• There is overwhelming evidence for community decline: the decline of local shops, Post Offices, pubs, etc and the knock-on environmental and social effects. It is a national trend affecting the whole country. No community group or council can reverse it on their own

• The central government can, and should, help to reverse this community decline. (Note they should HELP, not dictate the solutions)

• Local people are the experts on their own problems and the solutions to them. They should, therefore, be driving the help that central government gives

If you accept these three things then you must accept that there needs to be a process where local people and their elected councils can put forward ideas to the central government to help reverse community decline and create the opposite - sustainable communities. The Sustainable Communities Act sets up that process.

The Act sets up a process where people have real power. The ideas they put forward drive the actions that government must take. People who participate cannot be ignored, which too often happens in government consultations. This process is 'bottom-up' - because what people want at community level drives what government does.

Local councils are reminded that they can also submit joint proposals with principal authorities or community groups to the Government under the Sustainable Communities Act.

The Act gives communities, together with their councils, the right to come up with proposals and to then submit these to the central government. These proposals can be for any government action or assistance that would reverse community decline and protect or promote sustainable communities. Sustainable communities are defined in the Act as incorporating 4 things; local economies (e.g. promoting local shops, Post Offices, local businesses and local jobs), environmental protection (e.g. promoting local renewable energy, protecting green spaces), social inclusion (protecting local public services and alleviating fuel poverty and food poverty) and democratic involvement (encouraging local people to participate in local decision making).

So communities and councils can put forward any proposal that:

a) can be shown to promote sustainable communities as defined above
b) requires central government action or assistance. Communities and councils can submit proposals whenever they choose to

If councils choose to use the Act by submitting proposals, they must first involve communities and citizens in their area. They must not just consult them, but also try to reach an agreement with them on what proposals the council will submit. How councils do so is up to them, though it is recommended that councils set up (or recognise, if they already exist) a panel or panels of representatives of local people. These should include people from under-represented groups: ethnic minorities, young people, older people, tenants, etc.

Upon receiving proposals, the central government must consider them and decide whether to implement them. If they decide not to implement a proposal they must give reasons why.

The legal order allowing parishes to formally make direct proposals to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) secretary of state under the second round invitation of the Sustainable Communities Act, 2007 – formally commenced on Monday 14 October 2013.

To submit a proposal under the Act direct to the Secretary of State, parishes should visit the MHCLG Barrier Busting.

We are promoting the parish use of the Act and is the parish sector.

Here are a few of the latest themes, which parishes are considering to make SCA proposals:

• A third party right of a planning appeal

• Community Infrastructure Levy

• Section 106 agreements

• Neighbourhood Plans