Nick Clegg sends congratulations

11.45.19am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 1st Jun 2008

Nick Clegg

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg has sent a message of congratulations to Liberal Democrats in Northampton celebrating a year of success in turning round Northampton Borough Council.

"It has been a fantastic year and I am very proud of the achievements of our councillors" writes Nick Clegg "The Council has made enormous progress in the last 12 months."

A year since the Liberal Democrats took control of Northampton has been described as a year of solid achievement by Leader Cllr. Tony Woods "We inherited a council in a mess. A year ago Government inspectors had rated the council as one of the worst in the country, with weak political leadership and failure to deliver services people have a right to expect."

"Three things stand out from our first year" said Tony Woods.

(1) The Council's finances are under firmer control, with no cuts in this year's budget.

(2) Day to day services such as planning, revenues and benefits and housing management are at last showing real signs of improvement.

(3) We are setting in place firm foundations for the long term with progress on the Grosvenor Centre and other key town centre projects."

"We still have a long way to go" said Tony Woods. "We have more to do to persuade the people of Northampton that the council is improving. That will be our task in the year ahead."