THE government has launched a new drive to improve services in the North West.

The Manchester-based regional office is to be beefed up and will work more closely with Whitehall departments.

And to ensure that there is better co-ordination and delivery of policies throughout the English regions, a special new unit has been set up in London.

Called the Regional Co-ordination Unit, it is headed by "progress chaser" Lord Falconer, a friend of Prime Minister Tony Blair. The move comes after the Cabinet Offices Performance and Innovation Unit conducted an investigation into how well government services were delivered in the regions.

It delivered a hard-hitting report which concluded that more needed to be done to get maximum impact.

As a result there are to be stronger and higher-profile government offices in the North West and other regions covering all policies affecting their areas.

They will be accountable for ensuring effective policy co-ordination.

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