Robert Francis remains Chairman of Scilly's Council
Robert Francis has been re-elected as Chairman of the Isles of Scilly's Council for the next year.
Cllr Francis, who stood for the position unopposed, received ten votes at last night's Annual Council meeting. Four Members (Cllrs Dan Marcus, Avril Mumford, Steve Sims and Jonathan Smith) chose not to vote.
After being sworn in, Cllr Francis said that the Authority is coming out of a "difficult" period.
He said: "We have had a very difficult and challenging year. However, I believe we are know out the other side and we can move our Council forward in a positive manner. I remain committed along with our Vice-Chair, committee chairmen and Lead Members to help our Officers deliver on our corporate plan and work plan for the year 2019/2020...
"I am quite sure that we will now make good headway this year with our outstanding issues, not least our ongoing negotiations around funding with Ministers, which is very important prior to their respective visits this summer, [along] with housing, transport and our very big health and social care integration project that is ahead of us."
Cllr Fran Grottick was re-elected as Vice-Chair, also unopposed. Cllrs Marcus, Mumford, Sims and Smith again declined to vote.
Cllr Joel Williams was re-elected as Lead Member for Children and Cllr Marcus will take over from Cllr Adrian Davis as Lead Member for Adults. The Chairman thanked Cllr Davis for all his "amazing work" in the role over the past few years.
Meanwhile, Cllr Marcus will remain Lead Member for Planning, Cllr Sims for Place and Cllr Grottick for Finance. Cllr Smith was elected as Lead Member for Smart Islands.