Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations

Published in October 2006, the Local Government White Paper (LGWP) sets out a range of proposals designed to strengthen local communities, devolving more responsibility to local authorities placing a duty on them to cooperate with other statutory partners at the local level and to engage with other local partners including the Voluntary and Community Sector.

The white paper outlines new proposals for devolving power and strengthening local government's leadership role in local areas. It outlines plans for improving partnership working, as well as providing opportunities for local people and communities to influence local decision-making.

The legislation aims to:

• Provide local government with more freedom and more powers to act on the basis of local decisions
• Give local people more say about local services and ultimately provide more choice in public services provided locally
• It also sets out new targets for measuring the performance of public services and new approaches to target setting

The White Paper has nine chapters and annexes on its implications for areas such as community safety, health and well-being, the economy, housing and planning, children and young people, the third sector and climate change. The substantive chapters cover:

• Responsive services and empowered communities
• Effective, accountable and responsive local government
• Strong cities and strategic regions
• Local government as strategic leader and place-shaper
• Performance framework
• Efficiency in transforming local services
• Community cohesion

CEMVO acts as an advocate, expert advisor for black and minority ethnic communities in the UK. We believe it is vital for us to examine all proposed legislation to assess the likely impact on BME voluntary and community sector and the citizens they serve and as such we very much welcome your comments on the White paper. Although outline plans have become legislation, there is still much scope to influence how the plans are to be implemented at a local level and your comments will be incorporated into our response (on behalf of UK BME communities) that will be sent to the Department of Communities Local Government.

Resources

• Statement by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. (opens in a new window)
• Download the Strong and prosperous communities - The Local Government White Paper (opens in a new window)
• CEMVO's response to this public policy consultation (PDF document)