Last Wednesday was Bury’s ‘Annual Meeting’, the yearly meeting which follows the local elections in May.

The meeting is in two parts, a ‘business’ Annual Meeting, and a largely ceremonial ‘Mayor Making’ second part.

Because there was only a slight change in the composition of the Council this year the Annual Meeting didn’t many significant changes:
– Labour will be running the Council, with a Labour Leader and Cabinet with no changes.
– Council confirmed the appointment of Geoff Little as Chief Executive, although the recruitment had been done by an interview panel, the appointment must be ratified by full Council.
– Appointments were made to the Council’s committees and working groups. This year the Liberal Democrat group have been asked to chair the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which will be undertaken by Councillor Mary D’Albert.
– Councillor Tim Pickstone has been re-elected as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Steve Wright will serve as Deputy Group Leader.
– Tim Pickstone has also been re-appointed to one of the Greater Manchester Scrutiny Committees which looks at the work of the Mayor and Combined Authority. Steve Wright has been appointed to the Board of Six Town Housing.
– In the second part of the meeting Councillor Jane Black (Labour) was appointed as Mayor for 2018-19. The previous Mayor, Councillor Dorothy Gunther (Conservative) will serve as Deputy Mayor.