Making

ends meet

WE know that hard years lie ahead. For local authorities this includes finding big savings. We all wish we could avoid this but the legacy of debt that the Coalition inherited from the last government (the interest alone on which is running at £43-billion a year — more than we spend on education or defence) makes this unavoidable.

It is easy in opposition to criticise every contraction – less easy in government where you actually have to take the tough decisions required.

I recently met with the leader and the chief executive of Devon County Council for an update on how they are going to be approaching the enormous spending challenges that face them.

This year they will have to find £55-million in savings and that's on top of already having cut spending by £51-million over the last three years.

Their approach sees a firm emphasis on protecting frontline services wherever possible with cuts in councillor allowances, a pay freeze across the board, a cut in the chief executive's pay and reductions in senior management levels of 25%. I will be keeping a close watch on the way local services are affected going forward.

There goes a good man

I am sorry that, for personal reasons, Alan Johnson is stepping down. I do not think he was the best informed shadow chancellor we have ever had but I like and admire him for his down-to-earth approach to people and politics.

Orphaned at the age of 12 when his mother died he was brought up by his older sister. Leaving grammar school at 15 he stacked shelves at Tesco before becoming a postman and later the general secretary of the Communication Workers' Union.

I wish him every happiness — we need more like him in politics.