Council praised on efforts to tackle recession

Rochdale Council has been praised in the recent audit commission report that looks at how local councils are dealing with the recession.

The report, which is entitled: 'When it come to the crunch,' heavily criticised many councils for being too bland and unimagitive in their response to the recession.

However, Rochdale Council was singled out as one of only a few authorities that are 'leading the way' in tackling the recession.

The report said that the town has learnt from the last recession and praised its early skills programme, which target's Rochdale workforce and aims to arm them with the skills needed for employment. A planning scheme to make land available for development once the economy improves was also commended.

The report said: ""The council has learnt and applied lessons from the previous recession and from the decline of major industries in the area.

"Early investment means that the impact for individuals and families is shallower and shorter-term, preventing benefit dependency and poor health."

Leader of Rochdale Council Alan Taylor said: "It's great to see that our efforts in dealing with the recession here in our Borough are being recognised nationally. The Council has its own internal recession team which evaluates, every two weeks, how we are doing in terms of tackling the recession and also looks at what else we could be doing.

Councillor Taylor added: "We are fully committed to helping residents and local businesses through the recession. Currently, our Council is offering a wide range of services that are aimed at helping local people, families and businesses beat the crunch. These include such things as advice on getting a new job, affordable childcare and business rate reductions. For information on some of the events and projects already going on to help residents please visit the council's webpage on http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/beat_the_crunch.aspx or give the Council a call on 01706 924 851.