Achievements

It’s so easy to miss what governments and councils are actually achieving in their day-to-day delivery of services when the political headlines are dominated by who has rebelled on this or that issue or some piece of trivia picked up from someone’s Twitter account.

So here’s a list of some of the Government’s achievements that you may have missed:

·         The Deficit down by a third.

·         Net immigration cut by a third.

·         Crime down by a third.

·         Benefits capped so that no out-of-work household can claim more than the average working family earns.

·         1.25 million new jobs in the private sector.

·         A quarter of a million new small businesses created.

·         A record number of apprentices – half a million in the last year alone.

·         Tax cut by £600 for 24 million people and over two million taken out of income tax altogether.

·         Government funding to freeze Council Tax three years running.

·         Energy customers being forced to put customers on the lowest tariff.

·         A cut in the EU budget and a treaty that wasn’t in the UK’s interests vetoed.

·         6000 more doctors employed in the NHS and 6000 fewer managers

It’s quite an impressive list, particularly for a coalition. Coaltions by their very nature are always more difficult to manage than single party administrations – and they’re difficult enough! If you add the Europe Bill which guarantees a referendum if a new treaty that moves more power from Whitehall to Brussels it becomes even more impressive. There’s also the Academy and Free School programme being driven on by Michael Gove; on the whole pretty good going.

Something else you may have missed was a House of Commons debate last Tuesday about the ‘High Street’ and the impact of changing consumer habits – internet shopping, out-of-town developments etc.

It gave an opportunity for speakers to sing the glories of their own High Street. Here’s part of my contribution; “There is a danger that such debates can turn into a round of “knock the supermarkets,” but let us not forget that, as we heard earlier, supermarkets such as Marks and Spencer and Tesco actually grew from market stalls. Meeting the demands of the consumer is the key here. The hon. Member for Scunthorpe mentioned the Co-op, and I can remember being dragged down Grimsby’s Freeman Street by my mother to the Co-op, which was an enormous department store in those days. It dominated the whole shopping centre and was the Tesco of its day. So there has always been a department store, as it were, with everything under one roof, but the independent retailers must be able to compete with that.

Let me turn to Cleethorpes, the pre-eminent resort on the east coast. It has a very successful high street, St Peter’s Avenue, which is only a mile and a half from Tesco’s out-of-town development. However, having a mix of shops, including independent shops, that meet consumer demand is the key. Those shops in Cleethorpes are thriving and successful, even in these difficult times.”

Of course there will be casualties and every town has more retail units than modern shopping habits demand but there will always be a place for the independent providing of course we – the consumers – use them.

Councils have a big part to play as planning policies must be used both to protect our town centres and recognise that most consumers want the benefits of both the traditional high street and those of out-of-town developments. As often in politics achieving a balance is difficult, sometimes even elusive.

The reason of course that most of what has been going on in parliament this last week has passed unnoticed is that the same-sex marriage bill has dominated the headlines and, despite it being a free-vote, it has been reported as a Tory rebellion. The great thing about these un-whipped votes is that you find yourself walking through the voting lobby with members of all parties and on these moral and ethical issues it’s usually the same group – sadly though we usually find ourselves in a minority.

Whatever side of the argument you were on – and I opposed the changes – it is these debates that often provide the best debates with passionate contributions from both sides.