Published: Monday, 20th May 2019

The Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Cllr Danny Thorpe, announced changes to his Cabinet at the Annual General Meeting.

Deputy Leader, Cllr David Gardner, as well as deputising for the Leader, will take on a new Public Realm portfolio. He will be responsible for ensuring the borough’s streets and public spaces are well designed, attractive, clean and well maintained. He will also lead the Council’s efforts to increase its recycling rate and reduce the amount of plastic and other waste sent to landfill or incinerated.

Cllr Jackie Smith will now lead on Children’s Services, a portfolio she previously held. She will also continue to oversee community safety.

Cllr Danny Thorpe, Leader of the Council said:

“Well designed, clean streets improve people’s sense of civic pride and make people want to spend more time in our high streets, which is good for businesses. We will work with all of our residents and communities to create cleaner streets, greener parks and safer, welcoming places.

Cllr Smith oversaw a dramatic improvement in the borough’s schools during her time as Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, so I am confident that she will be able to work with all of our schools to  drive up standards.”

Cllr David Gardner said:

“All Greenwich’s communities want to take real pride in the public realm – to ensure that sense of place and identity.  We want to work with local people and groups to ensure we develop streets and places that encourage people to talk to their neighbours, play, enjoy the greenery, walk and cycle . Street cleansing and recycling are universal services that every resident sees and benefits from and I look forward to working with residents to explore how we can increase our recycling rates event further. I want all of us to  work together to make a cleaner, greener Greenwich for all our residents.”

Cllr Jackie Smith said:

“Reducing youth crime is a massive priority for me and for many of our residents. As Cabinet Member for both community safety and children’s services, I will oversee our new exploitation and serious youth violence reduction unit. I am also absolutely committed to ensuring our young people get the best possible start in life, so I will work with all our schools to maintain and improve the quality of education they provide.”

See a full list of Cabinet portfolios.