We are still working through the implications of the £6.2bn announced by Government as savings in year – or at least our share of it. It is easy to get overly focussed on what we can’t do with the money. So it has been a particular pleasure to welcome delegates from Shunde province in China, and from Brazil (a briefing note is posted here), to look at what we have done in the city and what we plan to do.
The long term perspective, and the global perspective, both really help to focus minds on what we have achieved (often in periods of limited spending) and the great commercial and other opportunities which exist.
Our narrative of a city which has made a change from industrial strength and wealth into a more diverse economy, with real strengths in heritage, culture, and increasingly (and this is what our Brazilian visitors concentrated on) the sustainable industries of the future, grows stronger over time. If we have to take that story forward in different ways then we shall. But move it forward we will.