People and places

21 March 2007

People and places must connect

NALC’s response to the final report of the Lyons Inquiry

The National Association of Local Council’s (NALC) wants the final report of the Lyons Inquiry, Place Shaping: A shared ambition for the future of local government, to be fully implemented by central government. NALC believes the report gives local people a real chance to have ownership and control over their communities.

The report could, according to NALC, lead to a substantial shift of power and influence from central and principal local government to local and neighbourhood democratic bodies like parish and town councils.

NALC welcomes the findings of the final report of the Lyons Inquiry in recognising the need for parish and town councils to have complete freedom to raise an unlimited precept on council tax bills, and the impracticality of bringing parish and town councils within the capping regime. The Association is adamant that the power to precept must remain in any revision of local government finance, and that this form of local taxation could serve as a model of the way, all of local government finance might be based on in the future.

Cllr Ken Cleary, chairman, NALC, said: "Local communities feel that they have a lack of control over the way public services and functions are delivered to them, and this is leading to disenchantment with those in power. The final report of the Lyons Inquiry shows the right way forward in giving opportunities to local people, via neighbourhood vehicles like parish and town councils. This could lead to a better say and a larger degree of ownership over services people use in their daily lives."

John Findlay, chief executive, NALC commented: "The Lyons Inquiry shows a direction forward for all tiers of local government in terms of finance and community empowerment. It is now for the chancellor, Gordon Brown MP, to take up this report and offer parish and town councils the financial and place shaping freedom they need to secure a revolution in neighbourhood engagement.”

Notes for Editor

The National Association of Local Councils is the national representative body for 9,500 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.
For more information on the Local Government White Paper, Strong and prosperous communities, please visit www.communities.gov.uk

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