Cllr Mark A Kirk

Yesterday we went to London for the Local Government Association's annual meeting.

During the morning session we attended the Labour group's annual meeting, followed by a meeting of the General Assembly. Labour MP Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, gave a speech which included her take on the recent Government settlements.

After her speech I managed to meet with the minister and talk to her about what we have achieved in North Lincolnshire. We do not get the opportunity to speak to officers all that often so it was important to speak to her. There is a lot of good work taking place in North Lincolnshire and meeting with the minister allowed me to tell her about what we are doing.

We have some tough choices to make but it was a good chance to talk to the minister about the decisions we face here in North Lincolnshire. Hopefully it will encourage other ministers to engage with us in the future.

The meeting, which is held annually, also saw the signing of a declaration between central and local Government called the Central-Local Concordat.

The agreement is important for local councils because it will act as a basis to deliver a better deal for the taxpayer and better services for the people they serve. It aims to give local councils more responsibility and the ability to to respond to people's needs, hopes and desires directly.

As the minister signed the Concordat with the LGA Chairman, Sir Simon Milton, I managed to get a photograph of them for this blog!

Further details on the Concordat can be found at www.lga.gov.uk/Documents/Concordat%20with%20sigsv6.pdf