'Social Landlords Should Deliver the Work Programme'

A new report has called on policy-makers to hand power to local community intermediaries such as social landlords and voluntary organisations to determine and deliver the range of employment-related services within their communities. Think tank ResPublica's 'Responsible Recovery: A social contract for local growth' argues that the ‘community right to challenge’ should be extended to welfare and employment services in order to "save" the Government’s welfare reform agenda.  The report calls upon housing associations to use their assets for wider neighbourhood benefit, engage in active partnerships around community budgeting, and support and facilitate asset transfers and devolved services, including employment and training support.  Download a copy of the report from the ResPublica website.

Community Right to Challenge Comes Into Force

More communities will be able to bid to take over local services they think they can run differently and better as the Community Right to Challenge provisions come into effect. The Community Right to Challenge hands more power back to communities, allowing voluntary and community groups, parish councils and local authority staff to express an interest in taking over the running of local authority services, making services more responsive to local needs and delivering better value for money. Also, a range of specialist support is being put in place to help community groups wanting to take greater control of their community through every stage of the process - from setting up a group and developing a proposal right through to the delivering services on the ground. The Social Investment Business, in partnership with Locality and the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations will deliver a three year support programme worth £11.5million. The programme will include a dedicated advice phone line where support and information will be available. It will also include grants to help groups to use the new right and bid to run local public services, resources, and case studies. Read more together with examples of community groups already providing excellent local services on the CLG website.

Older People Told To Run Own Services

Groups of vulnerable older people should take over the running of their sheltered housing schemes if they don’t want their resident wardens axed, according to the decentralisation minister. Greg Clark indicated that residents of sheltered housing schemes could use new powers set out in the Localism Bill to run warden services where they might have been removed. A question submitted to parliament by Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders asked whether communities secretary Eric Pickles had plans to encourage greater provision of sheltered housing wardens as part of the government’s big society initiative. In its response, Mr Clark said people could use the community right to challenge to deliver warden services. The right gives community or voluntary groups a chance to bid to run local services, and to tender for the service on the local authority’s behalf. Read more on Inside Housing.

Have Your Say on New Community Rights to Challenge and Run Local Services

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark has opened a consultation on how revolutionary new rights for communities should work in practice. The Community Right to Challenge and Community Right to Buy are two key elements of the Localism Bill, designed to hand power back to local people. They will enshrine in law the opportunity for community and voluntary groups to have a greater say over what happens in their local area. Under the Community Right to Buy, local groups will have a legal right to nominate any vital community asset - including local shops, pubs, libraries and leisure centres - to be assessed for recording on a 'most wanted' list by the local council. he Community Right to Challenge opens the door to a transformation in the way that local public services are run. It will give community or voluntary sector groups, as well as parish councils and council employees, new powers to challenge and take over a local service. This could include running children's centres, social care services and even improving local transport links. Download a copy of both consultation papers from the CLG website.