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‘Let’s make a bonfire of regulations’
Call for devolved power
THE council has called for more powers to be devolved to residents and communities in a major report published this week.
City Hall says power is too centralised in Whitehall and residents need to have a say over everything from business rates and police budgets to roadworks and licensing.
The report, titled Local Power, Better Results for Local People, blasts the government for a culture of red tape, and makes a number of recommendations. They include:
l giving councils control over Police Safer Neighbourhoods budgets;
l more flexibility over issueing of benefits payments;
l greater powers to control when and where roadworks can take place;
l overhaul of business rates system, allowing councils to keep more money collected locally.
In the report, council leader Colin Barrow said Westminster was strangled by more than 600 new regulations and 11 pieces of primary legislation every year.
He said: “Westminster, like most councils, can demonstrate that localism works, and local authorities are best placed to respond to the public need on a local level.
“We are limited in this role by over regulation, lack of funding and lack of real influence over the way key services are delivered and financed.
“Our proposals are designed to add to the public debate and illustrate how by devolving power and making a bonfire of the regulations we can improve results for local people and reinvigorate our local communities.” |
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