Please nominate a member of your staff/ team to attend this FREE event (see booking form attached, places on a first come, first served basis).
Recently, involving and empowering local communities in all areas of local public service activity has taken on an increasingly higher profile with national policy makers.
The Secretary of State for Local Government, Hazel Blears, has made a strong case for making community engagement central to local service delivery:
"Bringing government closer to people, passing power from Whitehall to the town hall and direct to local communities, isn't just the right thing to do. It's the best way to revitalise the local roots of our democracy... the surest way of making local services reflect people's needs [and] the only way we can get to grips with some of the biggest challenges we face - from climate change to childhood obesity."
The 'Duty to Involve', which originates from the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, becomes a statutory duty as of 1 April 2009 for local authorities and Fire and Rescue authorities, with proposals to extend the duty to a much wider range of organisations in the newer legislation, 'The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill' which also makes legislative provisions for the 2008 Local Government White Paper: 'Communities in Control: real people, real power'.
The South East has an impressive heritage in Community Empowerment, but as the largest Government Office region there are lots of organisations for whom Empowerment is still a mountain to climb. This FREE event will showcase just some of the empowerment activity in the region and is an ideal opportunity to hear from those who are heavily involved in delivering empowerment initiatives and are willing to share their experience and knowledge with you.
Please see the attached booking form for further information.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Mason
Neighbourhood Training and Resource Centre (South East)
