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Communities in Control

If the real test of any announcement was that people would wake up within 24 hours and feel that their world had been revolutionised, that would be a fairly high test for anybody. I entirely accept that this is part of a journey, as I said in my statement. It is not the last word. Over the next few decades, the tide of politics will mean that people will want more involvement, control and power. It is up to us to try to facilitate that process. I agree with the hon. Lady that many local authorities are doing excellent work on this agenda, with a lot of support and back-up from the Department, whether through participatory budgeting or the transfer of assets. That is confounding people's scepticism about the agenda, as it is shown to work in practice. I want to try to ensure that the rest of the local authorities learn from that practice, adopt it and get that tide, swell and critical mass of people who can make a difference. Then we will see the change. We will see that people's lives are very different once everybody is doing that as a matter of course. The hon. Lady talked about putting our money where our mouth is, but there are significant funds in this White Paper, particularly for the voluntary and community sector, to encourage sustainability. One of the sector's biggest complaints is that it has to go round every 12 months looking for funding from local authorities, and is in a supplicant position, going round with a begging bowl. If we can get the sector to stand independently with community land trusts, with co-operatives, with social enterprises, and with independent income streams, that will be a prize for our communities. The hon. Lady talked about the assets being transferred as a white elephant—but I have made it clear that this is about the jewels in the crown, not simply about things that are failing, because I want people to succeed with this agenda. Finally, the hon. Lady said that there was little to disagree with in the White Paper. I am not surprised. This is the right thing to do, because people want to see it happen. Our responsibility is to try to ensure that it happens across the country. I draw her attention to page 28. When she gets to read the document, she will see that that extends the duty to involve to a range of organisations, including the police, the regional development agencies, which spend billions of pounds of public money, Jobcentre Plus and a range of other organisations.