Vol. 550 No. 4
471 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the progress which has been made with regard to restoring real decision making and power to local authorities and local people, with the specific priority to facilitate a new partnership with the community and voluntary sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8714/02]
The Government has implemented a major programme to renew the local government system since coming into office. The aim of this programme has been to promote local government which is democratically based, strong and engaged, properly financed and working in partnership with the community it serves. Substantial progress under the programme includes: constitutional recognition of local government; increased finance for local authorities by way of a statutorily based local government fund, backed up by a new and comprehensive financial management system; introduction of a wide range of customer service initiatives in local authorities, including one stop shops and customer action plans; significant new initiatives in human resource management; introduction of a representational payment and provision of a policy focused training and education programme for councillors; broadening local government's social inclusion role, including the establishment of pilot social inclusion units; setting up new local governance structures in the shape of county-city development boards and strategic policy committees. The whole programme has been underpinned by a modern legislative framework by way of the Local Government Act, 2001.
The strategic policy committees, SPCs, and county-city development boards, CDBs, have facilitated the wider community including sectoral interests, to have a substantial role in local government. The SPCs introduce the partnership model to local government, where the social partners, including the community and voluntary sector, and sectoral interests sit alongside councillors to formulate, monitor and review local government policy.
