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Five years from now…

Date of speech	19 March 2008
Location	Royal Horticultural Halls, London
Event summary	LGC Community Engagement Conference

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Draft text of the speech - may differ from the delivered version.

Introduction

Thanks for that introduction. It's a pleasure to be here.

I love that old saying - "it's hard to make predictions, especially about the future."

I had a quick Google and no-one could agree who said it first - Confucius, Albert Einstein or Woody Allen.

Someone very wise, in any case, and it's hard to disagree.

But if I you pushed me, I'd be prepared to make a few predictions about what local government will look like in five years' time.

Will there be more people standing as councillors? I certainly hope so.

Will there be more locally-elected mayors? With places like Hartlepool, Lewisham and Middlesborough showing what clear, accountable leadership can achieve, and interest running high elsewhere, I think so.

Will there be more unitaries? It's likely.

But I think the biggest change, and the one I predict most confidently, is a fundamental and lasting shift in the way local government works with the communities it serves.

A stronger sense of partnership. 

More opportunities for people to have their say about the design and delivery of everything from their bin collection, to their school, hospital and police service. 

And more doors open to everyone who wants to take part - whether in traditional roles like school governors, neighbourhood wardens and councillors, or in other ways - helping on a litter pick once in a while, repainting the community centre, or even simply contributing to an online debate about their street's future.

I'm looking forward to that change.

"The idea of devolution to a very local level has currency in all the main political parties and in Whitehall to an extent not seen for a generation."

Not just because I believe it's the right thing to do.

But because the evidence shows it's the best way to make sure public services deliver what people need.

It can bring neighbours together from every walk of life, united in their determination to make their neighbourhood a place to be proud of.

It encourages the grass roots activism and civic volunteering that so enriches our communities.

And it's only by harnessing the enthusiasm and commitment of local people that we can make progress on some global challenges like climate change or childhood obesity - where lifestyle changes have to be part of the solution.

Exciting time

As a lifelong localist, I think we are at an exciting point in British politics.

The idea of devolution to a very local level has currency in all the main political parties and in Whitehall to an extent not seen for a generation.

It's no coincidence that one of Gordon Brown's first acts in power was to publish the Green Paper the Governance of Britain - the first step in what he has called "a reinvention of the way we govern."

No coincidence that one of my first acts as Communities Secretary was to get the ball rolling on a Community Empowerment Action Plan - published last October, and backed up by £35m of funding - celebrating and expanding a whole host of ways for people to have their say and get involved.

And later this summer we will have a landmark White Paper on putting communities in control.

In a moment, I'll say more about some of the areas where we're looking to make further progress - including our draft strategy to spread participatory budgeting.

But first let me say how pleased I am to see you all here.

Every local councillor understands that local democracy is a complex and interlinking web of political parties, pressure groups, statutory bodies, campaigns and committees, of elected and unelected centres of power.

Many have already been going to citizens' juries and area forums for years. The most far-sighted have gone further still, with methods such as asset transfer.

So the expansion of these programmes, and the duty to involve that will come in next year, should not be viewed with trepidation. They should be embraced.

And I hope your discussions today put you in a position to lead the way, give you a greater understanding of how a few of the methods and policy approaches can make a difference to your community.

Asset transfer

Take for example, asset transfer. Barry Quirk's report, published last year, showed how powerful it can be.

If you've got a run-down community centre on your estate, always being vandalised, hand it over for residents to run. If local lads can see and feel that it's theirs, they'll be the first to look after it.

Get it right and transferred buildings can be the home to services that meet the needs of the whole community - from the toddlers' group to over 60s bridge clubs - like the Burton Street Project in Sheffield.

And it's worth busting the myths - such as the idea that asset transfer is just the latest wheeze, just for metropolitan centres, just for deprived areas. Not so. Look at the open air swimming pool in Cirencester, fed by local spring water, transferred more than thirty years ago into the loving care of local enthusiasts.

That's why my Department is supporting local authorities to explore where asset transfer might work for them. I encourage many more to follow suit.

