Communities in Control – real people, real power
Communities in Control – real people, real power is the recently released Government White Paper. Its aim is to shift power, influence and responsibility away from existing centres of power into the hands of communities and individual citizens.
It’s principles are:
1. Shift power, influence and responsibility
2. Political activity is valuable and worthwhile
3. Challenge and debate is good
4. Citizens and communities are capable of taking decisions
5. Local authorities have a vital role
6. Representative democracy remains central to local democracy
7. Value the contributions, experiences and perspectives of all citizens
8. The state should be a platform under people’s feet, not a weight holding them down
The paper views the third sector as being a main driver of social and democratic renewal from “its traditions of purposeful altruism and selfless volunteering”. Specifically the sector can support the movement of power to communities through the growth of:
Engagement
- By increasing volunteering and voluntary action opportunities for young people, people with disability and the socially excluded
- By developing capacity and providing resources within the community to engage. A £70m Communitybuilders Fund will be established scheme to help them become more sustainable. Grassroots Grants, developed by the Office of the Third Sector, will offer small sums of money from an £80m fund – in addition there will be a £50m Community Endowment Fund – to help locally-based groups to survive and thrive
- By engaging with faith-based groups specifically. A national survey of third sector organizations will be carried out
- By providing the community with information and information technology
Influence
1. By promoting local people’s involvement in participatory budgets
2. By supporting local people to commission local goods and to engage in planning
3. By engaging older and younger people in democratic processes
4. By piloting community justice, community payback and community safety projects
5. By developing the scrutiny role of the community, specifically within the proposed
6. accountability processes of police and health services as envisaged in the Policing Green Paper and the consultation on the NHS Constitution Primary Care Trusts
7. By directing local people to information and support allowing them to become elected members or more politically active.
Download a summary of the white paper of click on the link above to visit the Communities and Local Government website.
