There will be no \u2018society which work for everyone\u2019 unless people have power to design and run local services, argues independent trust Power to Change.<\/p>\n
Responding to this afternoon\u2019s Autumn Statement, Vidhya Alakeson, CEO at Power to Change, said:<\/p>\n
\u2018When she took office, Theresa May declared that her government would not be driven by the interests of elites but would work for everyone<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u2018However, the government\u2019s efforts to support \u201cjust about managing\u201d families risk being thwarted by the gloomy economic backdrop. Children\u2019s centres, libraries and leisure facilities will be threatened with closure as local authority budgets are squeezed ever tighter<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u2018In 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u2018This 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<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n