Localism agenda

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

The localism agenda is moving forward at a rapid pace, and the requirements of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act are now being implemented. NCVO have produced a briefing on some of the developments .

In addition to this, the Sustainable Communities Act also passed last year. DCLG have published a guide to the Sustainable Communities Act

DCLG have now released the final guidance you may also be interested in reading NCVOs briefing and response to the consultation on the draft guidance

DCLG have also published a Principles for third sector representation on Local Strategic Partnerships

The new performance framework for localities will inevitably have a huge impact on locally based and locally operating voluntary and community organisations.

LSPs will continue to grow in importance as the main vehicles to agree the vision of, and priorities for, localities; Local Area Agreements will be the delivery mechanism to achieve these priorities.

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

I thought it might be useful to follow the above post with some more info on how the government is moving this agenda forward. The Communities in Control White Paper was published in July, and it has been accompanied by a raft of consultations, including:

• Consultation on the empowerment fund
• Consultation on DCLGs third sector partnership board
• Consultation on Improving local accountability
• Consultation on the future of the Local Area Agreement reward scheme
• MOJ Discussion paper on a framework for citizen engagement
• DCLG consultation on Standing for office: time off entitlements

NCVO has responsed to these consultations.

Communities in Control has been heralded by the government as the next step in terms of the devolutionary agenda – with last years Local Government Act devolving power to the town hall, will this white paper and the forthcoming Act really devolve power to people?

I think that localism and empowerment are certainly going to be high on the political agenda for some time to come. Devolving power and the questions around how to get more people involved in local decision making are of interest to all political parties. Following the publication of their recent green paper on civil society, it will be interesting to read the forthcoming Conservative ‘centre-right’ local government green paper and learn more about what they have planned for localism and empowerment.

The issues discussed in the white paper have also been debated in the media and the blogosphere quite extensively, with wide ranging opinions and many questions posed – can you really legislate for greater citizen engagement? Are voting incentives akin to bribing people for their votes? and is engagement delusory?

Written as Policy Officer at NCVO

The Governments agenda on localism and local democracy is still moving forward. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on Thursday 4th December, with the second reading planned for Wednesday 17th Dec.

The proposals that NCVO is particularly interested are related to:

• Local Democracy – including the proposed duty on local govt to promote democracy (to stimulate debate, improve democratic understanding and take up of civic roles)
• Economic Development – including the proposed duty on local govt to prepare an assessment of the economic conditions in an area
• Compact – we anticipate the Government will lay an amendment concerning statutory provisions in relation to the Commission for the Compact.

An NCVO briefing is now available.

Moving further its agenda on localism and local democracy, in July this year the Department for Communities and Local Government launched a consultation on ‘Strengthening Local Democracy’ (PDF 400KB). The document set out a range of proposals, intended to increase the powers and responsibilities of local government and strengthen the role of councillors, particularly in relation to their scrutiny of public services and public spending.

We initially produced an NCVO briefing on the 'Strengthening Local Democracy Consultation' (PDF 110KB). Our main concern was that any new proposal should be informed by the views and experience of VCOs, and should ensure the best balance between participative and representative democracy.

NCVO has long argued that decision-making should be devolved to the local level as much as possible and that there is a need to strengthen local democracy. Enabling greater participation through devolved decision making is an important step toward reducing the local democratic deficit, and truly engaging with people. But in order to have strong local communities, both representative and participative democracy must be valued and enabled to thrive. While strengthening the powers of local authorities should enable them to better respond to local needs, acting decisively and effectively on behalf of their citizens, a strong and vibrant civil society is also required. We know how VCOs have an invaluable role in fostering citizen engagement by giving voice to a range of different interests and concerns, and ensuring people have the skills, confidence and support they need to participate in decisions that affect their lives.

NCVO's response to the 'Strengthening Local Democracy Consultation' (PDF 114KB) is therefore informed by the requirement that local authorities understand and support the invaluable contribution VCOs make in engaging with individuals and communities, and recognise the value of working in partnership with the VCS. Our belief is that the VCS is capable of playing an even greater part in solving the problems of civil society and local democracy than it does at present.

The focus of the consultation, and of our response, was of course on democratic processes and structures. And we welcomed the debate: it is important that there are more opportunities for people to participate directly in decisions that affect their lives. But here at NCVO we also think that now is the time when it is equally important for people to come together and debate the bigger questions that should be at the heart of politics: what kind of society do we want to create? What are the values we want to base it on? Join NCVO’s debate on The Good Society by telling us what it means to you.