Tue 27th July 2010

In 6th April 2010 John Denham MP, former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, agreed to implement 10 proposals made by citizens and councils who have used the Sustainable Communities Act.

In a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament, Mr Denham listed the 10 proposals, as well as a commitment to move forward on the rest that remained. This was progress and Local Works welcomed it. The list of those 10 proposals can be viewed here.

However, following the General Election in May, Ministers of the new coalition government 'unagreed' the 10 proposals that Mr Denham had agreed. Parliamentary Early Day Motion No. 178 therefore urges the new coalition government to deal with the proposals urgently.

Fri 9th July 2010

Local Works have selected 30 proposals from the 200 made and shortlisted in the Sustainable Communities Act's first round Vision for Local Sustainability. These are the proposals that we think would go a long way towards reversing community decline and creating truly sustainable, vibrant places to live, work and play.

In the coming weeks the new coalition government will begin the negotiation process on which of the proposals made so far under the Act will be agreed and implemented. Local Works is urging the government to prioritise the 30 proposals in the Vision for Local Sustainability during that negotiation process. The list of the 30 proposals is available here.

Mon 28th June 2010

Please respond to this government consultation on a crucial part of the Sustainable Communities Act

Local Works is calling on the government to fulfil its promise to “open the books” and publish full Local Spending Reports under the Sustainable Communities Act. The original intention of the Act was that a full breakdown by local authority area would be done by the government. This would show all government spending, including money spent by central government and Quangos, departments and agencies. However, thus far only a small fraction of this data has been published.

The next set of Local Spending Reports are due to be published at the end of the Summer and a government consultation is underway as to what should be included in these reports. In the consultation, it is proposed that vast amounts of information will still be withheld. This is not good enough! There are an estimated 1,162 Quangos operating in this country, spending £64 billion of your money. With spending cuts firmly on the agenda, there has never been a more urgent need to see how government is spending your money and to have a say on what it is being spent on.

The new Coalition Government has promised to “implement the Sustainable Communities Act, so that citizens know how taxpayers’ money is spent in their area and have a greater say over how it is spent.” We ask you to please respond to the consultation, urging Government to fulfil this promise and publish full Local Spending Reports, covering all central government agencies and quangos. You can view our full response to the consultation here.

Here is a response you can use or adapt for your own purposes.

Please note the closing date for responses is 16th July 2010.
You can respond by e-mail to LSRconsultation@communities.gsi.gov.uk

It is important government receives the message that you really do want to see how your taxpayers’ money is being spent. Thanks for your help.

Fri 9th Apr 2010

Fantastic news!: On Thursday 8th April 2010 the Sustainable Communities Act Amendment Bill successfully passed through the House of Commons and the House of Lords and became law.

This has been a totally unprecedented and quite astonishing event. This back bencher Bill had such strong cross party support as to cause the Government to give it extra Parliamentary time to ensure its success before Parliament was dissolved for the election. Local Works thank and congratulate the Minister, John Denham MP, for his ongoing efforts and support that helped see this happen.

Thank you so much if you helped see this happen. This success would not have been possible without the huge amount of lobbying that Ministers received from citizens urging them to give the Bill time.

The front and back benches of all political parties gave high praise and ringing endorsement to the efforts of the Local Works coalition and expressed how impressive we are in size and diversity.

This means that the now amended Sustainable Communities Act will be an ongoing process and that the 'second round' of that process will begin by the end of 2010. It also means that Parish and Town Councils will be formally included in that process.

The Sustainable Communities Act Amendment Act can be viewed here.

Note: the 'first round' of the Act started in October 2008 and shortlisted proposals from that round are now before the government.

1st Jan 2010

The Local Government Association (LGA), who have the role of 'Selector' under the Sustainable Communities Act, have short listed 200 proposals from the Act's 'first round' to be put forward to government.

Government will negotiate will the LGA over the coming months to reach a decision on which proposals to implement.

The proposals deal with a huge range of issues from housing and planning to public transport and democratic involvement. A list of all the short listed proposals can be viewed on the LGA's website here.

On 31 July 2009 100 Councils (district/borough/city and county) across England submitted proposals in the Sustainable Communities Act's 'first round' to combat community decline. A further 45 Councils have resolved to submit proposals in future rounds.

You can only use the radical new bottom-up powers in the Sustainable Communities Act if your council/s chooses to use it too! The maps and list below show the councils that have used the Act or are committed to using it in the future. If your council/s have not already committed to using the Act please write to them (and urge others to write too!), this sample letter will help you.

Maps of the areas covered by councils which have agreed to use the Act this year can be viewed here.

A full list along with those Councils committed to using the Act in future rounds can be viewed here.

Note: the Sustainable Communities Act currently applies to England only

The Local Government Association and its importance in the Sustainable Communities Act’s process

The Local Government Association is the ‘selector’ under the Act. Find out more about this here.

Local Works have produced several 'easy to read' guides and briefings for Citizens, Councillors and Officers on how the Act works and how to use it to do things like save the Post Offices, small shops, public services, promote democracy and protect the environment.
The Local Works Steering Group has produced a key list of suggested proposals, download it here
Guidance sheets with suggested proposals (on issues like protecting the environment, promoting local shops and services and promoting democratic involvement) can be viewed and downloaded here.
All Guides and briefings are available here.

Local Works would like to thank The Big Lottery Fund for helping us continue our work to promote the Sustainable Communities Act.