"I think we should be giving people more influence not just over small decisions, but big, strategic choices about their neighbourhood's future."

And because one of the challenges is making sure that community groups have the knowledge, skills and connections to keep assets going, I'm pleased to say my department has had very promising talks recently with a group of businesses about what more could they could do to support asset transfer in their back yard - developing their own workforce while opening doors for the local community.

Community contracts

A second method local authorities are exploring is community contracts - an agreement that sets out not just what the council will do for local people, but what the community can do themselves to make their neighbourhood a place to be proud of: reporting problems promptly, cutting the grass in communal gardens, volunteering as wardens.

It's the idea of something for something. It can boost the trust between constituents and councils. The areas who have been exploring community contracts in more detail will be reporting soon, and I'm looking forward to the results.

Planning

The third area where community involvement can make a real difference is planning.

I think we should be giving people more influence not just over small decisions, but big, strategic choices about their neighbourhood's future.

The site communityplanning.net (external link) sets out a host of great ways to encourage debate - from 'design fests' (specialists spend the day discussing their ideas for a neighbourhood, while the public has an opportunity to walk in, watch and comment) to 'photo surveys' (people bring their own photographs of what they like, or don't like, about their neighbourhood now as a way of starting discussion on what they want to happen to it next) to 'planning for real' (using 3-D models to show residents what development could look like, and giving them a chance to vote on the options).

"Participatory budgeting or community kitties ... means giving people a direct say about how funds are allocated, helping them shape services around their needs."

The changes that we have set out for the planning process for nationally significant infrastructure - such as power stations and reservoirs - make it easier for people to have a meaningful say. There will be public consultation at every stage - during formulation of national policy: when the developer is preparing plans: and at a public inquiry.

And now, as we look to further reform, I want to make sure we reinforce the role of community involvement at the heart of the town and country planning system too - making it easier not just for pressure groups, but for ordinary local residents to have a meaningful say.

Participatory budgeting

Fourth and finally, I'm very pleased to be able to set out the next steps on participatory budgeting.

Participatory budgeting or community kitties - call it what you will - means giving people a direct say about how funds are allocated, helping them shape services around their needs, and enabling them to take greater ownership of their neighbourhood.

In my very first speech as Communities Secretary I set out my commitment to participatory budgeting.

Cities like Sunderland and Salford have engaged local people on decisions which really matter to them: about environmental services, street improvements, or crime and anti-social behaviour.

Other places have shown how community kitties can reach out to groups who are often excluded from the decision-making process. In Newcastle, 4,000 children and young people took part in events about allocating some £130,000 of funding.

In recent months, a further 12 local authority areas have committed to developing participatory budgeting pilots in different places, rural and urban, large and small.

And I want to go further still. I have set out a government ambition that every local authority area will give people a real say over public budgets by 2012.

This draft strategy sets out our initial thoughts on how we get there. It brings together the success stories. It signposts the resources and support that councils can access. And it sets out the first steps on how we make community kitties work across government.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has already made clear that young people should have a say over 25 per cent of youth funding in ten years' time.

In the wake of the Flanagan review, we are working with Home Office to identify places which might be interesting in trialling community safety kitties as part of wider work to boost neighbourhood policing.

And we want to learn from places like Southampton - who are trialling participation in health budgets - as we work with colleagues at Health.

Now it's over to you. The document we're launching today starts a consultation on how we turn ambition into practical change that people can see and feel.

Local government, voluntary groups and others working in the field are ultimately the people who can make participatory budgeting a success. So we want to hear from you about how we can improve our plans further. 

As far as possible I hope to respond to your views in the White Paper, so don't hesitate to have your say.

Conclusion

Thank you for listening today.

I wish you a successful and enlightening conference.

I hope it inspires you to be part of the debate about where we go from here.

And in five years' time I hope we can all look back on hard work and that will have shaped a stronger, more responsive local democracy, in tune with the needs of our communities, fit for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

It's a prize worth fighting for.