Your government needs you!

By Christopher Gogulein

We Need You Image The government is seeking the views of the general public on the development of a new, long term strategic approach to local government in England which will help to improve local delivery of services and increase citizen engagement and participation.

Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford said: “Local government plays a vital role in today’s society, serving local needs and priorities and providing effective, democratically accountable leadership to local communities. Good local government is essential to create the prosperous, inclusive and sustainable communities at the heart of this Government's agenda. He continued: “I hope that all those with an interest in local government will add their voices to this conversation, to identify an effective 10-year vision and the challenges that we must overcome to achieve it.”

The government have identified a range of issues that they would like to consult on such as:

How to develop strong and vibrant community leadership
How to improve citizen engagement and participation in government
How to improve service delivery
How to create a new relationship between central, regional and local government

The Government is keen to hear the views of all those involved in local leadership and local service delivery.

Views on this debate can be emailed to: localvision@odpm.gsi.gov.uk, sent via the ODPM Website, or sent to the ODPM by post. (Please see web site for postal address.)

Over the coming months, the ODPM will also host and participate in a range of meetings and seminars across England to debate the future of local government.