“Each and every day I have represented the people of Barnet as a councillor has been a great privilege and I feel particularly honoured to have served as Leader over the last year and a half. Rather to my surprise, I have also enjoyed it.

“The last few decades have seen dramatic changes in the borough, particularly with Barnet becoming a far more family orientated place. I’ve seen these changes in my own street. In part this is down to the work the council has done in supporting its residents, particularly through our excellent schools.

“When I first took up my post as Cabinet member in children’s service we had 11 schools deemed inadequate by Ofsted. During my time in the council we have developed the best state schools in London and I was thrilled that during my Leadership the children’s service received the highest possible rating from Ofsted. And having fought to keep special schools open at a time when other councils were closing theirs, I am delighted that all of our special schools have during the last year been rated as outstanding.

“It’s a sign of how well the council now serves its residents that I can also look back on my time as Leader and see that adults social services - the portfolio for which I have greatest affection - also received the highest possible rating from its regulator.

“During my time as Leader I have seen Barnet Council find its place firmly on the national stage. We have a reputation as a pioneering and innovative council, not afraid to challenge the status quo or push the boundaries.

“We have paved the way for national pilots such as Right to Control and community budgets and we have constantly looked at new ways to involve residents in the running of their services.

“This has not just been down to the willingness of the council to put its residents at the heart of everything we do. It is because Barnet is a place where community really matters, where people care for their neighbours and where there is already a Big Society. In some ways I feel the national mood is catching up with Barnet, rather than the other way round.

“My son Ben constantly complains that I and my friends talk about nothing other than politics. And I’m afraid I can’t think of any time when this has been more true than over the last 12 months when we have worked to establish a three year budget that leaves us well prepared to face the future.

“I am proud that we’ve been able to set a budget that will continue to protect services for those who most need the council’s help and support.

“As one might expect, the people of Barnet have understood the challenge we face and our budget meeting, the last I have been able to attend as Leader, took place without the histrionics we saw in some other places.

“I know we have got a very strong Cabinet and my colleagues will be more than able to provide the Leadership the council will need over the coming years.

“I am immensely grateful for the advice and support that Cabinet and group colleagues have given me during my Leadership.

“I am sure that the manifesto on which we ran and won in the last local elections will provide a clear agenda for the borough in the future.

“There has been a growth in cynicism about politicians and their aims. But I have been proud to have worked with both colleagues and opponents who have a deep commitment to public service and an ambition to better the lot of all of Barnet’s residents.

“In all my time at the council I hope you will agree I have been a fighter; fighting for my ward, fighting for better services for residents and fighting for a better deal for Barnet.

“I now have other, more personal battles to fight, and I cannot fight these while holding the responsibilities that Leadership of the Council brings. I am therefore announcing that I am standing down as Leader of the Council.

“I wish you well.”

The following is a tribute made at Annual Council to Cllr. Hillan from her ward colleague Cllr. Andreas Tambourides:

"Madam Mayor,

"Last year, it was my great pleasure to propose our ward colleague Cllr Lynne Hillan to be Leader of Barnet Council. Today, it is with great sadness that I find myself rising to pay tribute to her all too short leadership.

"I said then that she had the qualities necessary to lead our Council successfully. And she did not let me down.

"As Leader, Cllr Hillan brought with her a track record of success from her previous Cabinet portfolios in Leisure & Youth, Children & Education, Policy & Performance, Adult Social Services and Resources. She had also run her own successful marketing business for over seventeen years.

"Her business and political acumen led her to focus her leadership on two key objectives – proper financial control and an improvement in standards. This was not an easy task as it fell upon her to lead the Council, as it dealt with the most severe financial settlement in over a generation.

"She was committed to getting better services with less money and changing conventional thinking about the delivery of services. This was a very difficult task but, with careful and prudent planning, and with the backing of her Cabinet and Group, she was able to lead the Council to pass its budget - on both occasions with a 0% council tax rise because she understood the pressures felt by residents. She also set the Council budget headlines for the next two years and, perhaps most significantly, came up with new and interesting alternatives regarding the delivery of our services.

"As for improving standards, she was delighted that both Children’s and Adult Social Services were rated as excellent during the last year.

"As Leader, Cllr Hillan was not afraid to take the difficult, if not sometimes unpopular decisions that were in the long-term interests of Barnet and its residents. However, she always made these decisions around her profoundly held belief that the Council must always recognise first those people who need more support than others.

"She was particularly interested in community engagement and, under her leadership, thedevelopment of a new relationship with citizens was at the heart of the Council’s corporate agenda. She drove the Council towards the development and implementation of some highly innovative and pioneering projects in Barnet that have fallen into line with David Cameron’s concept of a ‘Big Society’. She believed that society should care about what happens to its elderly and more vulnerable members – regardless of what the local authority did or did not do.

"She was also committed to sharing Barnet’s success. But she expected people to take the opportunities offered, and to ‘put something back’ in exchange for that support. She wanted citizens and services to connect in such a way that allowed this council to come through the current financial challenge, not with fewer services but with better services.

"In this regard, she considered the work of the One Barnet Programme as essential to the future success of this Council and an integral component in identifying how the Council might do things differently.

"Cllr Hillan was an excellent advocate for this Council. She considered this one of her principalresponsibilities. As Leader, she established positive relationships with Government Ministers alongside local partners and stakeholders, highlighting the excellent work that was being done here in Barnet as well as lobbying where necessary for the Council’s needs to be heard.

"Madam Mayor, Cllr Hillan was a passionate but considerate Leader, tough when difficult decisions had to be made, compassionate in consideration of those in need, skilled in leading not only this Administration but this Council. She had the respect and confidence not just of Members and Officers, but of partners and stakeholders. She can be proud of what she has achieved on behalf of this Borough.

"Her strong, outgoing and collective leadership will be missed by many, not least by her Cabinet, in whom she placed her implicit trust, and whose advice and support she held in great esteem.

"However, as she herself has said, Cllr Hillan now has a different battle to fight – one on which she must concentrate her full energies and courage – a battle that I hope she will win. It is for this reason that she has decided to step down from the Leadership. I know that I speak on behalf of my colleagues when I say that her decision is a devastating blow to us all. However, I know that the strength of character that she has shown so many times before, in this Chamber and elsewhere, will now serve her well.

"Madam Mayor, I hope that you will join me in thanking Cllr Hillan for her invaluable contribution to this Borough as Leader of the Council, and let’s not forget as the first female Leader of this Council – for her skill, her guidance, her tenacity and, indeed, her sense of humour. And I trust that each and every one of us in this Chamber will join together in sending Cllr Lynne Hillan our very best wishes.

Thank you Madam Mayor."