Leader announces Cabinet team and new focus on energy security
Councillor Richard Olszewski, Leader of Camden Council, has selected his Cabinet and launched new plans to give Camden residents greater energy security.
The new focus on energy security will demonstrate that tackling the climate emergency can deliver an immediate benefit to residents by helping them reduce their energy bills. Accelerating moves to renewable energy where possible and making council homes more energy efficient will lift residents out of fuel poverty and keep their homes warmer in winter.
The focus on energy security will bring together work from across the council, including the mission to make Camden’s estates and neighbourhoods sustainable by 2030, the council’s commitment to supporting residents through the cost-of-living crisis and Camden’s local response to the climate emergency. This will include working with the government and the Mayor of London to unlock investment in energy infrastructure.
The Leader will also continue to push for a wholescale redevelopment of Euston Station, which would bring High Speed 2 (HS2) and Network Rail trains into a single integrated station. This plan could deliver huge benefits to Camden and London through the development of new homes, open space and jobs for Camden residents, using the land surrounding the station. Camden has been supporting the residents and businesses around Euston for well over a decade who have been blighted, displaced or disturbed by years of HS2 construction disruption, including noise, dust, road closures and loss of open space - and will continue to do so.
Camden Council is ready to lead a development in Euston that delivers for our community and the country. This means Camden Council, together with key partners in London and the community in Euston, having not just seats at the table but the power to lead and make this vision for Euston - and the life-changing opportunities that it will provide - a reality.
All cabinet members will continue to focus on delivering better lives for Camden residents through the council’s missions work.
The full list of Cabinet Members and their positions is as follows:
- Leader – Councillor Richard Olszewski
- Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Safer Communities – Councillor Pat Callaghan
- Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and a Sustainable Camden – Councillor Adam Harrison
- Cabinet Member for Better Homes – Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali
- Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing, and Adult Social Care – Councillor Anna Wright
- Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living – Councillor Camron Aref-Adib
- Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families – Councillor Marcus Boyland
- Cabinet Member for Jobs, Young People and Culture – Councillor Sabrina Francis
- Cabinet Member for New Homes and Community Investment – Councillor Nasrine Djemai
- Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities, and Cohesion – Councillor Nadia Shah
We want our residents to have certainty in their lives and to be able to plan for a secure future. They shouldn’t be having to worry about where their next meal may come from, or having a roof over their head. Or see their lives turned upside down by energy bills spiking, and having to choose between heating or eating.
We’ll be focussed on creating the conditions for a more certain future and will work in partnership with the newly elected government to achieve this.
We’ll continue to build the council homes and affordable homes our residents need, family sized homes with secure tenancies that will reduce overcrowding and allow families to put down roots. We’ll focus on ensuring the best learning, skills training and development opportunities are available throughout our residents’ lives – maintaining our Outstanding schools, forging close relationships with the world-class institutions in Camden to provide great training and apprenticeship opportunities and creating good work for our citizens. And we’ll step up our work on energy security – upscaling our retrofit programme and transferring to better types of energy across our estates to not only shield residents from unaffordable energy costs, but to continue to make a meaningful contribution to tackling the climate emergency.
Resolving the years of devastation wrought by HS2 in Euston remains a top priority. Residents and business here need some hope for the future and right now, all they can see is a hole in the ground. We know our communities best here and we have a vision for Euston for a new station with homes and jobs – we will continue to make the case for this vision to become a reality to all the key players involved in the station development.
Following the appalling scenes of violence and hate we’ve seen across the country in the last week, I must also reiterate our commitment to keeping everyone in our communities safe. Camden is no place for hate – and we stand with everyone in our diverse communities. We will continue to work with the police, partners, faith leaders and our strong community groups to reject hate, discrimination, division and intimidation - and continue to be a welcoming borough that celebrates our diversity.
