BEFORE being elected MP for South Shields in 2001, David Miliband was a No10 policy-wonk, dreaming up schemes behind-the-scenes. Now he's made it on to the frontline, but his Cabinet portfolio is arguably the least sexy-sounding of them all: Minister of Communities and Local Government.

So, the uncharitable might say Mr Miliband - nicknamed Brains by Alastair Campbell because of similarities with the Thunderbirds puppet - is on dangerous ground when talking about the role Nerds will play in the North-East's economic development.

While other speakers today will discuss economic strategies and policies, Mr Miliband will be talking about how to inspire the region's young people to aspire - which is where Nerds come in.

"I want to talk about aspiration because I think it underlies everything," he says, "Aspiration of young people is a huge motor of economic and social advance if we can get it right."

He's been involved in setting up the Aspire campaign in the region.

"It is founded on the idea that if young people don't know what the jobs of the future are going to be, they are not going to be motivated to get the education they need to get those jobs," he says.

"There's a newspaper going to every secondary schoolchild, written by themselves, under the slogan Nerd - the North-East Really Delivers. Young people know a lot about the economy of the past, about shipbuilding and mining, but not about the economy of the future."

Previous generations grew up in County Durham mining communities and earned their living in the local pit or associated heavy industry. That was their lot, and many did not aspire to much more.

"The region has economic strengths: various forms of manufacturing, like environmental technology, are still strong, and we have strengths in science in our universities, and in tourism," he says, "But, until young people hear that, they won't understand about the qualifications they require to get the new jobs."

As well as raising aspirations, Mr Miliband will talk today about creating a culture that celebrates success.

North-East children, he will say, have the same potential and brains as children anywhere else in the country. "We need to show today's children the young people who are the first in their family to go to university - they disprove the idea that poverty and educational underperformance necessarily go together.

"We've got to create a culture that celebrates success - not just in sport, but in business and public services as well. There's no magic bullet, but if you want to raise the aspirations of young people, we also have to make sure that the adults are setting the right role-models for them."

As Local Government Minister, Mr Miliband refused to be drawn on rumours that there is to be another wave of reform, possibly with county councils being scrapped.

"There's a debate about local government structures, about whether we should go further with the unitary authorities, but the Government hasn't made a decision about entering the debate," he said.

However, although the Government has driven a regional agenda since it was elected in 1997, he felt it has also boosted the role of local government.

"There's been a drive to devolution," he says. "I would argue in respect of children's services the role and responsibility of local government has been increased, as has the economic role of local authorities through the fourth block of the Local Area Agreement, which is specifically about the economy, and through the creation of the Local Government Business Growth Incentive Scheme.

"We have also built up 'the regional', and the job of the regional is to support the local."