Prescott: Local communities will make decisions
The Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has promised that local communities will be given a greater say in the issues that affect them.
More decisions will be taken at a local and regional, as opposed to national, level. And Mr Prescott said he was determined to tackle disadvantage so people are not “condemned to lives of poverty, poor services and disempowerment by accidents of birth or geography.”
One headline initiative is the launch of a ‘Neighbourhoods Charter’, setting out what local people should be able to expect from their community – for example safe and clean streets – and what action can be taken if this not delivered.
Speaking at the Government’s sustainable communities conference in Manchester, Mr Prescott said he hoped more people would become involved in the “democratic life” of the community, and argued that there people can “make a significant difference to the quality of our country’s public services. In this way, local people, working with local councillors, can play their part in creating sustainable communities.”
Other proposals include the extension of anti-social behaviour projects and a focus on providing “cleaner, safer, greener communities”.
There will be £5 million made available over the next three years to produce a series of ‘how to’ guides to inform local people and councillors how to tackle issues such as ‘liveability’ that affect their neighbourhood.
Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford said he also wanted a debate on how to improve local leadership and strengthen the role of councillors. He said: “Effective local leadership is vital to the economic, social and environmental success of local communities and councils have a pivotal role to play in providing this leadership. We need clearer roles for councillors and better ways of attracting talented people to the role.”
But, the Conservatives have called for the plans to be shelved. Caroline Spelman, Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government said: “Labour’s language of ‘citizen engagement’ and ‘local leadership’ is empty rhetoric. John Prescott’s unelected regional assemblies have seized power from local councils and local residents, and are pushing though a swathe of building on green fields across the country, with no democratic mandate or legitimacy.”
She added that the Conservatives would abolish the communities plan, scrap regional house building targets and close the regional assemblies.
