Councils should consider the unique skills and benefits the third sector has to offer when improving local public services, Communities Secretary John Denham said in a keynote speech to the New Local Government Network. Mr Denham said councils shouldn’t ignore the social outcomes the third sector can provide such as jobs for the workless or better services, in the stampede the hunt down the cheapest deal.

Mr Denham will shortly be meeting with representatives from local government and the third sector to discuss the issue and look at how to ensure the third sector has the opportunity to play its part in the big issue of public service reform locally.

John Denham said:

“It does not make sense to exclude the many excellent voluntary and third sector providers. They may not offer the cheapest contract in terms of narrowly defined cost/benefit in the short-term. But they can deliver important additional social outcomes such as jobs for the workless and marginalised and better quality service which saves money in the long run.

“Third sector organisations – as well as groups of local public service employees and new private sector providers – must have the chance to show how they could deliver the outcomes local people want by new ways of working, and new ways of delivering services – not just asked to compete to deliver the current services at the lowest possible cost.

“I have a real concern that the third sector is not getting the opportunity to play its part in the big issue of public service reform locally. I have invited in representatives from local government and the third sector to discuss the issues and look at how we can address this.”

This consultation explores whether local government has the powers it needs to meet today’s challenges, as part of the Government’s drive to renew Britain’s democracy and build trust in the political system at all levels. It sets out a range of proposals to promote democratic renewal and strengthen the power and responsibility of local government by:

• giving councils more scope to scrutinise the spending and decisions of local service providers;
• exploring whether there are barriers to using existing powers and whether there are other powers which councils should have;
• ensuring councils have the powers and responsibilities they need to tackle climate change;
• exploring how the powers and responsibilities of sub-regional structures should be matched by clear and accountable leadership; and
• exploring how to articulate, develop and support the relationship between central and local government so that respective functions are clear and transparent to citizens.

This consultation applies to England only. It runs from 21 July 2009 to 2 October 2009.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/localdemocracyconsultation

Taskforce calls for effective partnerships across sectors to beat the recession.

Businesses, the government and third sector need to develop stronger and more innovative partnerships to provide real and practical help for communities at risk of fracture due to the recession, a report published today by an independent taskforce claims.

The report outlines ten recommendations to businesses, the third sector and to the Government Read the rest of this entry »

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published a study which provides a review of the domestic and international evidence base around community empowerment. The aim of the review was to make sense of variable and often competing or contrasting evidence in order to identify which mechanisms empower, in what ways, and in what contexts. The research identifies key criteria that drive and define empowerment across six specific mechanisms: Read the rest of this entry »