Give power to local communities

Since the day Unlock Democracy was born in 2007, and indeed before that as Charter 88, we’ve been campaigning to tackle the over-centralisation of power in our country. 

We believe power should be exercised as close to people as is practicable. 

That’s why we’re calling on the Government to bring forward a new devolution bill that takes power from Whitehall and puts it in the hands of local communities. More decisions should be taken in town halls, not by Ministers in Whitehall.

This won’t just lead to better democracy, but to better government.

The pandemic has exposed many systemic weaknesses in how we run our country. In many cases, councils have had to step in to rescue government services that were failing or absent.

Councils are directly elected by their local communities and understand the needs of their area better. But they’ve seen their powers and their funding cut back again and again in recent decades. 

Now is the time to reverse that trend.

One size doesn’t fit all. The needs of communities in Eastbourne are not going to be the same as communities in Bradford. The needs of communities in rural mid Wales are not the same as communities living in Edinburgh.

We know that recovery from the damage this pandemic has caused is not going to be easy. To make it a success, we need every level of government to play its part.

That’s why we’re urging the Government to bring forward plans to devolve power and funding to local communities across our country. A new, more balanced partnership between central and local government will be good for our democracy and good for our country.

If you agree, please sign our petition below.