COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (167) issued by The Government News Network
on 9 July 2008
Communities
Secretary Hazel Blears will today publish a White Paper setting
out proposals to deliver a fundamental shift in power, influence
and responsibility into the hands of communities and citizens.
Communities in control: Real people, real power sets out how the
Government plans to give citizens and communities more rights and
more power through:
* more information and greater influence over the local decisions
that affect them;
* new means of holding politicians and councils to account; and,
* where they choose, more opportunity to get directly involved in
managing and shaping how local services are delivered.
Hazel Blears will say
"In many parts of the country, local democracy needs a
boost, with low turn out at local elections and people feeling
they can't influence the way some issues are decided in
their area. This needs to change. That's why the White Paper
provides real and practical ways to put communities in control,
so that they have a real say, can find out first hand what is
being done to improve their local services, and push any issue
they think is of importance up the priority list of their local council.
"There is a lot of cynicism about politics but it is through
politics that we bring about change for the better. Politicians
have a contract with those that they serve - that contract now
needs to be rewritten to ensure that the views of local people are
taken more into account. Where people have a better solution to a
problem or issue, that needs to be taken forward. The public must
not only have the right to ask difficult questions, they should
also have the right to demand answers."
The White Paper will seek to address issues around lack of power
and influence at a local level. These include -
- New rights for the public to demand action from their council
Councils will be subject to a new duty to respond to petitions.
Petitions will enable local people to force an issue onto a
council's agenda. With enough signatures that issue would
need to be discussed by the full council committee and could be
subject to a vote. This could be used to raise issues as diverse
as bin collections and street cleaning, or the state of local parks.
- Increasing accountability
Chairs and Chief Executives of local public bodies - such as
Councils- will face regular public hearings as part of plans to
increase accountability. More visible 'local question
times' will give the public a chance to question officials
about how they are improving public services and demand better
results if they believe local services are falling short of
expectations. It will also give CEOs an opportunity to describe
the hard choices and trade-offs involved in decision making.
- Getting redress when things go wrong
Some housing associations already offer money back to tenants
where they fail to carry repairs out on time. We want to see if
this could go further, with redress for citizens when council
services go wrong. We will establish a review into redress for
citizens that will report in 2009.
- Giving local people a direct say on how budgets are spent
We want every area of the country to have a 'community
kitty' scheme - a pot of money that local people can decide
how to spend. Local people should have a say in setting priorities
for local budgets - for example if they want to see more community
wardens or better street lighting. Government Departments are also
committed to citizens having a bigger say over youth and community
safety spending.
- £70m Communitybuilders fund
Community-led third sector organisations are one of the most
tangible and popular ways people get involved and start to
actively give something back to their local communities. The
Government will be investing £70m in organisations that are the
backbone of their communities. This will help strong community
groups acquire buildings, take a role in running local services,
and become more financially self sustainable.
- Local people running local assets
Street markets, community centres and swimming pools will be
handed over to local residents if they can do a better job of
running them than councils. 30 new pilots will get underway
shortly and a new Asset Transfer Unit will be established to
support community groups making the most of buildings and resources.
- Making it easier for people to get a directly elected mayor.
Mayors provide visible local leadership and have the potential to
engage more people in politics. We will consult on allowing
on-line petitioning as well as paper petitions to be counted
towards support for a referendum for a mayor. We will consult on
reducing the number of people needed to trigger a referendum from
5% to perhaps 2%, 3% or 4% and change existing rules that mean no
referendum can be held for 10 years if referendum is lost.
- Promoting democracy
A new duty will be placed on local authorities to promote
democracy. Local leaders will be expected to do more to help
residents understand how the democratic process works and how they
can get involved. Residents can expect to see information
campaigns and town halls being opened up to councillors to hold
surgeries. New 'civic champions' - council staff or
former councillors who will go out into the community and work
with residents and community groups to increase understanding
about how they can raise awareness about civic roles they can take
up - whether that's volunteering, standing as a governor, a
councillor or becoming a magistrate.
- Empowering young people More needs to be done to make politics
and local services relevant and open to young people. We will
establish a programme for young people to shadow government
ministers and elected mayors, develop a programme of internships
with local councillors and increase the number of young people who
help councils and others understand the impact of their policies
on the young
Data from the 2007 Citizenship Survey shows that in the last year
just 38% of people felt able to influence decisions in their local
area. 50% of respondents to the same survey wanted to be more
involved in the decisions that their local council makes that
affect their local area.
We have seen some excellent improvements in the performance of
local government in recent years. This makes local government
well placed to take on the significant challenge of rejuvenating
local democracy.
Councils remain the vital elected voice of local people. The
White Paper is about finding new ways to allow more people to
influence decisions directly. Petitions have been a
well-understood part of our public life for centuries. They
represent a recognised method of bringing people's views
together into a single collective voice. New data published today
shows that more must be done to ensure petitions are acted upon.
A new YouGov survey of 1,906 adults across England shows -
* 70% of people have signed a petition - 63% in the last 5 years,
and 42% in the last year;
* 90% of people think that councils should take account of views
raised through petitions when making decisions - but only 21% of
people agree that they currently do;
* 84% of people said they were more likely to sign a petition is
a response was guaranteed and over half (54%) of respondents were
more likely to organise one if a response was guaranteed
* Of those who have signed or organised a petition 48% were not
satisfied with the way in which the council took their views into
account; and,
* 34% of us do not know their council's process for
submitting petitions.
The new duty on councils to respond to petitions will make sure
that petitions have a greater impact and unlock local democracy
for a lot more people.
Hazel Blears added:
"The White Paper is an important step in rebalancing power
in local communities to ensure that the voice of local people is
heard and acted on, and where it isn't, people have the
levers to make a difference themselves if they so choose.
"As the best councils already show, local government has
nothing to fear and everything to gain by involving local people
is shaping and delivering services. When local people are given a
greater say in how decisions are taken not only do they feel more
empowered but satisfaction with services rises too."
Notes to Editors
1. Communities in control is about providing the real and
practical routes people need to become more empowered. The White
Paper contains three new duties - to promote democracy, to respond
to petitions and for quangos to do more to involve the public.
Taken together they establish a clear set of democratic rights for
ordinary citizens.
2. The You Gov survey was carried out on behalf of the Department
for Communities and Local Government. A total of 1906 adults in
England were surveyed to establish basic measures of public
knowledge of, and opinions on, their right to petition local authorities.
3. Research including surveys and literature reviews show that
some of the key barriers to greater participation include lack of
interest or understanding about local governance; negative
perceptions and lack of trust in public institutions; lack of
awareness of how to get involved and inaccessible recruitment
practices and scepticism about the difference participation will
make. But where people have positive experiences of
participation, the confidence and skills they need to get involved
or a personal invitation to do so, then they are more likely to
play an active role. Details of this research can be viewed at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesannex
4. The White Paper Communities in control: Real people, real
power can be viewed at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesincontrol
News Releases: http://www.communities.gsi.gov.uk