THE first Cabinet to lead Lancashire County Council has been confirmed at a meeting of the full council at County Hall, Preston.

The appointments to the Cabinet herald a new era at LCC where team work and focus on citizens and communities will be at the forefront.

The new council leader, County Coun Hazel Harding, said: "There are a great many challenges ahead for the County Council. I am confident this new team will meet the high expectations of the people of Lancashire.

"We provide important services to over 1.1 million Lancashire people so it is vital we deliver the best possible value to our residents.

"Our new structure has been designed to be open to public scrutiny and be more efficient when making important decisions."

The new Cabinet is:

Leader: Hazel Harding.

Deputy Leader: Doreen Pollitt.

Portfolio Holders:

Education & Young People: Alan Whittaker.

Social Service: Chris Cheetham.

Highways and Transportation: Nora Ward.

Communications, Information & Lifelong Learning: Niki Penney.

Policy & Best Value: Tony Martin.

Community & Regeneration: Brian Johnson.

Cross Cutting Issues: Ruth Henig.

A tenth Cabinet Member without Portfolio will be appointed.

Cabinet members will meet in public at least once a month. They will be responsible for setting policy and drawing up forward plans in accordance with the County Council's policies, ensuring the services and functions of the County Council are constantly reviewed and updated in accordance with Best Value principles, consider all Parliamentary Bills and Acts and make recommendations to ensure the Council complies with them, receive and act on reports from the various District Liaison Committees of the County Council.

There will also be four Scrutiny Committees and four Best Value Committees, covering each directorate of the County Council. The role of these committees is to review the decisions taken by the Cabinet, consider the forward plans prepared by the Cabinet, conduct general policy reviews and to make reports and recommendations to the full County Council of their

findings.

The chairmen are:

Scrutiny - Resources: Terry Burns; Environment: George Slynn;

Social Services: Bob Wilkinson; Education and Cultural Services: Colin Waite.

Best Value - Resources: Graham Davies; Environment: Wendy Dwyer; Social Services: Vali Patel; Education and Cultural Services: Vincent Murphy.

Both Cabinet and scrutiny meetings will be open to the public. The changes are in line with government policy aimed at modernising local government and making it more relevant to communities.

The new cabinet system is being run as a pilot scheme and will be monitored closely to ensure the people of Lancashire get the best administration possible and that the principles of best value are central to the Council's policies.

The first meeting of the Cabinet will be on the July 12 at County Hall.