Communities must come first

NALC’s (National Association of Local Councils) Putting Communities First Conference in Sheffield showed how by using existing and forthcoming new strengthened powers, communities and local (parish and town) councils can get in the driving seat to make their places better. Throughout England, parish, town, community, neighbourhood and village councils (local councils) work towards improving community life and providing more focussed services at a local level. They are the most local tier of local government, closer to the community than any other tier of local government. Local councils provide a voice for communities, helping people to feel more involved in the decisions that affect them.  This conference examined the practical implications of localism. It looked into the practical details of key areas that councils have to face on a day-to-day basis now and in the future. Rory Stewart MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Local Democracy, said: "I believe in the power of communities and feel that they make for a better national government, because they are best placed to hold them to account and scrutiny."  “83% of us think that politics is broken and that 85% think that the society has too many ills. Indeed these problems are best fixed by local (parish and town) councils because of their local knowledge of the community.” Mr Stewart MP went on to advocate directly elected mayors for local councils in this country. The main reason for this is the ability of directly elected mayors to get high risk projects completed without being held up by bureaucracy. Cllr Ken Browse, chair of NALC, introduced the conference by saying: “Local (parish and town) councils will face enormous opportunities and challenges over the coming year as the Localism Act and the Open Public Services White Paper contines to take effect. John Findlay, chief executive of the National Association of Local Councils, said: “These are very exciting times ahead for local councils but Government needs to realise that there needs to be a level playing field in terms of grant funding to local government. At the moment central government gives grant funding to principal local government but nothing to local councils. This needs to change.”