Local Government White Paper – “Strong and Prosperous Communities”

The relationship that the voluntary and community sector has with local government is a crucial one. There are clear mutual advantage in both sectors working together to address the needs of local communities of interest and geography. As we move towards more accountable and responsive services at local level Black communities are asking themselves ‘Is this another paper exercise where rhetoric and empty words replace the kind of action  needed to create full employment within BME communities by extend choice and increasing real opportunities?’.  The  Black Voluntary and Community Sector is keen to see a more positive working relationship develop with their local authority through a variety of collaborative means including grant aided activities, contracts for public service delivery and partnership initiatives underpinned by sound local compact development and review processes. Their engagement to date with the neighbourhood renewal and in LAA process has resulted in very little outcome so far.

The aim of the White Paper Strong and Prosperous Communities is to give local people and local communities more influence and power to improve their lives. It is about creating strong, prosperous communities and delivering better public services through a rebalancing of the relationship between central government, local government and local people. There are nine chapters and annexes on its implications for areas such as community safety, health and well-being, the economy, housing and planning, children and young people, the third sector and climate change. The substantive chapters cover:

• Responsive services and empowered communities
• Effective, accountable and responsive local government
• Strong cities and strategic regions
• Local government as strategic leader and place-shaper
• Performance framework
• Efficiency in transforming local services
• Community cohesion

The range of proposals designed to strengthen local communities includes devolving more responsibility to local authorities, but with a duty on them to cooperate with other statutory partners at the local level, and to engage with other partners including the VCS.

One chapter (G in volume 2) specifically addresses the relationship between local government and the third sector.

Key points for the VCS include:

• explicit recognition that to deliver the ambitions in the White Paper local government will need to work with the third sector, including a new duty to ensure participation of local citizens and voluntary and community groups
• a clear expectation that the local third sector will be actively involved with all Local Strategic Partnerships to help shape local areas
• recognition of the broad range of roles the sector plays at the local level - shaping and designing services, representation and advocacy, and lobbying and influencing policy
• the need for better and more sustainable funding, including an acknowledgement that grants have a crucial role to play, and an expectation of three year grant funding
• better procurement practice based on Compact principles and Treasury guidance   and
• proposals to make it easier for communities and community groups to take on the management or ownership of community assets

Community cohesion

Chapter Eight focuses on the leadership role of local authorities in relation to community cohesion.  The importance of partnership working and the role of LSPs and LAAs are also discussed.  Amongst the proposals in this chapter, the DCLG plans to;

• work with local authorities and their partners to identify those places where cohesion should be a local priority reflected in improvement targets in LAAs and work with them on how they should address local challenges;
• emphasise the importance of promoting community cohesion through LSPs and Sustainable Community Strategies;
• support the establishment of forums on extremism in parts of the country where it is necessary. These will be strategic groups attended by key local partners, such as police and third sector organisations, acting as a hub for local projects aimed at tackling extremist activities;

The BME Sub-Regional Infrastructure Group have produced a summary document in response to the White Paper and this can be downloaded from the BSWN Website or follow the following link:

Summary of White Paper - BME Sub-Regional Inf Group.pdf

The White Paper which is published in two parts, plus a summary can be downloaded from the following links:


Strong and Prosperous Communities - the Local Government White Paper (Vol 1)(PDF 1691 Kb) 

Strong and Prosperous Communities - the Local Government White Paper (Vol 2) (PDF 624 Kb) 

Strong and Prosperous Communities - the Local Government White Paper (Summary) (PDF 339 Kb)