Government confirms power of general competence for local authorities amongst 'Big Society' measures
The government has confirmed that local authorities are to be granted a general power of competence as part of its plans to introduce the Conservatives' and Liberal Democrats' manifesto commitments to devolve more power to local communities.
The creation of a general power of competance builds on the commitment published in the coalition agreement between the Conservative and Liberal Democrate parties for a “radical devolution of power” and greater financial autonomy to local government, which will include a comprehensive review of local government finance.
In a policy statement issued today by the Cabinet Office, the government also announced a range of new measures with significant implications for local government, including a “radical” revamp of the planning system to allow residents more say on decisions, a new right to enable communities to bid to take over local state-run services and give public sector workers a new right to form employee-owned co-operatives and bid to take over the services they deliver.
The Cabinet confirmed that Regional Spatial Strategies will be abolished, with decision-making powers on housing and planning being returned to local councils.
The policy statement also revealed plans to create a new ‘right to data’ to enable government-held datasets to be requested and used by the public published on a regular basis, while the police to publish detailed local crime data statistics on a monthly basis.
In addition to staff-run co-operatives, the government also said that that it will support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises in the delivery of of public services. The statement included a commitment to use funds from dormant bank accounts to establish a “Big Society Bank”, to provide finance for neighbourhood groups, charities, social enterprises and other non-governmental bodies as well as the introduction of a National Citizen Service for 16 year olds.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: “During the election campaign I extended an invitation to everyone in this country to join the government of Britain. I said that the idea of the Big Society would be marching through the corridors of power – and it’s happening right now. Today is the start of a deep and serious reform agenda to take power away from politicians and give it to people.”
“That’s because we know instinctively that the state is often too inhuman, monolithic and clumsy to tackle our deepest social problems. We know that the best ideas come from the ground up, not the top down. We know that when you give people and communities more power over their lives, more power to come together and work together to make life better – great things happen.”
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