What is localism?

Localismemphasises the value of local activities, and means greater trust in local people to do what’s best for their community rather than for the country. It puts power into the hands of local people, who are best placed to understand and address the needs of their communities. Localism has also been called ‘decentralisation,’ which describes the process of transition from central control to local control.

Who’s leading on it?

The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) lead on localism under Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark.

The Bill became the Localism Act in November 2011. There are five key measures to the Act (below), but it is the Community Rights which affect the voluntary sector most and will be elaborated on in this briefing:

  • Community rights, including right to challenge and right to bid
  • Neighbourhood planning, allowing communities to have their say on where new housing, businesses and other elements of communities should go
  • Housing, devolving power to local councils to decide how best to manage homelessness, social housing and lengths of tenancies to suit household needs, and allowing communities to challenge disproportionate council tax rises
  • Empowering cities and other local areas, granting more power to the ‘core’ cities (including Nottingham) to foster economic growth and local accountability
  • General power of competence for councils, giving them more flexibility to act in the best interests of the city without concern about excessive red tape

What does this mean for the voluntary sector?

The main issues for the voluntary sector are likely to be around community rights.

Community Right to Bid

The ‘Community Right to Bid’ gives communities a chance to save local assets (e.g.; facilities, buildings, businesses or land) which are threatened with closure.

There are two elements to the Right to Bid. Firstly, community groups and local individuals will have the right to nominate local assets which they think have ‘community value’, such as a local community centre, library or village shop. If the local authority agrees, and there are no substantial objections from the owner, these assets will be listed on a register of local public and private assets.

Secondly, if at some point in the future these assets come up for sale, community groups will be given 6 months to prepare a bid to take them over before the asset goes to open market. Then, the owner will be free to sell to any bidder on the open market at full price - there is no obligation to sell to the community group. This had previously been marked as the Community Right to Buy, but now only allows groups the right to bid and time to prepare a bid and raise necessary funds.

Community Right to Challenge

The ‘Community Right to Challenge’ gives voluntary and community groups, parish councils and local authority employees the chance to make their good ideas happen. If they express an interest in taking over the running of a local public service, the Community Right to Challenge requires the local authority to consider this challenge and triggers a procurement process.

If the local authority accepts the challenge, it does not give the group that submitted the expression of interest the right to deliver the service. It triggers a procurement exercise that is open to other organisations too.So, while there is no guarantee that the group that initiates the challenge will become the eventual provider of the service, it does give the voluntary sector a better chance than it had before to drive improvements in local services.

What risks and opportunities are there for the voluntary sector?

This Act is designed to offer greater power for local communities and groups to have an influence in their local area. The idea is to focus on the work of smaller local charities rather than larger national ones, and freeing local people from bureaucracy who know what their community needs to improve where they live.

Moreover, councils will be given more say over how budgets are spent due to fewer national targets and centrally allocated funds, meaning engagement with local councillors could reap more rewards for smaller groups.

Some real concerns have been voiced by the voluntary sector:

  • It is not clear what support will be available to groups taking over public services. Once the service is handed over, there is no provision for a handover or ongoing support from the council. There is a worry that the sector could end up biting off more than it could chew.
  • The period given for a community group to put together a bid under the Community Right to Buy is short (six months) given the amount of money that would need to be found in order to successfully raise the market value.
  • The Community Right to Challenge may open up public services to be taken over by the private sector. Although the challenge cannot be initiated by the private sector, the procurement exercise risksthe private sector bidding successfully. This has little or no regard for the added value of local providers.

What does the local voluntary and community sector need to do?

Start thinking about the public services that the voluntary sector in Nottingham runs, or could run. This is an opportunity for the sector to get really involved in making the city better, in spite of the risks.

The Community Right to Bid gives the sector a chance to highlight services it thinks it can run for the benefit of the city.The sector needs to work together to identify these and work with the council to make it clear that they would like these listed on the forthcoming asset register. It’s important to be open about this process and ask for feedback, as it might be the only chance – once you take over a public service, it’s yours.

Most importantly, start talking to your local councillors. The Localism Act gives more power to charities to open up procurement processes but does not guarantee they can run public services. By working with local councillors and highlighting the value of local voluntary and community groups over national or private sector providers, the support of your councillors when the procurement process opens could be really beneficial. The Localism Act gives greater flexibility and control to local areas, and strengthening your links with your local councillor by outlining how you help their community will inform them of services being run in their area, giving them political capital. It’s important to explain the mutual benefits.

Updated December 2011

Ferg Slade, NCVS Policy and Campaigns Officer

0115 934 8416 /