Nearly 70% of people say they would like their community to have more control over how local services are delivered, a new poll has revealed.
Published by the Effective Governance Forum (EGF), a new organisation campaigning for greater local control, the survey also found that 60% said they would be more likely to vote in local elections if they felt their council could make more decisions regarding their area.
The EGF said the poll of over 2,000 people, which was carried out by Savanta, supported the call in their new report, Decentralisation of UK Government, for ‘a huge shift of power from the UK’s over-centralised, London-based administration to local government’.
‘We see vibrant communities up and down the country delivering services that meet the needs of their city, town or village,’ said report co-author Tim Knox.
‘But the Westminster and Whitehall machine is unable to fix the problems of Wythenshawe, Widnes and Winchester. It is a centralised system that avariciously hogs power and impersonally imposes solutions on distant communities, blind to their real needs.
‘Westminster must let the people who know best take control of their own destinies.’
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