Localism Resources - VSNW | Voluntary Sector North West

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Voluntary Sector North West
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M12 6FZ
Tel: 0161 276 9300
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Email: info@vsnw.org.uk

Localism Resources for VCS Groups

VSNW believes that local voluntary and community sector groups should be supported to take a lead in defining Localism. We have therefore written to MPs in the North West asking them to talk to local groups.

We would like local groups to talk to MPs and outline a vision of localism that belongs to them.

Getting the Localism Bill Right (May 2011), VSNW’s guide to the Localism Bill, highlights six key areas of the Bill and proposes six principles that could be used to shape and define “Localism”:

Principle 1: "That Localism is open and inclusive for all local people"

Principle 2: "Communities should have a say in making decisions that affect them"

Principle 3: "Local services should be shaped by and accountable to local communities"

Principle 4: "That Localism promotes a caring and broad sense of community"

Principle 5: "That the assets of the state are owned on behalf of our communities"

Principle 6: "That Localism builds local strength without becoming solely inward-looking"

The impact on equalities is at the forefront of our thinking on localism and we hope Principle 1 begins to demonstrate this. Who will get the 'decentralised power'?

We have published further guidance on the Localism Bill, and its implications for voluntary and community sector groups, The Localism Bill, decentralisation and local voluntary action (Briefing #50, 17 December 2010).

The following presentation may also be of use (also available in .pdf format here):

Localism Bill presentation

View more presentations from voluntarysectornorthwest

Key links

DCLG's guide:
- Decentralisation and the ‘Localism Bill’: an essential guide which outlines how the Bill and other DCLG policies, through six areas of activity, will shift us “from Big Government to Big Society”.

Equalities:
- The implications of Localism for VCS Equalities Groups

The Bill and progress through Parliament:
- Latest Bill document and Parliament online web-pages
- To subscribe to email updates to the Bill
- All submissions to the Localism Bill Select Committee
- A comprehensive summary of the debate so far and the thinking behind the legislation:
  Localism Bill: Committee Stage Report (12th April 2011)

Relevant VSNW Briefings (available on our Briefings web-page):
- #54: Big Society, Localism and the Environment
- #51: GP Consortia and the Health Transition Period
- #50: The Localism Bill, decentralisation and local voluntary action
- #44: Public Services (Social Value & Social Enterprise) Bill
- #42: New model regeneration and Local Enterprise Partnerships
- #41: New Geographies
- #36: Big Society: Step by step

National VCS resources:
- Real Power for Communities (RP4C) campaign (an alliance of national voluntary sector agencies)
- RP4C’s submission to Localism Bill Select Committee
- NAVCA/RP4C's Briefing on the Localism Bill (May 2011) - a good summary of principles and values that expounds on VSNW's Getting the Localism Bill Right in more detail. ** A VSNW RECOMMENDED READ **
- Urban Forum’s Localism Bill links

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