Denham proposes giving councils power
Author: The Guardian - Jun 17, 2009
A legally enforceable charter giving local councils powers to prevent unwarranted interference by central government is to be proposed by the communities secretary, John Denham.
Denham told the Guardian he also wanted to strengthen the role of local councillors so they do not just scrutinise spending by their authority, but any public spending in their area, including by the police and the local health service.
He will outline plans for the charter in a consultation document. He said: "I would like to bring together the various powers that local government has got, so we set down the relationship between local authorities and central government, and secondly to be clearer about when central government can intervene in local government affairs.
"There is still a welter of inspection, prescription and regulation … We need a document that sets out clearly the powers of the individual citizen, the powers of local government and the powers of central government".
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