Shaping a fairer future means working together says Regional Minister

Shaping a fairer future will mean people and organisations throughout the region working together for the benefit of generations to come Beverley Hughes, Minister for the North West said today.

She said that for the region to be a fairer place to live and work it must offer local people decent housing and green spaces, along with first class public services. The region must feel safe and offer a good quality of life.

To achieve this means forgetting about one quick fix. A long term joined-up approach to economic development, public safety, neighbourhood renewal, regeneration, educational improvement and skills was essential.

She said: "We have to be prepared to build a better future, the full benefits of which our own generation may never see. We need integrated services, effectively targeted. Reforms need to recognise the connections between early parenthood, worklessness, ill health, housing need, living in a run down place, and the impact these can have across generations.

"At all costs we must avoid a top down approach. Securing buy-in from local people and communities is not only the right thing to do but it is essential for success. Just as fairness will not come by chance, fairer places to live will not materialise on their own either. They have to be nurtured, managed and shaped."

The Minister was speaking at the summer school - Shaping Fairer Places for the Future - organised by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies held at the University of Manchester.

She said that polices were in place to create a fairer region for all - the Local Government White paper offers greater leadership to local councils; the Sub National Review makes economic development more central to the work of councils while Multi Area Agreements are designed to allow issues to be tackled at a local level.

The Minister added that there were many examples of integrated approaches helping to create fairer places but they need to be identified and shared.