A Response to the Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Citizen Network has submitted a response to the Government's Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We challenge the current Bill, which risks dis-empowering rather than empowering communities. Our response argues for:

a. Focusing on the assurance of local authority and neighbourhood governance rather than prescribing structures.

b. Supporting empowered neighbourhood governance that enables relational and collaborative work at a neighbourhood level.

c. Expanding the role of the Local Audit Office to assure good governance arrangements, alongside supporting citizen scrutiny.

We know the power of people in places working together to make lives better. Our concern is that a prescription for a particular kind of council or neighbourhood governance will fail to engage with what is already working well in places. 

You can read our full submission on the Government website here.

Our argument is one shared by our friends at It's Our City, who campaigned for the council committee system in Sheffield and have pushed strongly to keep it. Research for Action have also pushed for the Local Audit Office to be given a role assuring good governance. The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny have pushed for neighbourhood governance to be about outcomes, not rigid models. 

You can see all the submissions here.

The House of Commons committee will probably talk about council and neighbourhood governance on the 21st or 23rd of October. The Bill still has lots more stages to go through before it becomes law. We'll keep having conversations and seeking neighbourhood governance that will help every citizen feel involved. 

To keep in touch you can sign up to our: neighbourhood democracy mailing list.