OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL LEADER RE-ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF SOUTH EAST REGIONAL PLANNING COMMITTEE

Councillor Keith Mitchell, Oxfordshire County Council Leader, was re-elected as Chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly’s Regional Planning Committee (RPC) in London yesterday.

Janet Keene of the South East Region Trades Union Congress (SERTUC) and Regional Assembly member was elected as Vice Chair of the RPC.

Chairman Mitchell has been a decisive and essential member in the planning debates over the past year. He is a Chartered Accountant who embarked upon a career in public service in the late 1980s. He has held numerous elected office roles in Oxfordshire County Council, Cherwell District Council and his local Parish Council. He is also involved in the Local Government Association and the County Council Network.

Janet Keene is a Negotiations Officer at the Public and Commercial Services Union and is the SERTUC Appointee to the Regional Assembly. Prior to this role, she has worked for twenty years in the Civil Service until 2001 which included working in the courts service, Customs and Excise as a VAT Officer. From 1995 until 2000, she was a Councillor for Bracknell Forest Borough Council.

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
2. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
3. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007