MINISTER for the North-East Nick Brown threw his political weight behind plans to improve the region’s infrastructure at last week’s North-East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) Tees Dinner.

This obviously came as excellent news to NECC, which has long been pushing for further investment in North-East transport links to help sustain and expand our economy.

But it is important to acknowledge how such plans are affected by recent events, which are likely to impact severely on any developments.

Throughout the boom of the last decade, many private sector organisations became somewhat complacent.

The economic crash has given some a rude awakening, forcing them to implement radical cost controls and tightening of their operations simply to survive.

The public sector has yet to experience this wake-up call, but the extent of government borrowing means it is in line for major cuts.

While it is impossible to predict where these cuts will fall, we must acknowledge that a number of projects will be culled and it is essential we prioritise those that are most important to the region’s development.

My concern is that there is currently a great deal of wastage in the public sector, and that unless preparations are made for this crisis, focusing efforts upon key projects, they could fall by the wayside.

The scandal over MPs’ expenses seems to me symptomatic of this wider problem of wastage. More than simply a question of the integrity of our parliamentary representatives, the scandal revealed a lax attitude to the spending of public money, raising questions over how tightly controlled public sector spending really is.

Unless this is addressed now, with priority placed upon the funding of key projects, we are not likely to ever see the developments we so badly need to help our regional economy move forwards towards comprehensive recovery and successful development.

■ James Ramsbotham is chief executive of the North-East Chamber of Commerce