- Ministers blandly go where no one wants to follow. Hugo
Young, Guardian, Tuesday July 3, 2001
- Electronic voting is long overdue. Guardian,
Thursday July 5, 2001
- Hearing other voices. Labour's new trade secretary challenges the
culture of tribal 'Labourism' in the party. Patricia
Hewitt, Guardian, Thursday July 5, 2001
- Many European governments give women candidates a leg up in the
competition for parliamentary seats. Britain should do likewise.
Guardian,
Thursday July 5, 2001
- Get the message before it comes to get you first. Dialogue is key to
improving relations with campaigners. Roger
Cowe, Observer, Sunday July 8, 2001
- Votes for and against elected mayors. Guardian
Letters Tuesday July 10, 2001
- Policy group can't vote on Labour plans. Richard
Moriarty Guardian Unlimited Friday July 27, 2001
- Plan to cut out politicians. Guardian
Thursday January 24, 2002
- MPs must answer for the NHS. Accountability for the state of the NHS
will always lie with politicians, no matter what changes are made to its
structure, argues David Walker. Guardian
Society Thursday January 24, 2002
- Digital democracy. It has a role but it can't replace
elections. Leader Guardian
Friday February 22, 2002
- Questions, questions: the key issues. Guardian
Thursday March 14, 2002.
Democracy, citizenship and political engagement
- The greatest good comes from the greatest fuss. Should politicians
relinquish direct control over the health service? Never, writes Peter
Davies. Status, strong leadership and political interference are just what
the doctor ordered. Peter Davies Society
Wednesday July 24, 2002
- Downing Street yesterday supported a sweeping programme for the third term
of a Labour government that would turn key parts of the public sector into
mutual organisations owned and controlled by local people and their users.
Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent
Thursday June 12, 2003 The Guardian
- Two years ago, the health secretary Alan Milburn publicly converted from
centralism to localism. Yesterday, in a second ministerial Damascene
conversion, the home secretary David Blunkett followed suit. Leader
Thursday June 12, 2003 The Guardian
- Councils to be let off the leash. Malcolm Dean
Wednesday August 13, 2003 The Guardian
- Don't leave it to the experts. 'No!' said the quangocrats. 'Absolutely
not!' But why shouldn't Joe Public serve on a public body? Martin Wainwright
Friday August 29, 2003 The Guardian
- Where is our new localism? Local government is failing to engage the
public, writes Peter Hetherington.
Wednesday October 8, 2003 The Guardian
- Letters
Wednesday January 28, 2004 The Guardian
- A new and effective arm of government may be rekindling interest in local
councils more than postal ballots and other voting reforms, a conference heard
yesterday. The three-year-old "scrutiny system", which puts councillors on the
spot in public grillings, has caught voters' imaginations. Its panels are
modelled on parliamentary select committees. Martin Wainwright
Thursday June 24, 2004 The Guardian
- More than 30 cities and towns in England are considering local bans on
smoking in public places following the government's refusal to implement
national rules. James Meikle, health correspondent
Thursday
March 3, 2005 The Guardian
- Miliband's threatening letters undermine his localism spin. Under Labour,
power has drifted to the centre; and despite the buzzwords there is no
intention to hand any of it back. Simon Jenkins
Wednesday February 22, 2006
- Vote for more democratic local services. Letters
Friday
February 24, 2006 The Guardian
- MPs need a veto. Leader
Monday February 27, 2006 The Guardian
- Giving power back to the people. Letters
Friday
March 3, 2006 The Guardian
- Small is good for democracy. Letters
Friday
May 5, 2006 The Guardian
- NHS group may
fight elections. NHS campaigners in
Oxfordshire are considering putting up candidates for election in order to
further their cause. The Keep Our NHS Public campaign has said there is a
growing groundswell of anger at slashes to the NHS, nationally and locally.
The chairman of the Oxford branch of the campaign said that, while there was
no chance he would run due to his green party affiliation, the campaign would
contest a suitable bye-election given the chance. He added that there was
increasing knowledge and awareness of the NHS crisis and that people were
starting to realise "what is at stake." Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust has had to
shed 600 jobs in making savings of £33m, though health bosses say there are
likely to be only 60 redundancies. The Keep Our NHS Public campaign is
planning a demonstration this Saturday starting at Hinksey Park at noon, then
moving towards Broad Street.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Oxford
Mail 10 October 2006
- Public given bigger say on spending. Every neighbourhood is to have
its own kitty to spend on transport and infrastructure under plans to be
unveiled on Thursday. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears will use her first
major speech in the job to signal an extension of the Government's attempts to
give residents a bigger say in their area. The latest initiative will see
larger swathes of councils' spending determined by communities themselves
through local debates, votes and public meetings. The public is already
invited to help allocate small pots of council cash according to local
priorities. But a series of pilots announced on Thursday will see that
principle extended to about £20 million of public money. Neighbourhoods will
be able to control how it is spent in areas ranging from key infrastructure
projects and transport to leisure facilities and youth services. Ministers
hope that the 10 pilots will be rolled out nationally within five years.
