One of the highlights of my calendar and something I look forward to each year is our Raising the Bar Awards, which launched in 2012. This annual awards ceremony was held at Wherstead Park, Ipswich, on Wednesday. These awards – I believe - recognise the true superheroes of Suffolk – teaching staff, support staff, educational leaders and most importantly young people who excel in education.

A trial scheme to tackle potholes swiftly has been so successful it is being rolled out across Suffolk.

The Suffolk Highways scheme, which started in Ipswich in October 2018, changes how potholes are categorised.

On 6 June 2019, over 100 attendees from local, regional and national businesses gathered in Lowestoft to hear how they could be involved in the supply chain for the Lake Lothing Third Crossing.

Earlier this year, at our full council meeting on 21 March, Suffolk County Council declared a Climate Emergency and only a matter of weeks later, MPs in Westminster approved a motion to declare an Environment and Climate Emergency on a national scale.

A new programme using council land to create much-needed homes and a plan to cut carbon emissions are among the priorities outlined by the Leader of Suffolk County Council on 23 May.

On 21 May, it was announced that Ofsted inspectors have awarded Children’s Services at Suffolk County Council the top grade of ‘Outstanding' following their visit in April 2019. Only eight other Local Authorities, out of 152, have been judged to be ‘Outstanding’ overall.

'Highways Community Self Help’ is designed to support and empower town and parish councils in Suffolk to carry out minor maintenance tasks in their area.

Suffolk, like many other local authorities, faces a large increase in demand for placements for a variety of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Suffolk’s SEND Sufficiency Plan (2018) identified that the number of children and young people with SEND will increase by 18% between 2017 and 2020. This compares to an overall growth in the school age population in Suffolk of 4%.

On 16 April 2019, Suffolk County Council reported that it had received 7,505 applications from parents indicating which primary school they would prefer their child to be educated at in Reception for this year.

With over 120 walks and events the 2019 Suffolk Walking Festival is shaping up to be to the most creative and ambitious to date. This year’s Festival, the 12th to date, launches on Saturday 11 May at West Stow Country Park.