THERE can be no doubting that 2008 Capital of Culture Year achieved a very great deal for everyone here in Liverpool.

The nay-sayers and critics in waiting were confounded by the success of the year, as a packed programme of events kept thousands of people happy and contented, and thrust the city onto the international stage – for the best possible reasons – in a way rarely seen since the Beatles’ mop-tops came down those airplane steps at Speke.

And the latest report into the Capital of Culture phenomenon – Impacts 08: The Liverpool Model – reveals that 99% of visitors that year liked the atmosphere and the welcoming feel of the city.

How many cities anywhere could claim such a massively successful hit rate among their visitors?

And yet . . . the report shrewdly points out that the Capital of Culture accolade was no panacea for Liverpool. It may have worked wonders for the city – but it wasn’t capable of working miracles.

The cultural scene was transformed beyond recognition, but there was still much that was wrong with Liverpool before 2008 that was still wrong once all the bunting had been folded away. Some areas still suffer from desperate levels of deprivation which no amount of dance festivals and giant spiders were ever going to overcome.

That is way we must not rest on our laurels. As the city tries to clamber out of recession, the focus now must be on the economy, and how financial regeneration can help resolve the difficulties that were beyond the reach of Liverpool’s cultural aspirations.

Liverpool One has added fresh impetus to that process, and there are further plans in the pipeline that should keep up the momentum. The arts have played their part, but it will be a very long time before Liverpool again hosts such a cultural extravaganza.

We have been left a priceless legacy – but its impact will fade and eventually evaporate, as the years go on. The emphasis now must change.