Cabinet members

The Cabinet carries out functions that are not the responsibility of any other part of the council.

After the Leader has been appointed, they appoint the Deputy Leader. In consultation, they also appoint Cabinet Members who are allocated certain areas of responsibility, known as a portfolio.

Assistant Cabinet Members may also be appointed by the Leader in consultation with the Deputy Leader. Their role is to support a Cabinet Member or Cabinet Members in carrying out their duties, but they have no decision making powers.

Portfolio responsibilities

Mike Bell - Leader of the Council

• Strategic partnerships including North Somerset Partnership, Bristol International Airport, Bristol Port Company, West of England Mayoral Combined Authority including devolution agenda (with the Deputy Leader), Western Gateway
• Finance and Data Insight
  • Revenue and capital budgets
  • Insurance and risk management
  • Capital programme including 
  • Major projects, including MetroWest, Banwell bypass, Winterstoke Road Bridge, A38 MRN
  • Business planning
  • Performance reporting
  • Data insight
• Communications
  • Consultation and engagement
  • Policy development
  • Local devolution programme
  • Community Strategy
• Customer Experience and Digital Services
  • ICT
  • Digital and customer services
  • Business support
  • Revenues and benefits
  • Welfare provision
  • Facilities management
• Procurement
• Legal and Governance
  • Democratic and electoral services
  • Legal services
• People Services
  • Human resources
  • Corporate development
  • Apprenticeships
  • Inclusion, equalities and diversity
  • Armed Forces Partnership

Catherine Gibbons - Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Families and Lifelong Learning

• West of England Mayoral Combined Authority including devolution agenda (with the Deputy Leader)
• Family wellbeing and front door
  • Family Help
  • UK resettlement and asylum seeking children
  • Front door including Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub 
• Family support and safeguarding
  • Children in Need
  • Child Protection
  • Legal Planning
  • Family Justice
• Corporate parenting
  • Children in care
  • Care leavers
  • Fostering Service
  • Reunification
• Safeguarding and quality assurance
  • Young People’s Voice
  • Quality assurance framework
  • Independent reviewing officers
  • Safeguarding Children Partnership
• Workforce development and academy
  • Social worker recruitment and retention
• Children with disabilities
  • Support and protection
• Participation and inclusion
  • Education welfare
  • Post 16 participation in education
  • Children out of school
• Strategic place planning
  • Schools capital projects
  • School admissions
• SEND services
  • SEND Local Area Partnership
• Skills and Lifelong Learning
• Youth justice and prevention
  • Youth justice service
  • Prevention service
  • Substance advice service
  • Young victim service
  • Junction 21 Mentoring
• Virtual School
• Education and early years funding
• Early Years provision and quality assurance
• Children’s Commissioning
• School improvement and relationships with academies
• Children and Young People’s Partnership Board

Annemieke Waite - Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

• Climate emergency and adaptation
  • Energy contracts
  • Retrofit strategy
  • Decarbonisation of council buildings and assets
  • Ecological emergency
  • Marine environment conservation
  • Flood risk management
  • Green infrastructure strategy
• Planning
  • Planning applications and appeals
  • Planning enforcement
  • Building control
  • Planning policy
  • CIL/S106 management
• Environmental services
  • Waste collections, recycling, minimisation
  • Commercial waste
  • Street cleaning
  • Seafront public conveniences
  • Abandoned vehicles

Jenna Ho Marris - Cabinet Member for Homes and Health

• Health improvement
  • Healthy early years (including maternal health), healthy schools and healthy workplaces
  • Physical activity
  • Mental health and wellbeing
  • Healthy Lifestyle Advisers
  • Food and nutrition
  • Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• Health and Care Public Health
  • Substance misuse services
  • Sexual health services
  • Health checks
  • Smokefree generation
  • Research and population health management
  • Integrated Care System
  • Locality Partnerships
• Health Protection
  • Assurance of local health protection capability and response within Health and Social Care system
• Housing
  • Housing strategy
  • Affordable Housing
  • Homelessness prevention
  • Home Choice and Lettings
  • Private Rented Sector
  • Registered social landlords liaison

Hannah Young - Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport

• Transport
  • Active and sustainable travel
  • Bus Service Improvement Plan
  • Community transport
  • Home to School Transport
  • Rail
  • Infrastructure delivery
  • Transport policy
• Highway Services
  • Highways maintenance
  • Highways contract management
  • Street lighting
  • Area officers
  • Network and traffic management
  • Highway asset management
• Highway Technical Services
  • Neighbourhood and active travel delivery teams
  • Highway structures
  • Traffic Regulation Orders

Roger Whitfield - Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services

• Social work
• Occupational therapy service
• Localities and hospital discharge
• Safeguarding and quality assurance
• Mental health
• Strategy and commissioning
• Partnerships and service development
• Care reforms
• Reablement, Technology Interventions Team
• Adult Social Care brokerage service
• Court of Protection
• Contracts team 
• Town and Parish Liaison

James Clayton - Cabinet Member for Safety in the Community

• Health Protection response 
• Food and commercial safety
• Trading standards
• Environmental protection
• Licensing
• Emergency planning
• Community Safety
  • CCTV
  • Safety of women and girls
  • Public Space Protection Orders
  • Liaison with police and fire services

Mark Canniford - Cabinet Member for Sustainable Places and Service Transformation

• Sustainable places
  • Economy
  • Heritage and design
  • Placemaking
  • Development of NSC-owned land for housing and employment
• Improving Weston-super-Mare programme including Birnbeck project and town centre strategy
• Property and asset management
  • Technical services
  • Development and asset management
• Civil parking enforcement and car parks
• Service transformation and value for money
  • Transformation/Project Management Office
  • Cross directorate role to support service transformation and challenge spending
    • Collaborative delivery
    • Commercial activity
    • Customer and digital
    • Demand management
    • Services and enablers
    • Smart assets

Mike Solomon - Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Open Spaces

• Culture strategy and key relationships with Arts Council England and Super Culture
• Parks and open spaces
• Management of seafront and parks activities, concessions and operations
  • The Tropicana
  • Marine Lakes
• Ranger Service
• Crematoria
• Landscaping and ecology
• Tree management
• Flood risk management operations
• Public Rights of Way
• Sports development
• Leisure and community services
  • Playhouse
  • Leisure Centres
  • Campus
  • Somerset Hall
  • Council owned community buildings
  • Libraries