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Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com Progress has been extraordinarily slow. Reform of an unelected House of Lords was promised in the Parliament Act of 1911! There has been continuing resistance to letting go of power, secrecy and privilege. All kinds of excuses were made to resist a fair voting. Political patronage of cronies and financial supporters continues in the House of Lords and honours system. The Freedom of Information Act was watered down and there was a battle to implement it. However, the Freedom of Information Act was an amazing achievement, a huge advantage to citizens, journalists, academics and researchers and a constant source of embarrassment to government! The revelations about MPs abuse of expenses including second home allowances is the latest example. The most recent achievement is the Sustainable Communities Act. The current major campaigns are Electoral Reform, reform of the House of Lords, and a written constitution in the form of a Bill of Rights. The Sustainable Communities Act 2007 is an outstanding example of what people power, skilled nonpartisan campaigners working with politicians of all main parties, can achieve. Aiming for a revolution, it can give power to local communities and help reverse 'Ghost Town Britain' (Ghost Town Britain). Initiated by the New Economics Foundation, it required a five year campaign by Local Works, a coalition of over 90 national organisations. Led by Ron Bailey, Campaigns Director of Unlock Democracy, supported by 20,000 individuals and, 1000 councils, it was backed by 365 MPs, who signed an Early Day Motion. Many people e-mailed their MPs and gave money. Ron Bailey and Steve Shaw, Local Works Campaign Co-ordinator, are working to encourage councils to opt into the Act and use it to enhance local democracy. 120 councils have done so. Sustainable Communities Act (Amendment) passed into law in April 2010 greatly strengthens the Act by creating an ongoing 'rolling' programme for communities and councils to submit proposals to government. It now includes Parish and Town Councils in the Act's process. If you wish to see more power given to local communities, you need to keep up the pressure to get government and local authorities to implement it. For more details, go to Local Works. The following summarises the briefing on Act by Local Works (Full text available at Unlock Democracy). The underlying principle is: ‘Citizens and local councils are the experts on their own problems and the solutions to them.’ The aim is to empower local communities and make government do more to help promote sustainable communities in the following four categories: 1. Local economies, e.g. promoting local shops, local businesses, local public services and local jobs 2. The Environment, e.g. promoting local renewable energy, protecting green spaces 3. Social inclusion, e.g. protecting local public services and alleviating fuel poverty and food poverty 4. Democratic involvement, e.g. promoting local people participating in local decision making Relevant proposals are made by a community or a local authority under the four categories above. It is the role of central government to help. This is how it works: Double Devolution The Act sets up what is called a ‘double devolution’ process so that local people can drive central government action to promote sustainable communities: 1. The Act gives the government a legal duty to ‘assist local authorities in promoting the sustainability of local communities’. Councils will be invited to make proposals to central government as to how it 152
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com can help them promote the sustainability of local communities. So it is local authorities, not the government, that are in the driving seat as to what the government must do. 2. The Act specifies that local authorities cannot make suggestions to central government without involving ‘local people’. Councils must set up (or recognise if they already exist) ‘panels of representatives of local people’ – which must include people from usually under-represented groups: ethnic minorities, young people, older people, tenants, etc. It is not another meaningless consultation exercise. The Act sets up a double devolution process where local authorities must ‘reach agreement’ with proposals made by their communities via the citizens’ panels. Government must ‘co-operate’ and ‘reach agreement’ with the Local Government Association who will represent all the proposals that are made by local authorities. This new and unprecedented decision-making process gives the Act has real teeth! Local Spending Reports Government must publish local spending reports that will provide a breakdown by local area of all public spending (i.e. central and local). This ‘opening of the books’ has never been done before and is likely to generate much debate as central agencies and quangos have to show how their money is spent locally. Local authorities can use these spending reports to then argue for the transfer of specific monies and their related functions from central to local control. Once under local control these new resources and powers could be used to promote local shops, jobs and services like Post Offices, local food, etc. Councils that opt in must then set up citizens’ panels and must ‘reach agreement’ (again, this is NOT just another consultation exercise) with local people, regarding the proposals on promoting local sustainability that local authorities will ultimately submit to central government. The whole process re-occurs on an annual basis. So, Councils that do not opt in to the first round will have a chance to do so. Examples of what the Act could be used to help communities achieve are: • Keeping essential community services like Post Offices open. • Promoting small businesses by increasing the rate relief they receive. • Forcing large out-of-town superstores to pay local domestic rates on their huge car parks. • Promoting local renewable energy, e.g. by removing the restrictive barriers relating to the local grid. • Promoting local food and other products, e.g. by giving rate relief to businesses that earn 50% of their turnover from selling local food and goods. You may need to put pressure on your local authority to adopt the Act and use it. Local Works can help you. The way ahead Unlock Democracy continues to campaign for: Fair, Open and Honest Elections Rights, Freedoms and a Written Constitution Stronger Parliament and Accountable Government Bringing Power Closer to the People – The Sustainable Communities Act is an important step towards this goal A Culture of Informed Political Interest and Responsibility A written Constitution – Bill of Rights War Powers A Citizen’s Convention 153
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