Moves look set to give people more influence over what happens in their neighbourhoods

Giving people a greater say in how they receive specific council services is set to be debated by Colchester Borough Council's Innovations Panel.

Proposals to get local tax payers more involved in decision making will be discussed at the meeting at the Town Hall on 26 February.

Cllr Eugene Kraft, Chairman of the Innovations Panel, said: "We're very much at a thinking stage at the moment and are keen to look at a wide range of ideas before making a recommendation to the council's Cabinet about which ones to take forward. We are keen to use this opportunity to help strengthen local communities and local democracy, while at the same time helping to make Colchester a better place to live. We recognise that for many people it is their immediate surroundings that concern them most and we want them to feel they have some real control over what happens there."

Among the ideas set to be discussed are:

* Giving parish and town councils the chance to decide how existing Council budgets are spent in their local area, in the form of a 'council service voucher'. This could apply to areas such as street cleansing, things for young people to do or even affordable housing provision. In the future it might be even possible to extend the idea to other public bodies

* Allocating a ward-based budget jointly to ward councillor(s) in a single ward for individual projects to enable local communities to get an idea delivered on the ground that makes a real difference to them, such as a play area for kids or a bus shelter

* Establishing parish councils or new neighbourhood councils in the urban areas that are not currently "parished" to enable existing communities to take more control where they want to.

Cllr Kraft added: "Clearly if we are to take any of these ideas forward we will need to make some changes to the way we currently work. However, we are keen to look at all of the options to help people get more involved in decisions about where they live."

Ends

Press release issued: February 19 2007