Trailblazer councils commit to keeping it local

The first pioneering councils to demonstrate their commitment to supporting local community organisations and sign up to Locality’s Keep it Local Network have been revealed.

Following a series of high profile failures across the country, Keep it Local councils are moving away from bureaucratic commissioning and big outsourcing contracts and are instead choosing to unlock the power of community by commissioning local community organisations that put local people at the heart of the services they receive.  

In total, 11 councils from across the country have become the the first to sign up to the charity’s new national network committed to keeping local services in the hands of local community organisations. These are Bristol City Council, Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Calderdale Council, Hackney Council, Kirklees Council, Lewisham Council, Newcastle City Council, Oldham Council, Rotherham Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Wirral Council.

The Keep it Local trailblazer councils have committed to the six Keep it Local principles, appointed champions in their cabinet and senior leadership team and have committed to working with Locality to assess and improve their current practice.

The six Keep it Local principles are: think about the whole system and not individual service silos; coordinate services at the neighbourhood level; increase local spend to invest in the local economy; focus on early intervention now to save costs tomorrow; commit to your community and proactively support local organisations; and commission services simply and collaboratively so they are local by default.

Locality is now calling on other councils to sign up to the Keep it Local Network. Local community organisations have multiple advantages over large national organisations, including keeping public resources invested in the local economy and having in depth local knowledge and connections built up over many years.

Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, said: “As an authority we are absolutely committed to setting the standard on keeping it local – in how we commission our services, in how we build power locally and how we support community capacity. But making these shifts is often easier said than done. There are huge challenges that aren’t getting any easier in the context of ongoing austerity. So we’re delighted to be part of a movement of like minded Keep it Local councils, that can help us ‘occupy the rhetoric’ and create real change together.”

Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle Council, said: “Supporting the Keep it Local principles has to be about a partnership between the voluntary and community sector and the local authority to make sure that the wealth we create and spend is kept in the local area. If we do this well, we will be creating sustainable, good quality jobs that pay a decent living wage and investing in the skills and capacity of the people of Newcastle.”