Civil Service in the news
Power to the people
31/10/2007 - Communities and Local Government [External website] 
Local authority decisions affect us all in some way. The Department for Communities and Local Government's Community Empowerment Division is helping citizens play a greater role in local decision making
Margaret O'Callaghan is a remarkable woman. She first got involved in her local community after moving back to her native Newcastle thirteen years ago.
Using experience gained as a welfare rights officer at Wrexham Maelor Borough Council, Margaret wanted to ensure the voices of local people were heard before decisions were taken on issues affecting the neighbourhood. From helping out several local voluntary and community sector organisations, Margaret has become well-known across the city and now spends up to 60 unpaid hours every week working with 14 different groups, from the Mature Action Group to the Local Strategic Partnership.
Citizens speaking out
Across the country, there are citizens engaging with their neighbours and actively influencing decisions about what services are provided in their local area. Henry Tam, deputy director in Community Empowerment Division (CED) says: "For many people, not having the opportunity to influence public decisions makes them feel alienated.
“The outcome can be a rise in petty crime and vandalism, and tensions between the various social and ethnic groups.”
So the actions of Margaret O’Callaghan, and others like her, arguably play a key role in binding communities together and preventing extremism.
CED is developing a new empowerment programme, which builds on the Local Government White Paper, ‘Strong and Prosperous Communities’, launched by former Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly in 2006. Supporting people like Margaret more effectively is central to this and encouraging more people to follow her lead is one of the many challenges the CED team faces.
The new programme covers a number of areas. Government is very keen to get more people involved, particularly in areas where there is currently little community-led activity, but also deepening the involvement of those already participating.
Henry explains: “This includes implementing the recommendations of the Quirk review for example, which looked into ways of enabling more public assets to be transferred to community management and ownership.”
It also includes running participatory budgeting pilots, which lets local people vote on how to spend a part of the local authority budget in their local area.
Another priority is making sure empowerment measures are working. This means helping public-service professionals respond positively to engagement opportunities.
“None of this will happen if we don't build trust and support a vibrant electoral democracy at the local level,” adds Henry.
In practical terms, this means ensuring local government is strong and accountable to citizens and providing support to the Commission on Local Councillors, which is chaired by former Camden leader Dame Jane Roberts and due to report to Secretary of State Hazel Blears in November. An important part of the division's work is about working with stakeholders to make sure local activists, as well as the usual stakeholders, have opportunities to feed into the work plan; and influencing the rest of the public sector to embed opportunities to involve citizens in the development of their policies.
Calls for action
In spring 2008, the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill is expected to come into effect and councillors will have a new power to respond to community calls for action raised by local people.
From 2009, councils will have a more general duty to involve local people in their activities and services. Henry comments: "There is much more to do. Government needs to show it can listen as well as give opportunities for citizens to speak and the Governance of Britain Green Paper poses some challenging questions, such as 'should local authorities be required to respond to petitions?' for example." A community empowerment promotional strategy is also being developed to help promote existing opportunities more effectively and look for new ways to encourage more people like Margaret to pass on their skills and experience to others who may be interested in getting involved.
Starting young
A genuinely cross-cutting agenda, community empowerment brings together the work of a number of government departments, not least The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) which is seeking to get more young people involved in local democracy through its Schools for Active Citizenship initiative. CED is currently looking at ways of enabling Hazel Blears to engage directly with experienced activists from across the country on a regular basis to explore policy ideas and anticipate future challenges. Says Henry: “The Margaret O'Callaghans of this world are playing their part and it is up to us to ensure they get the support and recognition they deserve.”
Help online
People who want to get something done in their area or influence decisions can log on for help at http://togetherwecan.direct.gov.uk , where they will find advice, support and the opportunity to share their experience. Users can rate the usefulness of the resources and, as more people use the site, there will also be case studies and forums to discuss topical issues and much more.