I was Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the City Council for 2004-5. For the two years before that, I was Chairman of the Internal Affairs Review Board and at various times, Chairman of the Review Board Business Panel, which co-ordinated the work of all the Review Boards, and a member of the other three Review Boards.

I also had responsibility as Chairman of the Grants Task Group, for the negotiation of a ‘compact’ or agreement which governs relationships between the City Council and voluntary groups in the district, an agreement which sets out the expectations each side may have of the other and outlines the arrangements for grant support. The possibility that grants may now be awarded for three years instead of one has given greater financial security to voluntary groups, and has allowed them to plan their operations more effectively.

I was the Conservative member of the council committee responsible for responding on behalf of the council to the provisional findings of the District Auditor in respect of “Blobbygate”, and I was a member of the Crinkley Bottom Theme Park Project Review Committee, which made recommendations as to how the council should respond to the District Auditor's draft report on the management of the project.

I am Conservative spokesman on Transport, and have been pressing consistently for action to be commenced urgently to reduce the occurrence of gridlock on the Lancaster gyratory system and on Morecambe Road. The congested conditions are discouraging investment for jobs, to the detriment of the prosperity of the whole district.

I was Chairman of the Poulton Area Renewal Task Group which produced its final report in the Summer of 2005.

I have been a member of the City Council's Local Governance Committee since its creation in 2006, and have recently become a member of the Budget and Performance Panel..