It has been one of those days when I have been forced to think about what LOCAL means...

I totally agree with those colleagues who tell me that we must continue to build local solutions and restructure all our services and provision... starting from and building with those fundamentally important local pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that makes up this wonderful city of ours. But it is also important to recognise that local isn't simply about the structures and services it's a commitment to looking at everything we do through the same lens... the local lens.

It can't simply be acceptable to think local when it comes to the partnerships and services we provide. It also applies to where we shop, where we eat, where we walk, where we build our relatonships and where we send our children to school. You can't have it both ways if we believe in local solutions and local services we have to embrace local services for us... how many of us don't choose local schools for our children and then complain about the local area; the anti-social behaviour, the rubbish and the lack of care and respect?

We won't get great local schools, great local services and great local communities unless we all buy in... and it's not about pick and mix... you can't choose which bits you want and which bits you don't... it's all or nothing!

I know that people continually tell me that they agree with me but they are not prepared to experiment with their own children. All I would say is whose children should we experiment on if not the children of people who care and are passionate about what we do. After all if things are not good enough for your children surely they aren't good enough for anyone's children.
Chris