Communities and local government secretary Hazel Blears used the latest local government league tables to rally the troops at the Labour Party Spring conference in Birmingham.
Citing last month’s comprehensive performance assessment scores, she told delegates that Labour-run Lambeth was ‘one of the fastest-improving councils in the country’ while Lib Dem Liverpool was ‘officially the worst council in Britain’.
‘The Lib Dems have run Liverpool into the ground, and soon they’ll be coming cap in hand to the Labour government to bail them out of bankruptcy.
‘The people of Liverpool deserve better than the Lib Dems,’ she said.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown used his speech at the Birmingham conference to call for ‘opportunity for all’.
He said he wanted to rebuild or refurbish all secondary schools, and provide one-to-one tuition for all who need it by 2010. He also promised a ‘wider range of social care, services tailored to elderly people’s needs and provided direct to people where they want them’.
However, while the speech covered council services, local government itself was not mentioned. Mr Brown also focused on plans to provide education and healthcare in deprived countries around the world.
Skills Pipelines: What local government needs to know
Councils and mayors are to be handed a central role in developing skills pipelines for local industries, as the Government unveils what it calls a ‘fundamental change’ to the education system aimed at tackling youth unemployment. Here's what council leaders and officers need to know.
