It was an honour to attend the proclamation of the accession of His Majesty King Charles III outside the Council House yesterday. Crowds gathered in the Old Market Square to hear the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Cllr Wendy Smith, read the formal proclamation.

As the Lord Mayor said, the proclamation of the new Sovereign is a very old tradition which can be traced back over many centuries, announcing the accession which took place immediately on the death of the reigning monarch. It provided one of the first opportunities for communities to come together and reflect on the moment in our nation?s history when the reign of our longest-serving Monarch came to an end and our new Sovereign succeeded.

Many people have left flowers on the Council House steps and signed Books of Condolence inside the Council House and at other locations around the city, remembering with affection and gratitude the lifetime of service given by Queen Elizabeth II. These opportunities will remain in place for the duration of the national period of mourning.

In line with national guidance around the death of the Monarch, our full council meeting went ahead today with a reduced agenda and an opportunity for those attending to reflect on the passing on Queen Elizabeth. Councillors were united across the chamber in paying tribute to the late Queen with much of the focus being on her visits to Nottingham and the impact she had on the lives of local people.

The other item for discussion was the proposal from our Licensing Committee to revoke the Late Nate Levy which has been in place since 2014. This levied a charge on licensed premises across the city operating between midnight and 6am. The funds raised were split between the council and police to tackle late night alcohol-related crime and disorder by providing targeted support to help to police and manage the night-time economy.

However, the economic situation for the hospitality industry has changed significantly since then, with the impact of the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. It was agreed that the Levy is now placing a difficult burden on existing licensed trade businesses and could be a barrier to incoming or expanding businesses, and so the decision was endorsed to revoke it from next month. The loss of this income is expected to be offset by Nottinghamshire?s Police and Crime Commissioner receiving an extra ?13 million towards recruiting more Police Officers.

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It?s another sign of progress that a new pedestrian route across the Broad Marsh development site has now opened, providing a direct open air link between Collin Street and Listergate.

The opening of this route is a small but significant step in the redevelopment of the Broad Marsh area. It is the first time since the 1970s that people will have uninterrupted open air access between the Southside of the city into the city centre.

The space that it crosses, created by demolishing the western end of the old shopping centre, is proposed to become the ?green heart? of the vision for Broad Marsh ? a total transformation from what was there before.

It comes as progress continues on fitting out the new Central Library and surrounding streets and as we await the Government decision on our bid for ?20m for Levelling Up Funding to start to bring the Broad Marsh vision to life.

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I?m pleased that at the same time as the fit-out of the new Central Library in the Broad Marsh area is taking place, we?re in a position to move on to the next stage of the scheme to develop the former Central Library premises in Angel Row into an exciting new creative hub.

We are looking for an experienced design team to design the fit-out of the building in a way which can maximise opportunities for innovation and sustainable design into the scheme. Post-Covid, it will be important for this building to offer spaces where people in our growing creative sector can collaborate, work flexibly and engage together.

The Angel Row scheme is being funded from the Government?s Future High Streets Fund, following a successful bid for ?12.5m by the council announced last summer. The funding will also go towards strengthening pedestrian routes between cultural and tourist attractions in this part of the city centre.

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