A blueprint for ‘double devolution’

The Labour Party has begun to set out a vision for a community-powered politics. We’re Right Here strongly welcomes the findings of the Commission on the UK’s Future, chaired by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as Keir Starmer’s promise of a Take Back Control Bill which would embed “a politics which trusts communities with the power to control their destiny”.

We believe that Labour is right to try to turn ‘take back control’ from a slogan into a solution. But if their empowerment agenda stops at local councils and does not go on to empower local communities themselves as well, then it will fail to meet people’s desire for greater control.

The task before Labour now is to build upon the foundations raised by the Brown Commission – developing a proposal for a Take Back Control Bill to enable local people to exercise a meaningful level of control over the spaces, services and spending decisions which shape their places and futures.

power would reach all parts of the country – not just those places where people have lots of time and resource.

Today we have published a briefing which sets out how Labour can convert a principled commitment to community power into practical policy action, by introducing statutory Community Covenants and a range of new community rights.

Our proposal for a Community Power Act provides a practical blueprint to give all communities an equal opportunity to have a say over their lives. It could be enacted in the first 100 days of a new government, thereby meeting the urgent demand for greater control.

if their empowerment agenda does not go on to empower local communities themselves as well, then it will fail to meet people’s desire for greater control.

And crucially, power would reach all parts of the country – not just those places where people have lots of time and resource.

If Labour incorporate these measures into a Take Back Control Bill, the party will enter the next General Election with a credible plan to restore the British public’s faith that the system can work for them. A plan to address the feelings of alienation and disempowerment which have upended our politics in recent years; to turbocharge the development of the locally led, prevention-focused services we need; and to tackle the inequalities in health and wealth which are holding Britain back.