Three councillors from the Shotley peninsula have been handed key roles in a Babergh council reshuffle.

Mary McLaren has stepped up to become chair of the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S} committee, following previous chairman Alastair McCraw's elevation to the Babergh cabinet along with Derek Davis.

The appointments were made at Babergh District Council's annual meeting at Wherstead Park last night when all the committee places, chairs and deputies were voted on.

Conservative councillor McLaren, who represents Stour ward that includes Holbrook, Harkstead and Stutton was previously a member of the O&S, and her deputy will be former Babergh chair Kathryn Grandon, an Independent from Hadleigh.

Cllr McCraw (Independent) has been handed the customers, digital transformation and improvement portfolio, replacing Lee Parker who has stood down due to increased work commitments. Cllr McCraw chaired O&S for the past three years and has served on the committee since it was formed four years ago.

Cllr McCraw was roundly praised for his handling of the scrutiny committee with newly elected Babergh chairman Adrian Osborne, council leader John Ward and Independent Group leader Clive Arthey all spoke highly of him at last night's meeting.

Cllr Ward said: "Councillor Parker has an opportunity to grow his business, and this will take up a lot more of his time. He has therefore decided to leave the cabinet so he can concentrate on this.

"I have asked Councillor McCraw to join in his place as the cabinet member for customers, digital transformation and improvement. I am delighted that he has accepted. I am sure his experience and sound judgement will be assets to the cabinet.

"I would also like to thank Councillor Parker for his contribution and achievements over the past two years. It has been a busy and sometimes difficult brief as we strive to ensure that we interact with our customers through an increased range of media in ways that suit them in their differing lifestyles.

"The past year in particular has thrown up two significant challenges – Covid and the move of the Sudbury access point, but Councillor Parker has been steady at the helm and we have dealt with these very successfully as a result of the improvements to our systems and processes during his tenure."

Cllr McCraw joins Cllr Davis (Independent) on the cabinet led by Cllr Ward (Conservative) who retains his position as the portfolio holder for Communities, who has been on the executive decision making body for three years. He was first appointed in the previous administration and at that time was the only non-conservative on the cabinet when he led the Customer and Digital Transformation team to being named IES Silver award winners in 2019.

Cllr Osborne (Conservative) replaced Cllr Grandon as Babergh chairman and named Sudbury based Kernos as his charity.

Meanwhile, Stephen Plumb (Independent) replaced Peter Beer as chair of the planing committee with Sue Ayres (Conservative) his deputy.

All committee positions and outside body appointments made last night can be found on the Babergh YouTube channel here.