by Paul O'Brien
Friday 06 July 2007
At the LGA this week and once again interesting times with a new ministerial team in the DCLG. Hazel Blears spoke well on her debut and I must admit I found her more believable live than I have when seeing her on television. John Healy also did a slot and Hilary Benn spoke as the new Environment Minister.
On the Conservative end David Cameron once again proved his credentials as a first class orator and Simon Milton the new leader of the LGA gave a quite powerful and forceful message about his vision for the organisation and local government in general.
Birmingham was a great location and it was good to meet up with all those on the circuit. Leaders, Chief Executives, Journalists and all the other organisations who gather for this annual extravaganza. The rather surprising topic of the week was the impact of concessionary bus travel schemes on financial budgets, this wasn't on my radar before the event but the level of upset it caused ensured that I was well versed in the arguments by the time I left.
