27.05.14
Greater devolution to local authorities wanted by public – LGA poll
Decisions on critical services like housing, social care, health and education should be made locally, a new Local Government Association (LGA) commissioned opinion poll has revealed.
Of the nearly 2,000 respondents, around 60% stated that they ‘agree’ decisions should be made at a local authority level, rather than being set by the government.
The poll, carried out by TNS BMRB, also revealed that people living in the north east and south west of England are most eager to see greater devolution from central government to their local authority. Support for moving more decisions out of Whitehall and closer to people's homes ranges between 69% in the south west and 64% in the north east down to 52% among those living in London.
Sir Merrick Cockell, LGA chairman, said: “As the results of this poll clearly shows, people want more of the important decisions about their local services to be made at their town hall, not hundreds of miles away in Whitehall.
“To engage people in local democracy we need to give them a meaningful local vote. People feel disengaged because they see that councils have their hands tied when it comes to tackling too many of the big and important issues.”
A separate LGA poll published earlier this month showed that 76% of people in England trust their councillors to make decisions about local services.
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