Ministers urged to put communities at the heart of ‘levelling up’

The government has been urged to put partnerships between councils and communities at the heart of its ‘levelling up’ agenda.   

The Keep it Local Manifesto, published today (22 March) from Locality and the network of Keep it Local councils calls on ministers to achieve their ambitions by devolving power and resources to the local level.

The report puts forward a raft of recommendations for how the government can go further to inspire a community-powered recovery, built on properly-funded partnerships between local authorities and local community organisations.

Its proposals include devolving future rounds of the Levelling Up Fund, so that it is not centrally managed but is used to empower communities to lead local regeneration.

The manifesto also calls for a fair, and sustainable, funding model for local government including a reversal of cuts for preventative services and multi-year finance settlements

‘Time and again over the past 12 months, the great successes of our crisis response have come when local areas have worked together to unlock the power of community,’ said Locality chief executive, Tony Armstrong.

‘Across our network of trailblazing Keep it Local Councils, we’ve seen local authorities with different political administrations, of all shapes and sizes, forge inspiring partnerships with local communities to deliver food, coordinate volunteers and keep people connected.

‘When things haven’t worked well – like test and trace or the NHS volunteer scheme – it’s been when government’s centralising tendencies have overridden its ability to harness the skills and expertise of local areas,’ added Mr Armstrong.

‘With its attention increasingly focused on recovery and renewal, it is vital government learns these lessons and makes community power the cornerstone of its levelling up ambitions. As our new Keep it Local manifesto sets out, it has plenty of policy on the stocks which could do precisely this if designed in the right way – the Devolution and Recovery White Paper, the Shared Prosperity Fund, the Procurement Green Paper.

‘The Budget made an important step forward with the announcement of the Community Ownership Fund. This needs to be the start of a “community moment”, where rather than seeking to direct the recovery from Whitehall, government supports places to level-up themselves.’

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