01/04/04 - Council leader to address prosperity summit

Tomorrow (2ndApril) County Council Leader, Rex Toft will make the first keynote speech at the Cumbria Prosperity Summit. The Summit has been called to debate the challenges in the Cumbrian economy and how to reverse current economic decline. The Summit, organised by the North West Development Agency, was secured after Councillor Toft lobbied the North West Regional Association.

In his speech Councillor Toft will explain his concerns about the need for Government, regional and local partnership support to reverse the current decline. He will stress that Cumbria has the ideas and imagination to succeed, point to the success of initiatives such as the urban and rural regeneration companies, and lay down his ideas for the future.

His call for improved support for Cumbria’s economy comes as the latest economic statistics show that the county is the poorest performing sub-region in the country, and the only one in decline. Despite the excellent partnership work already underway to tackle these problems, Rex Toft will call for even greater support.