Happy New Year – Welcome to 2026 🎉
I was very busy in the lead-up to Christmas, so it was lovely to have a bit of a break over the festive period. We went away to spend some time with family over the New Year, and I am now back, fully rested and ready for an interesting year ahead.
I enjoyed all the Christmas events in December: the Anstey Christmas Gala, the Tractor Run, Leicester Animal Aid charity dog walk, the Mayor of Charnwood’s carol service, the carol singing in the Nook, and Nine Lessons and Carols by candlelight at St Mary’s Church, to name a few.
I hope you all managed to enjoy some of the events held across the villages in the run-up to Christmas. It was great to see all the effort many residents had put into decorating their homes.
Appointment Panel
Leicestershire County Council has a new Chief Executive, following the retirement of John Sinnott after 31 years in the post.
Over the past couple of months, I have been involved with the recruitment of the new Chief Executive. The politically balanced Appointment Panel read all the applications, long-listed and short-listed the applicants, and spent two days interviewing the short-listed applicants.
I was delighted that Jane Moore, the authority’s former Director of Children and Family Services, was officially appointed to the role at the meeting of full council on Wednesday, 3rd December.
I have worked with Jane for over seven years, when I was the Lead Member of the Children and Family Department, where we took the service from the Ofsted rating of “Requires Improvement” to “Outstanding.”
I look forward to working with Jane again as Leader of the Opposition at the County Council.
Budget Consultation
Residents and businesses are being invited to give their views on Leicestershire County Council’s initial budget proposals. Launched on 17th December 2025, the month-long consultation offers residents the chance to shape plans by completing a short questionnaire.
The four-year plan highlights opportunities to drive down costs and earmarks £131m extra for social care – 20% more than previous forecasts – to manage rising demand for support for vulnerable people.
These proposals come as this surge continues to push up costs and amid significant uncertainty around Government funding. Over the last 12 months, demand for children needing costly residential provision has grown by 28%.
Next year’s proposals show the extra income that would be raised by a 2.99% Council Tax rise, but the final level won’t be agreed until February, when the full extent of growth pressures across social care and the level of Government funding will be known.
The proposals also set out savings of £45m and a £456m capital pot, to pay for improving roads, providing social care accommodation, new school places needed to support new housing, and many more improvements.
Early ideas set out to deliver greater service efficiency include reducing agency staff, stepping up early help to prevent residents reaching a crisis point, and expanding a specialist team supporting people to regain independence.
To have your say, visit the webpage:
https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-spending/our-budget-2026-30
The consultation closes on 18th January 2026.
Drop and Collect Post Office - Woodhouse Eaves
The Post Office is introducing a new lighter-format Post Office branch service in Woodhouse Eaves.
This is the information provided by the Post Office for their customers:
Dear Customer,
We are pleased to let you know that, in collaboration with Payzone, we will be opening a new Post Office service in your area at Spar Stores (Blakemore), 1 Maplewell Road, Woodhouse Eaves, Loughborough, LE12 8RG, commencing on Thursday, 20th November 2025 at 13:00.
The service will be one of our Drop & Collect branches, which is one of our lighter, flexible branch formats developed to take advantage of the opportunities a vibrant and increasingly competitive parcels market offers.
The new Drop & Collect at Spar Stores (Blakemore) will offer Post Office services from a handheld device, providing convenient access for customers to bill payments and prepaid parcel collections and returns.
To maximise accessibility to these services that our customers are increasingly seeking, more complex services like personal and business banking will not be available at this branch.
A wider range of Post Office services are available from the nearby Quorn Post Office, 14 Station Road, Quorn, Loughborough, LE12 8BS, and Shelthorpe Post Office, 206 Park Road, Loughborough, LE11 2HJ. The latest available branch information can be found on our website:
www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder
More information on the application process is available here:
https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/lcc/job/6626
Lord-Lieutenant’s Young People Awards
The search is on for Leicestershire’s most inspiring young people as the Lord-Lieutenant launches his 2026 Awards, celebrating exceptional achievements across the city and county.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mike Kapur OBE CStJ, is inviting nominations for young people aged 13 to 19 who have shown remarkable courage, leadership, creativity, or dedication to helping others.
Family, friends, teachers, and community leaders are encouraged to nominate the outstanding young people they feel deserve recognition for their efforts and who make a real difference in their communities.
There are four award categories to choose from: Young Person of Courage, Young Volunteer, Young Leader, and Young Artist.
Nominations for the awards, which are sponsored by various local businesses and both Leicestershire County and Leicester City Councils, can be made by schools, voluntary organisations, parents, carers, other young people, or any individual.
The awards are open to all 13–19-year-olds living or attending full-time education in Leicester or Leicestershire.
The closing date for nominations is 13th February 2026. Visit the awards website for full details of the categories and information on how to ensure the nomination fully reflects the young person’s achievements:
https://www.leicestershirelieutenancy.org.uk/lord-lieutenants-award-young-people
Better Off Calculation Tool
I wanted to share this useful calculation tool to help those of you who are unsure if you are entitled to any support or benefits that you are not currently claiming.
You can use the tool without creating an account.
The link is here: www.betteroffcalculator.co.uk/login
If you have any issues or concerns, I’m here to help.
Deborah
