POWER TO THE PEOPLE - The Lib Dem plan to devolve spending powers to communities

BRISTOL is about to take a giant step towards real local democracy. The ruling Liberal Democrats on the city council are announcing their new flagship policy for neighbourhood devolution.
It’s going to mean radical change for the way the council operates - and much greater power for communities to fund and control services.
Neighbourhood partnerships, each based on two or three neighbouring council wards and made up of ward councillors and representatives of the community, the voluntary sector and key agencies such as the police, will have responsibility for a devolved budget, allowing them to control locally a number of council services.
At the moment, just one Bristol person in three is happy with local services, according to a recent survey. Only one in four feel they have any influence on local decision-making and many people say they want to become more involved in this process.
Now they will be able to take real decisions on a range of services, such as parks, some road maintenance and community centres.
The council plans to build on the success of this project in future years, devolving further services as the neighbourhood partnerships and the new decision-making progress bed in.
This is one of the most radical changes ever in the way Bristol is governed, and there may be teething problems on the way. But Liberal Democrats believe in taking decision-making powers as close as possible to the communities decisions affect.
The administration believes this is an idea whose time has come and will ensure that it is introduced responsibly and effectively.
Barbara Janke, Lib Dem leader and leader of the city council, said: “This is a major culture change. The council has been strongly centralised for far too long. Our project is about breaking the habits of a lifetime.”