On 9 June 2011, the parliamentary Select Committe on Communities and Local Government published its report on localism, including measures in the Localism Bill.
The report states:
- The Government has not produced a compelling vision of what its imagined localist future will look like and the functions and responsibilities of the players within it. Greater clarity and certainty is needed.
- Localism should not be adopted purely as a way to achieve reductions in public sector costs, for it is unclear whether it will be able to deliver this in the short term.
- There is not universal support for the idea that central government should retreat entirely from local affairs, allowing accountability to local people to replace performance monitoring from the centre. In particular, organisations representing vulnerable, marginalised or minority groups argue that these sections of the community need protection that cannot be provided by the current mechanisms of local democratic accountability.
Click here for link to report
On 23 September, the Government published its formal response to the recommendations and conclusions set out in the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee report on localism.
Click here for link to Government response