Local authority leaders say they will work with Government ministers to develop ways of giving local people more influence over decision making. But, in a response to the proposals in the draft legislative programme, the Local Government Association said they would resist any new bureaucratic rules.
The programme includes a Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill, a Business Rates Supplements Bill and a housing reform green paper, which is to be published later this year. 

Public authorities are getting new guidance on handling requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations. A new booklet, ‘Hints for Practitioners Handling FOI and EIR Requests’, has been produced jointly by the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

This independent report from the Policy Research Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University and the Cities Research Unit at the University of West of England describes what has worked, why and in what circumstances, in the drive to build capacity. It also looks to the future.