Hadleigh councillor Kathryn Grandon has ended her term as Babergh chair of council and replaced by Adrian Osborne as its new Chairman, and she will now serve as his deputy.

Cllr Osborne, who represents Sudbury South East, was elected the new chairman at Babergh's Annual Council meeting held last night. He succeeds Cllr who served as Chair for two terms, due to the Covid pandemic. She was supported by Cllr Osborne as Vice-Chairman during her term in office.

As chairman, Cllr Osborne has selected the Kernos Centre as his charity for the year. Based in Sudbury, the centre provides professional counselling and psychotherapy to residents who do not have access to NHS counselling and who do not have the finance to pay for private support. Since the charity's inception there has been a steady increase in the number of residents, aged between 6 – 93 years old, using the service.

Cllr Adrian Osborne said: "I am deeply honoured to serve the council and the residents of Babergh as Chairman of the council for the coming year. I have chosen Kernos as my charity for the fantastic work they do. Mental health support and counselling required to cope with difficult situations should not have to come with a price tag. I want our residents and beyond to know that help is available and there is always someone they can talk to."

I would also like to thank the outgoing Chairman, Cllr Kathryn Grandon who has served the council with a lot of charm and dignity during her two years in office, during a very difficult time. However, she rose to the challenge with style and grace."

Cllr Adrian Osborne was first elected to Babergh District Council in 2007. He has served three terms as Vice-Chairman as well as being on the Council's Planning Committee, Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the Suffolk Joint Standards Board.

Meanwhile, Stephen Plump (Independent) has replaced Conservative Peter Beer as chair of the planning committee and councillor Mary McLaren (Conservative) takes the chair for the scrutiny committee going forward.

A change has also been announced for Babergh District Council's decision-making cabinet – Independent councillor Alastair McCraw taking over the portfolio of customers, digital transformation and improvement.

The appointment was confirmed by Conservative council leader John Ward at Tuesday night's annual meeting, held at Wherstead Park to enable social distancing.

Mr McCraw, councillor for Brantham, has chaired the authority's scrutiny committee, and takes over the cabinet portfolio from Assington Independent Lee Parker.

Mr 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."

The change means the political composition of the cabinet remains the same, with four Conservatives, three Independents and one Liberal Democrat.