Cheshire East Leader and Cabinet members nominated for awards

by Lisa Reeves

Sunday 15^th February 2015

Sun 15^th Feb 2015

Three leading members of Cheshire East Council have been nominated for national local government awards.

Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of the Council, is in the running for the Leader of the Year prize in the 2015 C'llr Achievement Awards.

Councillor Don Stockton, Cabinet member in charge of housing and jobs, is a contender in the Neighbourhood Planner of the Year category and Councillor Rachel Bailey, Cabinet member in charge of safeguarding children and adults, is on the shortlist for the Partnership Achievement of the Year award.

The C'llr Awards are organised by the Local Government Information Unit, a think tank which publishes C'llr magazine. It is backed by CCLA, a fund manager for charities, faith organisations, and local authorities.

The aim of the awards is to 'honour the hard work of councillors from across the country that often goes unrecognised'.

Councillor Jones said: "Being in politics is not about personal awards, it's about achieving things for residents.

"The real reward for me is to serve the people of Cheshire East by bringing them more jobs, better education and longer, healthier lives in the North West's best place to live.

"People should not become councillors for personal gratification."

The winners, selected by a group of judges made up of local government experts and councillors, will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Monday 2nd March.

Photo: Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Cheshire East Council.

Tags:: Cheshire East Council

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Nick Jones

Sunday 15^th February 2015 at 10:40 am

Will MJ Tweet the result ?

Jon Williams

Monday 16^th February 2015 at 9:45 am

"The winners, selected by a group of judges made up of local government experts and councillors"

Must be an April fools joke !

Pete Taylor

Monday 16^th February 2015 at 10:14 am

Nominated by whom?

Oliver Romain

Monday 16^th February 2015 at 12:20 pm

One of the criteria for winning is 'commitment to accountability and scrutiny'. Oh dear.

DELETED ACCOUNT

Monday 16^th February 2015 at 3:15 pm

So one from the North of the borough, one from central section and one from south of borough nominated. Chance? The Council then has to pay a great deal of money for these three to attend the event. If they genuinely believed in "commitment, accountability and scrutiny" they should have refused to be nominated, and refused to attend.

Monday 16^th February 2015 at 6:15 pm

MJ: "Being in politics is not about personal awards, it's about achieving things for residents....
Well there's plenty to choose from;
LYME GREEN, ADLINGTON ROAD, THE LOCAL PLAN, lLLEGAL TRAVELLER'S SITES ,DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST, HEYES LANE ALLOTMENT to-CAR PARK, ALDERLEY PARK,THE XMAS MESSAGE,DISPLACEMENT PARKING (YELLOW LINE FEVER)
To name but a few....... and the good work of keeping council tax down for a further consecutive year is commendable, but how much has all the above cost ?
The aim of the awards is to 'honour the hard work of councillors....'
Well that would seem to exclude quite a few here surely ?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ?

Robert Kemp

Tuesday 17^th February 2015 at 8:52 am

There are times when truth is stranger than fiction! Councillors giving awards to Councillors, what a waste of time and money.

Tress Attwell

Wednesday 18^th February 2015 at 12:20 pm

Unbelievable. Yes I agree it's fanastsy even for April 1st.

Lynne Prescott

Wednesday 18^th February 2015 at 12:25 pm

This beggars belief! Having lived through the Lyme Green and Local Plan fiascos, I am entirely flabbergasted by the idea that this man derives any recognition for his 'leadership' at all! Who makes these nominations? It's obviously not any of his Cheshire East constituents, who find Michael Jones consistently ignoring their views in order to plough on with a series of ill-considered schemes.

Wednesday 18^th February 2015 at 12:44 pm

If anyone feels similarly bewildered and incensed by this news , why not try an email to .? I suggested they might want to speak to the Planning Inspector overseeing our aborted Local Plan examination before making a final judgement on this nomination.

Richard Slater

Wednesday 18^th February 2015 at 12:45 pm

Disgusting. The Man and his council have again frittered away our council tax.

Wednesday 18^th February 2015 at 1:29 pm

Richard - I have to disagree. They have not "frittered away" our council tax, -that implies that they have simply been "foolish". Rather, they took planned, political decisions because they did not actually care about the consequences.

Jane Middleton

Wednesday 18^th February 2015 at 4:46 pm

The only award Councillor Jones should be running for is "The destroyer of Wilmslow". He will win hands down.

Thursday 19^th February 2015 at 11:02 am

@Lynne Prescott, I have sent a message as you suggested and would urge anyone with concerns to do similarly.

It seems that Cllr Jones and his colleagues have now been short-listed:

http://www.lgiu.org.uk/home/cllrawards/

Unbelievable really, is it not?

Thursday 19^th February 2015 at 1:16 pm

As far as I can see everyone put forward from all areas is shortlisted for something! Jones under Leader, Stockton under "Partnership" - (but then again her responsibilities are shared services for the most part with Cheshire West and of necessity involve liason with police and social services) and Stockton under "Neighbourhood" - which is extremely difficult to understand since the failed Local Plan has led to the destruction of many "neighbourhoods". Either way three people and "partners" plus probably four other "worthies" from Cheshire East will be paid for to attend a nice little jolly.

Sunday 22^nd February 2015 at 8:47 pm

If you want to influence the outcome email the judges direct with your concerns, the organisers may not inform the judges of the complaints.

Lisa Reeves

Friday 27^th February 2015 at 12:47 pm

Cllr Michael Jones announced at a meeting of the Full Council yesterday that he would be withdrawing his nomination for a national local government award.

Friday 27^th February 2015 at 1:09 pm

Did he fall, or was he pushed?

Sunday 15^th March 2015 at 3:52 pm

Or did he know that the chief executive was about to be revealed as his nominator?