Who's Listening

Deborah was first elected in 2006 to the division of Angmering & Findon on West Sussex County Council and has lived in the heart of the area with her husband for over 25 years.

 After qualifying as an accountant at a top London practice, Deborah pursued a financial career in a number of blue-chip organisations and was appointed Finance Director of the local energy company.  

Deborah has a wealth of experience of voluntary public service and currently she is Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for the Environment and Climate Change. She has previously held roles on various committees including as Chairman of Performance and Finance Scrutiny Committee and has sat on a number of outside bodies, including the South Downs National Park Authority. In a previous role as Cabinet for Environment and Economy she was instrumental in the setting up of the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership.

Steve qualified as an Environmental Health Officer, developing an early technical specialism in air and noise pollution working in Poole, Dorset and East Kent. Taking up more senior posts in Lincolnshire and subsequently Hampshire, Steve took on client responsibility for waste and recycling just as the initial wave of kerbside recycling schemes gained momentum. In 2000 Steve guided East Hampshire District Council to national prominence as a high performer as one of the first waste collection authorities to introduce alternate weekly collections to help drive behavioural change. In 2002 Steve became the Executive Officer for the Hampshire Waste Partnership after it created a formal Joint Committee representing 14 Local Authorities. Alongside opportunities to study and relate European exemplars of environmental innovation and good practice, Steve gained national prominence as a speaker and local authority voice at a national level. Steve has advocated a circular economy approach since the early 2000s and was appointed as the first Managing Director of the innovative and highly regarded Somerset Waste Partnership in 2007. Steve Chaired the multi sector Resource Recovery Forum between 2009 and 2012. Steve was voted no1 in the Resource Magazine “Hot 100” list in 2010. Steve has both spoken up for and challenged local authorities, particularly in relation to the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility agenda, again arguing, over more than a decade, for the approach now advocated in the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy. In 2013, Steve doubled as Head of the Gloucestershire Waste Partnership continuing alongside the Somerset Role.

Since 2017 Steve has been Director of Environment and Public Protection at West Sussex County Council, which has gained prominence in the field of sustainable energy generation, storage and use. WSCC is also a proponent of smart technology and emerging localised, multi-vector solutions to current and future challenges around managing and balancing electricity demand.

 At WSCC Steve also leads on Climate Change and currently chairs the Silver level tactical co-ordination of the WSCC response to Covid-19.