25 May 2007
A good settlement for local government will be a key element of a successful Comprehensive Spending Review, the Cabinet minister overseeing the spending plans said this week.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms said councils would be at the heart of meeting the five long-term challenges that will underpin the spending priorities to be set out in this autumn's CSR.
These are: demographic change; growing international competition; technological innovation; increasing pressure on natural resources; and global uncertainty posed by terrorist threats and conflicts.
'We recognise that a sustainable settlement for local government is going to be key to a successful Comprehensive Spending Review,' Timms told delegates at a New Local Government Network conference on May 23. He went on to set out some of the ways councils could help meet these challenges, for example, by securing better systems of waste management and alternative sources of energy.
Timms said there was a need to 'lock in' the economic stability that had been brought by the past decade's increased investment. 'It does mean stepping up now to deliver further efficiency savings, embedding efficiency in long-term planning and radical thinking on shared services,' he said.
The conference also heard from NLGN acting director Dick Sorabji, who discussed the need to boost national economic development and close the gap between regions to help the country to meet the challenges of globalisation.
'The [regional] gap will only be addressed if it's driven at a local level,' he said, adding that councils should be negotiating deals with the private sector to secure investment for economic growth in their areas.
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