'Community Empowerment Action Plan' announced

On 19th October Secretary of State for Communities Hazel Blears launched 'An Action Plan for Empowering Communities: Building on Success'.  The plan sets out how more people will be given more power over their communities in everything from tackling anti-social behaviour, managing social housing, tackling litter and fly tipping and improving playgrounds and parks.

The plan includes some good examples of people influencing decisions and services in their local area and you can find out more information about some of the activities mentioned (like 'participatory budgeting' and 'citizen's juries') on this site. You can also share your feedback with the team responsible for the action plan on a dedicated web forum.

If you want to go a step further and use one of these techniques to get the views of your community but need some help to get started, why not visit http://www.peopleandparticipation.net/? This useful site includes lots of helpful information and a really useful feature which can help you choose the best method for your particular situation. Key in a few basic facts about what you're trying to achieve, what your budget is and who you want to involve and out pop some suggestions and some relevant real life examples.

Why don't you give it a try and let us know how you get on? 

Useful links

Find out more about 'An Action Plan for Empowering Communities: Building on Success'

Download a copy of 'An Action Plan for Empowering Communities: Building on Success'

Read the Press Notice about 'An Action Plan for Empowering Communities: Building on Success'