The Mayor invited all those present to reflect on and remember Thurrock’s fallen of World War One.

The Mayor made the following announcements:

The Mayor congratulated the newly elected MPs, Jackie Doyle-Price and Stephen Metcalfe following the General Election on the 8 June 2017.

A service was held at St Peter and St Paul’s Church to commemorate the first year anniversary of the murder of Jo Cox, MP.

That Stephen Cottrell, Church of England Bishop, visited the borough last week visiting residents and attending a service at St Peter and St Paul’s Church.

The Mayor invited all Officers and Members to a Civic and Thanksgiving Service on Sunday 2 July 2017 at 4.00pm at St Peter and St Paul's Church. This would be the first Thanksgiving Service for a number of years.

The Mayor was pleased to announce that his first event as Mayor was to commend the numerous volunteers who give their time to help others in Thurrock.

It was the Mayor’s intention to improve Thurrock's social media presence with a Facebook page dedicated to the Mayor of Thurrock being set up to promote #proudofthurrock whenever Thurrock tweeted or posted updates on social media.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Gledhill, updated Members on the following:

Councillor Gledhill stated that his thoughts were with those who had lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower and he reassured Thurrock residents who lived in high rise blocks that they were safe. Thurrock Council had 15 high rise tower blocks, 981 flats in all the properties, located in Chadwell, Grays, Blackshots and Tilbury with all properties managed in-house by Council staff. The Council worked in partnership with Essex County Fire and Rescue Service and in accordance with their guidance; the ‘stay put’ policy would be the safest procedure in the event of a fire in high rise accommodation.

Councillor Gledhill confirmed that all15 blocks had a central fire alarm system and there were smoke detectors on each floor linked to fire doors and that the system was tested every day by Housing staff. There were heat detectors and sprinkler systems located in bin rooms with each flat having heat detectors in the kitchen and smoke detectors in the main hallway.

Councillor Gledhill confirmed that 12 of the 15 high rises had an insulated cladding system which had been installed over ten years ago. The materials used were not the same as the materials used at Grenfell Tower and the Council do not have any materials in the cladding which had been identified as possibly unsafe. The materials have the highest possible rating for fire resistance (Type O).

Work continued with the Fire Service to review all the fire risk assessments and those samples of cladding would be sent for testing for additional reassurance.

Councillor Gledhill stated that the Housing Team have been in close contact with tenants to let them know what steps were being taken. Councillor Gledhill also attended a public meeting that morning with the Fire Service to reassure tenants.

Parking Enforcements will continue to be issued where vehicles are blocking service bays and emergency exits.

There were1490 Fixed Penalty Notices for littering issued since the beginning of December 2016 with 21 successful prosecutions after failure to pay. A four year cost neutral contract to expand the powers of environment enforcement from the 1 July 2016 will mean that there will no longer be discounts for early payment on Fixed Penalty Notices, the minimum age a Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued will drop to 16 and there will be an increase in the value of tickets.

That 2013 potholes had been filled since April this year and work continued to make improvements through the government’s National Productivity Investment Fund with £481,000 being awarded to Thurrock to resurface roads across the borough.

A Waste Vehicle Procurement process was underway to spend £5.2 million upgrading the Council’s fleet for the first time in 8 years. With over 40,000 bins collected each day. Councillor Gledhill thanked the team who went above and beyond last week in the extremely hot weather.

Many Members joined together on Monday to raise the Armed Forces Day Flag and the armed forces should be honoured every day as they serve our great nation and help keep us all safe. Councillor Gledhill had tasked Officers to organise a larger event next year and make it something that the Council would be proud of.

That all 34 Care Home provisions in Thurrock had been rated as good or better by the Care Quality Commission. Looking after nearly 740 local residents to which had been inspected by the Health Watchdog and graded on whether they were safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Councillor Gledhill thanked Councillor S Little and her team.

The Leader encouraged Members and residents to apply for the Community Environmental Development Fund that was launched this week, with more than £300,000 being made available to help local groups fund projects in their area. The closing date for application would be the 20 August.