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The recession-busting efforts of Whitehall and local government officials were being celebrated this week, after Britain emerged from the downturn with stronger growth than previously recorded. Office for National Statistics experts made a surprising revision to their GDP growth figures for the last three months of 2009 on 25 February. Britain's economy expanded by 0.3% over the period, instead of the initial 0.1% estimate, fuelled by stronger growth in the services and production sectors. The revision puts the rate of the UK's emergence from recession closer to the Government's original forecast of 0.4% growth for the last quarter of 2009 – a prediction which was widely derided when made at the height of the downturn. A senior Treasury source told The MJ: ‘Naturally, this slight economic expansion is about improving performance by UK businesses, which have had a very tough time of late, but have adjusted well, often in extraordinary circumstances. ‘But I think both Whitehall and local government can also give themselves a quiet pat on the back for the way in which they both reacted, often in partnership, to the challenging economic conditions of the past two years, and swiftly implemented new policies and initiatives – such as employment, training and housing support – which provided much-needed assistance to UK residents and businesses.' Councils were swift to introduce a series of schemes designed to support local residents at risk of housing repossession or unemployment, for example, often supported by emergency funding from Whitehall budgets. Departments such as the CLG also provided direct assistance to key industries, such as construction firms, through support for previously unemployed construction apprentices. However, other sources warned Britain's recovery was still ‘fragile' and that the economy remained at risk of a ‘double-dip' recession, if growth was not rapidly ‘locked in'. Britain's economy still experienced negative growth of 3.3% throughout 2009. Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser at the CBI, warned: ‘The numbers for the first quarter of this year could still turn out to be quite weak.'

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WHITEHALL

Praise for council role as UK economy returns to growth

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