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.

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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.

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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. The programme was launched in 2003 as a joint Department for Communities and Local Government and Local Government Association initiative to support capacity building and improvement activities within local authorities in England.

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