Cllr Paul Scriven, Leader of the Sheffield Liberal Democrats, has been featured in the local media on the challenge facing Sheffield on transport and the economy.

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 30th Mar 2006

"I would like to observe on two eye-catching articles reported in the Star over the last couple of weeks that, although are separate issues in their own right, are undoubtedly linked. The first piece to catch my attention related to how the council has no idea how to improve our economy. The revelation by the council, that 'we don't have a terribly good knowledge of the economy of Sheffield', came as quite a shock. If we don't even know how our economy works how on earth can the council focus on improving it?

Given the millions Sheffield has received for regeneration over the years, surely the least we can expect is for our civic leaders to have an idea on how we go about boosting our economy, and therefore providing more and better paid jobs for the citizens of Sheffield. It seems not.

The second article relates to the councils transport policy, and its lack of recognition of reality. Transport chiefs note that the very best we can expect is for bus patronage to decrease slower than before. Yet at the same time the council continues with its anti-car policies attempting to beat the average motorist into submission. Most people recognise that public transport needs promotion and improvement, but ignoring measures that will also improve things for motorists will choke our transport network to the detriment of all users.

So it's apparent that not only are the council clueless on our economy, but they are also out of ideas on transport as well. It seems the council refuses to remove its head from the sand instead lurching from one excuse to the next. Its time that the council got into the 21st century and started promoting the city as a place for business, working with business leaders to deliver the basis for economic prosperity.

On the economy we need to re-focus on how the council can best serve both existing and potential new business. I see the council acting as an enabler rather than trying to be too prescriptive towards business. After all, there is nothing that the average businessperson likes less than having to cut through the unnecessary red tape produced at the Town Hall. We need to put the economic agenda at the centre of everything we do and shy away from creating yet more wasteful quangos led by the public sector. We need positive policies that work with business, not another expensive quango.

On transport the council needs to stop repeating the 'car vs bus' argument. They should start looking at how we can help people to have a choice and recognise that people should be encouraged to use their cars differently rather than unrealistically expecting them to not use cars at all. Innovative ideas like car-sharing clubs and flexible demand led public transport have not been fully explored. We also need to recognise that new and existing junctions should not be designed with the specific intention of making journey times longer for the motorist, yet this is still happening as we can see in a recent example down in Woodseats.

I don't believe that the council's current ideas and strategies are in touch with reality. Indeed Town Hall policies resemble that of an international tanker blindly trying to change direction in the middle of the ocean. Unless we see a willingness to listen and change within the Town Hall, policies will continue to go round in circles without ever reaching the promised destination. Which is something the average commuter in Sheffield can identify with!"

Cllr Paul Scriven, Leader of the Sheffield Liberal Democrats