OXFORDSHIRE County Council Leader, Keith Mitchell, has his own message for Gordon Brown as he prepares to take over as Prime Minister this week – ?stop ignoring the needs of the South East?.
Councillor Mitchell said: “I congratulate Gordon Brown on becoming Prime Minister but I hope the new Premier will want to work with and not against local government.
“Mr Brown says that his priorities are health, transport, housing and stronger communities. In Oxfordshire we can say ?Yes, Prime Minister? to all of that – provided that we get the infrastructure that is so vital to support sustainable growth.
“That means the new Prime Minister should be telling his Health Secretary not to approve any changes to the NHS in Oxfordshire that will leave people with reduced services.
He went on: “On housing, it is often thought that local authorities in the South East are opposed to new building. That is far from the truth. New homes, particularly affordable ones to help young people stay in their local areas as well as key sector workers, are badly needed.
“However, simply building lots more homes will not improve affordability. This is because there is an existing national stock of some 22 million homes against a current national new build rate of some 150,000 per year.
“Even doubling that build rate, if it were possible, would not have an impact on the value of the existing stock. Affordability means subsidy – either from development profits or from government funds – and the reality is it has to be some of both and the government?s contribution to affordability in the South East is just not enough.
“In addition, we need investment from the Government in new roads, schools, hospitals, water supplies and public transport, to ensure the region does not simply grind to a halt.
“Stronger communities is also an important issue for Oxfordshire and I will be using every opportunity to press the Government to free local government from some of the rigid constraints imposed on it so that we can develop services in line with the needs of our local residents. I hope that Mr Brown will pursue a localist agenda and realise that the best decisions for local communities are taken at a local level by locally elected representatives.”
Councillor Mitchell said he also hoped that whoever replaces Mr Brown at 11 Downing Street will take a serious look at the Government grant system for supporting local government services.
He added: ?The present system is a mess. It penalises Oxfordshire residents with low funding year after year while authorities in the North and Midlands benefit.
“It is only our own good housekeeping and the millions of pounds we have generated from efficiency savings, that has allowed our front line services to be maintained and developed.”
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