Improving Local Government in the Region
As part of my role as Government Minister for the North East I’ve had the chance over the past year to see how much the region has changed and how forward-looking our new economic base is.
I’ve visited the New and Renewable Energy Centre out at Blyth – one of the world’s leaders in the fight to develop fuels that don’t harm the planet. I’ve seen salt being mined half a mile under the sea down in Cleveland. For the first time our region is developing a strong service sector with tourism, heritage and hospitality playing a full part. Time and time again in the private sector I am impressed with the thought and ingenuity that has been put into the business. This point applies to the manufacturing sector just as much as it applies to the rest of the region’s economy.
Even more striking is the drive for efficiency and modernisation in the public sector, and in particular in local government in the region. The Audit Commission published a report a couple of weeks ago showing how the various councils have done over the last twelve months, and it made really encouraging reading.
North Tyneside had the biggest improvement in the country in housing services. Sunderland and Middlesbrough made great strides in their adult social care services. And Darlington scored top marks in “value for money”. All 12 of our region’s strategic local authorities are in the top two categories of the Audit Commission’s evaluation. The recent setbacks in Newcastle are of course disappointing, but across the region the general standard of local government services is good.
In a few weeks time the annual local government elections take place. Of course I want people to vote Labour, and believe that there is a great deal that the Labour Party can be proud of. However, I would much rather that people thought about the issues and took part in the election, rather than not taking part. Leaving it to other people to make the decision is giving up a valuable personal right, the right to vote, which centuries ago was only in the hands of the rich and powerful. Previous generations fought hard battles to get the vote for every adult citizen. In other parts of the world people are dying to get this basic right that we take for granted. There is not much point in having a vote if you don’t use it.