closer to the councils in the decision making processes.

I also attended the Rhyl Town Council to discuss the Rhyl Going Forward documents. Again, it proved to be a good debate. It is important that all key stakeholders are committed to this plan, as the challenges in Rhyl are vast and will only be overcome if there is effective and committed partnership working.

We have been informed by the Welsh Local Government Data Unit that Denbighshire has, for the second year running, been ranked as the highest performing council inWales. This is particularly pleasing as officers and councillors have worked extremely hard to improve services for our residents despite difficult financial circumstances. I have taken the opportunity, on staff roadshows, to congratulate staff and thank them – but with a note of caution, that there is no room for complacency.

I recently chaired a tourism forum in Twm o’r Nant Theatre in Denbigh. This proved to be a forward thinking forum with emphasis on destination managment and I have already set up a meeting with Dewi Davies, North Wales Tourism, to progress this issue.

And finally – it seems that it is back to the old routine - my daughter has returned to college, my son is back in school and I am trying to balance council work with farming. This in fact, did come to a head this week as my mobile fell out of my top pocket into a bucket of water and ceased to work. Peace at last (but not for long!)

Before the recess, I attended the Llangollen International Eisteddfod. It is an event that DCC is pleased to support. As I walked around the site I was astounded as the amount of volunteers that work behind the scenes without which there would be no eisteddfod.

There was a very busy agenda at cabinet with discussions around some very important issues. We have within DCC a ‘people and places board work programme’ this board focuses on adapting service delivery to address demographic changes, and targeting resources to where most needed, this is a massive challenge but is very much the way the authority must be working in the future.

There was also a report on the performance of the council which shows that 65% of our performance indicators are in the top quartile when compared with the rest ofWales. This is extremely positive and shows our commitment to be a high performing council. It also shows that our processes and systems are robust and working well.

During July, I attended some key meetings in relation to partnership working.  On the Conwy –DCC collaboration programme board, we received presentations on a) Integration of Conwy and DCC Highways and Infrastructure department and b) the planned integration management structure of planning and regulatory services for both authorities, I am pleased to say, that good progress is being made on both.

I also attended the partnership council forWales meeting in Builth Wells. These are meetings between various ministers and ten councillors from across Wales and have not proved to be very effective. I was therefore pleased that the minister for local government announced that he was changing the format to focus more on the compact that will be an agreement between service providers and Welsh government.

The Regional Board forNorth Wales also met in July. This is represented by six North Wales authorities; Health, Police, Ambulance and Fire Service.

Following the assembly elections we had invited the minister Carl Seargent to the board to discuss some key projects and discuss the implications of signing up to a compact. We are concerned about losing momentum that we have created in North Wales to provide services in a more effective manner, however, I do believe thatNorth Walesis well placed to commit to major elements of the Simpson Report, which will be a key element of the compact.

Finally, I have designed a new lawn in front of the house which has been growing very effectively, I therefore invested in a new lawn mower…..it seems however, that I should have refrained from doing so, as the sheep have found it and are doing a good job all on their own!

These allow councillors and officers to measure the effectiveness of the service, review the strategic delivery, monitor the financial pressures and discuss future efficiencies. These are proving to be very effective meetings and allow the level of accountability to be a high consideration as we aim to move Denbighshire forward.

There was a big emphasis on finance at Cabinet with the final outturn for 2010/11 showing a positive state. While the emphasis has always been to keep a low council tax increase, it is pleasing to see that our priorities are clearly funded and that an allocation has been put to our communities through the councillor-led Area Member Groups – this is subject to approval by Full Council. It is also pleasing to see a list of works intended for highway improvements.

We also discussed the Medium Term Financial Plan 2011- 14. It is important that we look beyond one year when making these decisions and it is clear we are facing challenging times. It is also important that we share as much information as possible with key stake holders when making these decisions.

The Cabinet and CET (Corporate Executive Team) have highlighted the issue of sickness absence for the term of this council and it is pleasing to see the trend for most services is reducing in number of days lost. It is important to understand the reasons behind the levels of sickness absence in order that we can provide support to officers. A good debate was had at Cabinet.

I attended the WLGA conference and listened with interest Welsh Government leaders (or their representatives) and Minister, Carl Sergeant. There was much emphasis on joint working and collaboration and I believe Denbighshire is well placed to advance this way of working and will be taking an active part in the development of the compact (similar to a memorandum of understanding) between local government and the Welsh Government.

It has been a month where I have enjoyed attending some celebratory events. I was very proud to welcome the soldiers of the Royal Welshm, who were granted the Freedom of Denbighshire. It was a great occasion and the people of Denbighshire turned out in force and were able, in a small way, to show their gratitude to the men and women for their eminent service to the country.

I also attended the awards ceremony for students at Llysfasi college and it was good to see the commitment that principal, David Jones, has for the college and through the merger with Deeside it will go from strength to strength.

I was also pleased to attend the induction of the Reverend Carter atLlanelidanChurch. It was a pleasant service and it was good to see so many dignitaries in the village.  I look forward to working with Richard in the future.

Finally, this has been a busy period on the farm with silage making and shearing being high on the agenda, I have decided this year not to do the shearing myself, I fear this is a sign of old age, and have left this to the younger generation!