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Communities in Control

I, too, thank the Secretary of State for advance notice of the White Paper and of her statement this morning, and also for the advance notice of the proposals, which have been trailed for the past six months. Although a lot is already in the public domain, I am not sure whether all her Back Benchers feel involved in the process and empowered as a result of the policies. This is something that has been hyped for quite a long time, and it is difficult to see what the fuss is about. There is little to disagree with, because the proposals are so limited in scope, ambition and vision. The fact that the Secretary of State drew parallels with historic struggles for democracy was quite tasteless, and threw into relief the timidity of her proposals. How can she compare e-petitions with people who made the ultimate sacrifice to try to achieve democracy? Can the Secretary of State confirm that many local councils, many of which are Liberal Democrat, are many steps ahead in this process? For example, Newcastle is already undertaking participatory budgeting involving people as young as three. Kingston council has a petition power, whereby petitions lead to debates in the chamber. When will the Government make proposals to do the same in this place? Councils already transfer assets to different community groups, but that is often used as a way of palming off white elephants and getting rid of financial liability. How is that innovative and new? Does the Secretary of State accept that there is nothing in the proposals to undo the damage inflicted on local authorities and communities by this centralising Government? Is not the introduction of a duty to promote democracy in councils an admission that the withdrawal of power and resources from local government has disempowered communities and reduced voter turnout? Today's proposals are trying to treat the symptom, not the cause. Many of my constituents have been more than happy to participate in the parish planning process, but they have been turned off by the inability to turn any of their proposals into reality. Of course it is important that councils share best practice so that all members of the community are involved in decision making. That should happen not just through endless, fruitless consultation but through getting people involved in setting priorities and making decisions. Today seems to me to be about adding a new buzz word, ““involvement””, to the local government lexicon, alongside ““consultation””, ““engagement”” and ““empowerment””. It will not be enough to convince people that their views will have an impact on centrally imposed Government decisions on subjects from eco-towns to post offices. Have the Government learned their lesson? If so, why are there no measures to close the accountability gap in so many unaccountable regional and powerful quangos, such as regional development agencies, strategic health authorities, learning and skills councils and primary care trusts? Should not other Departments have a duty to be involved in putting communities in control? Why is no duty to devolve placed on the Government? There is endless scope for resources and decisions to be pushed away from Whitehall. The statement would have been an opportunity to do that, but it has been missed. Finally, why was there nothing in the statement about implementing the Sustainable Communities Act 2007, which was the result of a grass-roots campaign to put bottom-up decisions in control? Why is there nothing about giving councils control over their finances so that they are not dependent on Whitehall handouts? If the Government believed in devolution, they would put their money where their mouth is. The test will be whether people wake up tomorrow, or next year, and suddenly feel that their world has been revolutionised by today's White Paper. Does the Secretary of State think that she has achieved that? Unfortunately, I think not.