A Year of Major Improvements Ahead

Posted By: Keith Swift
Date Posted: 20/12/2006

2006 has seen me gain two new jobs.With the sucess of the Liberal Demorat team in the May elections I was appointed Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Townships and Corporate Management. I have been privileged to lead the Council move towards greater devolution.  The Liberal Democrats are giving greater decision making powers, and the Budgets to carry their decisions through, to each for the four Township Committees. Enabling locally elected Councillors to make meaningful decisions for the people they represent.  Each Township will have greater powers than the old Urban District Council’s had prior to the 1974 reorganisation which brought into being the Rochdale Metropolitan Borough.  In “the good old days” things like Highway Maintenance and Libraries were controlled by the County Council. The Liberal Democrats are giving those decision making powers to local people.

The principal of devolution has been accepted by all four Townships and I will be visiting all four again in the new year to hear from local Councillors there views on our progress so far. I must say that there is still a lot of detail to be worked through before we can decide on the final Budget allocation to each Township, but no insurmountable problems.

The Council’s Officers, Chief Executive, Roger Ellis, Executive Director for Finance Margaret, Carney and Assistant Chief Executive, Adrian Montgomery, have all been most helpful and supportive and I would like to publicly thank them and all the Township Officers for they spirit in which they have embraced our ideas.

My other new job, and one I am particularly pleased about, is to be working at Rochdale Online.  Working at Rochdale Online has given me the opportunity to meet so many interesting people.  The variety of businesses in the Borough has been a revelation to me, from scientists at the Generation Centre on Dane Street, working on ground breaking technologies, to a photographer in Middleton taking shots of various mundane packaging and making it look bright for a business magazine.  The people of this Borough are making things happen.

Rochdale Online itself is a business which has grown and continues to grow at a pace, providing local business people with the opportunity to reach a vast audience for their products and services, both in the Borough and across the world. (We are on Tinternet and people from all over the world do visit Rochdale Online) Rochdale Online provides jobs for highly skilled technical people, and of course me, here in Rochdale.

The people of this Borough can be proud of their achievements throughout 2006 and can look forward to many more improvements in the Borough as our plans unfold as we go into 2007. A healthy, happy and prosperous New Year to you all.