Mary Reid

I have been busy for the last three days, but not out and about in the usual way. Internal meetings and a ward event have taken up some of my time.

I had an e-democracy board meeting yesterday in Lichfield and rather rashly decided to drive there and back. In fact, it did mean that I arrived cool - the car's aircon beating a cross-London Tube journey any day. But my back has been complaining all day today, as it had not fully recovered from the problems of a couple of weeks ago.

This evening we held a reception in honour of the e2e4e team, who have raised over £11,000 for earthquake relief in Pakistan. 

Some of the riders - thanks to Shelia Griffin for the photo

That was followed by Full Council. Although I have chaired Council before this was the first full business meeting, and I was expecting debates on a number of items.  Most Council committees are relatively informal, and the general public can contribute to the discussion. Full Council is the only opportunity for all 48 councillors to meet and debate, so the procedures are pretty formal, and the public can only contribute if they bring a petition or delegation. I was slightly nervous about conducting such a formal meeting, knowing that I was being scrutinised by a number of very experienced councillors, but apart from one small error it seemed to go smoothly.

Full Council feels more like a parliamentary debate than a committee, and I'm always fascinated to see how personalities are revealed, especially when people are talking on issues that they are passionate about.

The press was particularly interested in the debate about the funding of the fitout of Kingston Theatre, and this covered a lot of ground - there was passion but it was tempered by rational explanation. The Council agreed to provide the capital if necessary, although talks with a bank about a low-interest loan are currently underway. The final decision will be made at Executive next week.