Briefings
Back in September 2009, the Prime Minister announced that he wanted "the Post Office to play a much bigger role, bringing banking services back to the heart of people's communities". A national consultation is taking place, asking if people agree with the proposals being put forward, and Urban Forum is seeking input from members in order to formulate a response. The Government has stated that their vision is for the Post Office to maintain a secure, sustainable and affordable network. The proposals focus on products and services that people could receive from their Post Office, as opposed to how these would be delivered.
On the 14th of November 2009 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG) announced ‘Connecting Communities', a programme of activity designed to promote cohesion and specifically, to address the alienation amongst some sections of the community in deprived communities. The programme marks a change within the department to more targeted, neighbourhood level, support as part of the broader cohesion and empowerment agendas.
The Duty to Involve came into effect on 1st April 2009. To find out more in our quick guide.
Communities and Local Government (CLG) is consulting on proposals to promote democratic renewal and strengthen the power and responsibilities of local government in 5 areas:
1. Scrutiny
2. Public services
3. Tackling climate change
4. Sub regional working
5. The role of local government and it's relationship to central government
The Government has published ‘Building Britain's Future', a 126 page document which sets out Labour's action plan for the coming year and their future priorities. It is also a response to the recent MPs expenses scandal and the economic downturn.
The document sets out three priorities:
1. Cleaning up politics and reforming democracy
2. Taking Britain out of recession
3. Further reform of Britain's public services and modernising national infrastructure
The Total Place Initiative is a Communities and Local Government pilot programme to test new approaches to efficient use of resources and service improvement in local areas.
Here are the essential facts on the Total Place Inititative:
In July 2008, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) published their draft Framework for Regeneration known as ‘transforming places; changing lives'. Following a consultation period this document sets out how the government is taking forward the delivery of a new national framework to shape the way that regeneration is carried out in England.
10 things you need to know about Community Reinvestment_2009_06
Urban Forum has been developing ideas to change the banking system to make it more ‘people centred' in light of the recent crisis and subsequent bail-out of banks. Urban Forum believes that things must change and that fundamental reforms of the banking system are needed urgently.
Here are 10 things that you need to know....
The Killian Pretty Review published in November 2008 details 17 recommendations for improving the planning application process. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has recently published a "Government Response to the Killian Pretty Review", which comments on the Review and outlines a broad action plan to implement the recommendations. While the original Review and subsequent government response are primarily concerned with the planning application process in detail, a number of issues relating to consultation and community engagement within this process have been raised. This briefing note deals primarily with these issues.
The powers for levying the CIL were brought forward in the 2008 Planning Act and are now before parliament. The legislation will allow local authorities in England and Wales to charge a levy on most types of new development in their area. CIL charges will be based on simple formulae which relate the cost of the charge to the size and character of the development. The proceeds of the levy will be spent on local and sub-regional infrastructure to support the development of the local area, and may be pooled across local authority areas to fund cross-borough or regional projects.
Government's latest White Paper ‘Working together; Public services on your side' outlines broad plans for public service reform. It follows the 2008 publication of ‘Excellence and fairness' White Paper, which sets out the Government's overall approach to public services reform over the next years. But ‘Working together' seeks to bring forward £3 billion of planned capital expenditure into the next two years. The Government wants to start further public service reform by giving local people, communities and public service staff both the information and effective power needed to improve and personalise public services. The Government hopes to move towards a richer, fairer and safer society by creating public services which better reflect local and individual needs. ‘Working together' continues the principles set out in ‘Excellence and fairness' White Paper of ‘citizen empowerment', ‘a new professionalism', and ‘strategic leadership' and shows how these three principles will be broadly translated into practice over the coming years.
