Public Service Agreement

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 2nd Jul 2002

Serge Lourie, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Richmond Council has welcomed the fact that the Public Service Agreement signed by Sir David Williams is helping to drive up standards in the Council.

"When we signed the agreement we agreed to strive to reach 13 very difficult targets in a whole range of areas including crime reduction, road safety, education and recycling. In a report to a recent Overview and Scrutiny Committee, we heard from the Chief Executive that of the 13 we were doing well in 7½ and could well succeed in three others. We always knew that some of the targets would be too challenging so we are not surprised to be falling some way short in 2½ others. If we are successful in 8 targets, the Council will be getting more much needed money from Central Government."

Secrecy

"The decision by the Tory Council to abolish the Conservation Areas Advisory Committee means that the public will have fewer opportunities to comment on planning matters and is an unfortunate move to more secrecy."