Blears: 'Residents to get greater say on local authority spending'

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has set out a new draft strategy for consultation today to give people in every local authority area a greater say on how public money is spent by 2012, including exploring for the first time using 'community kitties' for projects to fight crime and tackle obesity.

In a major speech on empowering communities she called on local authorities, community groups and the public to give their views on expanding plans for participatory budgeting across Whitehall including policing, health and youth services giving people a greater say over the issues they most care about.

Ideas will be developed through the forthcoming community empowerment white paper in the summer and will explore:

• Giving people a direct influence over how cash pots to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in their area are spent. These schemes will bring communities together to take a stand against unacceptable behaviour and make sure the police and local authorities tackle their main concerns.
• The potential for using kitties to get more people involved in commissioning local community health services, building on pioneering work by Southampton PCT.
• And the Department for Children, Schools and Families will be building on the positive contribution young people are already making through the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds, influencing local youth and leisure activities, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas. They aim by 2018 that young people will have a direct say in a quarter of all money spent on things to do and places to go for young people.

The strategy also sets out for the first time how councils can give this opportunity to people in every local area by 2012.

Pioneered in Brazil 'community kitties' or participatory budgeting involves local people in spending decisions through public meetings and votes to set local priorities and fund projects and services.

Twenty two local authorities across the country have signed up as pilots under the Government's drive ranging from a few thousand to several million pounds.

The new strategy announced by Ms Blears will show how nearly 400 councils in England can use this approach and meet her ambition for every principal local authority to take this up by 2012, giving people greater ownership of their neighbourhoods, and shaping services around their needs.

Research shows that using kitties improves local services, increases public satisfaction and can even boost civic pride and community cohesion by bringing local people together. Further pilots are expected in the next few months.

Ms Blears also said that using community kitties will be one way for councils to show they are meeting the powerful new duty to involve local people in all key decisions coming into force in April 2009.

Hazel Blears said: "Local people that use services day in day out know how they need to be improved, whether tackling gangs and crime, giving young people places to play or improving leisure activities and the local environment.

"But community kitties don't just lead to better services, they give local people the opportunity to influence the future of the place where they live, generate civic pride and bring our communities together with a common purpose.

"This new strategy shows how councils can make greater use of community kitties both across the country and into the services people care about most so that every local area can benefit from this opportunity by 2012.

"This consultation is inviting views from councils and communities on how to achieve this.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "The police are a vital part of every community. We know the public want a visible and accessible police service that addresses local priorities.

"That is why Neighbourhood Policing is so important, as it will give local people a say in policing in their communities. In partnership with the police, we will look at how the use of shared pots of money can address some of these local community needs - and this is another step forward in empowering people to have a greater role in shaping their communities."

The strategy follows the recently announced Crime and Communities Review, a cross-government exercise led by Louise Casey looking at how the police and other front-line agencies can improve their services by working more closely with local communities, including interactive public events in Manchester Birmingham and Sheffield.

Hazel Blears also called for more businesses to recognise the benefit both to themselves and to local communities of providing financial and management expertise to help community groups take over and run public buildings.

Leading businesses such as John Laing, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and law firm Dechert are already using their expertise to assist community ventures directly, and Business in the Community's ProHelp scheme enables a further 1000 professional firms to offer free help. But so much more could be done.

Local groups taking on the management or development of public assets face particularly demanding challenges, as they often find the management and financial know-how needed to run and develop such projects a major obstacle.

This is one way businesses can help, by offering their know-how to strengthen the viability of local projects.

Hazel Blears said: "If you've got a run-down community centre on your estate, always being vandalised, why not hand it over for residents to run? If local lads can see and feel that it's theirs, they'll be the first to look after it.

"Get it right and transferred buildings can be the home to services that better meet the needs of the whole community.

"But making a success of asset transfer means much more than just picking up the keys. To keep going in the long term community groups need to build strong partnerships and develop their business acumen.

"That's why I want more businesses to get involved at a local level, as this can open doors to new opportunities for those communities while widening the experience of their own workforce."