PM must trust local communities—Power to Change on Autumn Statement

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'Community business can help beleaguered local authorities improve what they offer their citizens'
23 Nov, 2016

There will be no ‘society which work for everyone’ unless people have power to design and run local services, argues independent trust Power to Change.

Responding to this afternoon’s Autumn Statement, Vidhya Alakeson, CEO at Power to Change, said:

When she took office, Theresa May declared that her government would not be driven by the interests of elites but would work for everyone.

However, the government’s efforts to support “just about managing” families risk being thwarted by the gloomy economic backdrop. Children’s centres, libraries and leisure facilities will be threatened with closure as local authority budgets are squeezed ever tighter.

In many areas, the only option for keeping these vital services open will be for communities to work closely with their local authorities to take them over and run them as community businesses.

This can improve services by bringing them closer to those they are intended to benefit. The growth of community business can help beleaguered local authorities improve what they offer their citizens, while meeting the now almost impossible financial challenge of another parliament of cuts’.

Vidhya’s full blog in response to the Autumn Statement can be read at: https://www.powertochange.org.uk/blog/