Lib Dems say early achievements at Northampton Borough Council are just the beginning

5.37.23pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 9th Aug 2007

Councillor Tony Woods, Leader of Northampton Borough Council

The Liberal Democrats have summed up the first months of their administration, by saying that they mean business and will not let the people of Northampton down.

Cllr Tony Woods, Leader of the Council said:

"In the beginning of our administration, we've been able to show staff, public sector organisations, local people and government that we mean business. The key thing is not time, it's attitude, focus and a determination to improve the performance of the Council, to start on improving our town and not to let the people of the town down."

The Liberal Democrats have announced a series of achievements in the beginning of their administration:

• Recruited a new Chief Executive

• Launched an environmental audit of the authority with the Carbon Trust

• Given the town centre a lift with flower planting and a lick of paint

• Extended the range of events on offer at the Balloon Festival and put on a sound financial footing by introducing a charge

• Agreed to vary the football club's lease at Sixfields, helping Northampton Town Football Club towards greater financial sustainability

• Secured the continued funding of park wardens

Tony continued:

"These are the first tangible things in a wider programme of activities aimed at improving the Council and the town for the people of Northampton.

"First and foremost is the appointment of the new Chief Executive, which will enable us to realise our other goals. Most importantly we need to improve our services and since May we've started to make headway by extending the scope of Overview & Scrutiny from 1 to 3 committees, each looking in detail at our services. We've also started to get a grip on the finances, initiating a much tighter regime of financial controls and adopted key policies to prevent discrimination including a Black & Ethnic Minority Housing Strategy and a Gender Equality Scheme. For an organisation that has failed to consider or address discrimination in these areas this is a very positive step forward.

"In terms of providing clear leadership and vision the biggest achievement has been recruiting the new Chief Executive, David Kennedy, which will not only enable us to drive through improvement but also provide some much needed stability for the authority. David has a reputation for bringing major investment into Barnsley and he can clearly see the potential for Northampton to become a city of the future.

"We've begun the process of re-invigorating the town centre by commissioning the master-planning of St John's Cultural Quarter, which signals the start of a new and exciting chapter in Northampton's cultural development and we've committed to keeping Sheep Street toilets open despite previous budget cuts. We are also looking into reducing weekend car parking charges from the autumn, which in turn will create the conditions under which local, niche businesses, leisure and culture can thrive. We expect to make an announcement in the short future regarding this.

"We've put the environment at the top of our agenda by launching the Carbon Management Programme and setting ourselves a target to become carbon-neutral by 2020. The Programme will review all the authority's carbon-emitting activities and design a strategy for lowering these in order to reach our target. In the meantime, we've begun to make small changes in this area such as initiating the roll-out of recycling bins around the town centre.

"Town-wide we've addressed the financial mistakes of the past which threatened the success of the Balloon Festival. With the new charge, visitors can expect an extensive programme of events and attractions at the festival which will enable the festival to be self-sustaining. We will be looking to make the festival even bigger and better next year.

"We have begun to make in-roads to wider problems such as homelessness, by making 12 properties available each year for the most vulnerable people under our care.

"We are in negotiations to vary the lease on Sixfields in order that the Football Club can start to attract some inward.

"Finally, we've taken steps to address safety and anti-social behaviour, first by appointing a new Director for the Northampton Safer, Stronger Partnership and secondly by writing to young offenders. This has helped to put a stop to anti-social behaviour in 9 out of 10 cases.

The first few months is about taking stock, repairing the past and building for the future. And doing it all now. People don¹t want excuses, they want to be able to lead the lives here that others already enjoy. We won't let them down."