"Democracy should be about much more than casting a vote every few years," Ms
Blears will tell the Local Government Association in Birmingham. "It should be
a daily activity, not an abstract theory. Local people know the needs of their
area better than anyone. "This Government is delivering a real shift in power
to town halls, and ensuring town halls pass this on to local communities. We
want to bring devolution to the doorstep, giving communities a direct say over
how to tackle the things that matter most to them - from improving
playgrounds, to tackling litter, to making their street safer." Press
Association
Thursday July 5, 2007 Guardian
- Voters to get direct say on local spending. Cash for schemes such
as parks, litter and Asbos to be decided by ballot. Voters will be given
powers to decide how ten of millions of pounds should be spent in their
neighbourhood under radical plans being unveiled today. In a potentially
dramatic extension of direct democracy, councils will have to hold ballots
before deciding where money should be targeted. It would mean that, for the
first time, people could direct cash to areas that concern them most, such as
parks, curbing antisocial behaviour, targeting drug trouble spots or cleaning
up litter. The idea comes from Latin America where it is being rapidly
adopted. It began in 1989 in the southern Brazilian city of
Porto Alegre, but has swept through the region and some of the more
radically led cities. Thanks in part to the success of the scheme, the UN has
nominated Porto Alegre as the Brazilian city with the "best quality of life".
When Hazel Blears, the new communities secretary, outlines the scheme she will
say that she wants every neighbourhood to have control of some of the
council's cash within five years. She told the Guardian that communities will
be asked to take control of council budgets through local debates,
neighbourhood votes and public town meetings. She said she may introduce new
powers that will give people the right to petition councils. They would then
be under an obligation to consider it. She hinted strongly that even these
measures were not radical enough. As a start she will announce 10 national
pilot projects, to include Birmingham, Merseyside, Lewisham, Bradford,
Salford, Sunderland, Newcastle and Southampton. In the case of Sunderland the
council will set aside £23m of its budget over the next two years for local
residents to decide how the money is spent. Ms Blears said: "In these areas
people will be given a direct say on their big mainstream budgets. This is not
about small grant-making, such as a community chest of £5,000 to organise a
tea party. This is about involving the public in some of the big choices. The
public will be able to decide whether their priority is play areas, youth
facilities, traffic calming or more community wardens. It will be down to
them. The purpose of the pilot projects is to show that this can be done, and
you get better decisions. Participatory budgeting is not just consultation. It
is where people come together, set priorities and vote on what is going to
happen." She added: "I think the world has changed. I think voting every four
years and basically handing over responsibility and power to other people and
then doing nothing again for four years, I think our democracy is not like
that any more." The communities department has hired Church Action on Poverty
to act as a facilitator to help communities hold discussions on their
priorities before a vote. She admitted there is careful politics in that
"councillors must not feel their democratic mandate is bypassed, and instead
recognise that it will strengthen their relationship with their local
community" Ms Blears insisted: "My overriding belief is that people are
capable of making quite complex difficult decisions, setting priorities, doing
trade-offs if they are given the opportunity to do it. I have never believed
in a paternalistic society that tells people what is good for them. We are now
at a tipping point where there is a political will right across government to
devolve power. My task is to say how and what the practical ways in which we
can make this a reality for people." Ms Blears will also announce small-scale
funding for for projects in 20 areas where local authorities are to let
communities take ownership of their assets in line with the government's
recent Quirk review. Patrick Wintour, political editor
Thursday July 5, 2007 The Guardian
- A breath of fresh air. For decades I've fought for constitutional
reform. Now at last a leader has begun a proper debate. Tony Benn
Thursday July 5, 2007 The Guardian
- A local-level playing field. Will devolving power, renewing local
democracy and engaging communities bring benefits - as well as combat voter
apathy? We ask the experts. Interviews by Mary O'Hara
Wednesday July 11, 2007 The Guardian
- Council leaders demand power to sack failing police and hospital
chiefs. Council leaders would gain the power to sack underperforming
hospital chiefs and police commanders under proposals to be unveiled today by
a cross-party alliance on the Local Government Association. Sir Simon Milton,
its Conservative leader, will demand more control for local people over public
services which are run from Whitehall. He will tell the association's general
assembly in London: "When people in my area are demanding a change in the way
their area is policed, or asking why hospital infections are going up, then I
want the ability to put the concerns of people first. "I want to make the
local police chief and the NHS trust director accountable to the elected
representatives of the area. And I mean totally accountable. We cannot serve
the interests of local people if we cannot get rid of someone who does a bad
job." Milton will say problems of town centre violence and hospital superbug
outbreaks cannot be solved by government ministers who are unlikely to know
what is happening on the streets of every locality. Solutions require local
knowledge. John Carvel, social affairs editor
The
Guardian, Wednesday December 12 2007
- Health board
plans up for debate. Plans for direct elections to health boards
have been set out by the
Scottish Government.
Care & Health 09 January 2008
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