As the Government’s preoccupation with physical fitness manifests itself in an order to dinner ladies to provide two portions of fruit and veg daily, the powers that be are turning their attention to another form of fitness - “fitness for the 21st century”.
So the Government has splashed out our hard-earned cash on another quango - the Academy for Sustainable Communities. It’s not an academy in the old-fashioned sense of the word. Not like West Point, Sandhurst, or even Sutton Coldfield College.
In the 21st century, “academy” really means “thingy” - a general term to describe any government initiative. The Thingy for Sustainable Communities is “a national and international centre of excellence for the skills and knowledge needed to create communities fit for (you guessed it) the 21st century.”
The term sustainable communities is “getting a lot of attention in the UK”, according to Thingy’s website.
And it goes on to define a sustainable community as “a place that is environmentally friendly”, has “good transport links”, has “good public services that everyone can use” and “has a thriving local economy”.
In other words, Switzerland.