NALC Media Briefing - Local Government White Paper

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) believes that the time is right for a true and complete shift in attitude from central government with regards to devolving power to local communities.The Local Government White Paper, 'Strong and prosperous communities', has achieved a step in the right direction with regards to giving local people and communities more influence and power to improve their lives. The three key messages, from NALC are:

1. Local communities are demanding and need access to the levers of power through more control and better representation over the way public services are delivered in their local area. Government commissioned research by BMG released on 23rd October, showed that only 21% of respondents say they are satisfied with their principal authority (county, district, borough or unitary council). Two-thirds of those surveyed said they did not believe that they could influence decisions affecting their area, while nearly half did not feel their councils did enough for people like them.

2. Ownership and control over public service delivery should be at the closest appropriate level of governance to local people. Where the public service does not reside in the hands of local people, then local communities must have a say in the direction and method of those services.

3. Neighbourhood/local community governance is relevant and should be implemented in any part of the country, regardless of urban, suburban or rural location.

In other words, it should be much easier and simpler to set up neighbourhood democratic community councils.

Further to this it is very important that the barrier to creating such bodies in London is removed NALC wants the Local Government White Paper, Strong and prosperous communities, to deliver in the following areas.

• A 'general power of well being, allowing councils to spend on any activity which is for the benefit of the community. This would remove the shackles and give local communities the space, confidence and power to innovate across the board of public service delivery. This power should be extended to all parish and town councils, who have satisfied governance criteria based on the Quality Status scheme.

• 'Community calls for action' to enable local communities to summon public service providers to explain and rectify deficiencies in service delivery. This power will influence a wide range of decisions; from planning to the way mainstream services like policing and education are delivered at the neighbourhood level. So local people can call principal authorities and public agencies to account.

• A power for parish councils to change their name, if they wish, from a prescribed list: 'local council', 'village council', 'neighbourhood council' or 'community council'. It has often been coherently argued that the title parish in this context is confused with religious contentions. The new umbrella or collective term for this tier of local governance could be 'community council'. Importantly NALC supports councils that wish to remain parish councils, we feel a flexible approach is very important in all this.

• A range of options for local community governance, from which communities would choose what suited them best, including

1. a new town or parish council
2. lead ward principal authority councillors with new powers and devolved budgets
3. town or neighbourhood managers
4. community forums with devolved budgets
5. ward councillor participation in parish and town council meetings

• New simpler procedures for the creation of new parish and town councils.

• A programme to enable communities to set up new parish and town councils, especially in urban areas " New legislation to provide for town and parish councils to be created in London.

• Reinforcement of guidance to ensure proper devolution of powers and functions from principal authorities.

Notes for Editors 

1. The National Association of Local Councils is the national representative body for 10,000 community, parish and town councils throughout England and Wales. In all, there are over 80,000 town, parish and community councillors throughout England and Wales. These councillors, who serve electorates ranging from small rural communities to major towns, are all independently elected. The councils have powers to raise their own funds through council tax. Community, parish and town councils provide employment for over 25,000 staff while their annual expenditure exceeds £400 million. Together, they can be identified as the nation's single most influential grouping of grassroots opinion-formers. Over 15 million people live in communities served by 10,000 community, parish and town councils nationally - this represents improvements for up to 30% of the population.

2. For more information on the Local Government White Paper, Strong and prosperous communities, please visit www.communities.gov.uk

3. The Quality Status Scheme was developed jointly by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Communities and Local Government with the collaboration of key stakeholders such as the Local Government Association, the National Association of Local Councils and the Commission for Rural Communities. For more information: www.nalc.gov.uk

For more information contact Alan Jones on 020 7290 0316/ alan.jones@nalc.gov.uk