Why I’m blogging

All my life I've been a firm believer in local activism. My whole political approach is anchored on the streets and estates of Salford. I am passionate about passing power to local communities. This is an important topic and to make it happen, we need to engage everyone. So I thought that writing a blog would be a good way to share more widely my thoughts and experiences as I launch Communities in control and a great way to seek your views too.

I believe that the best experts, advocates and leaders for local communities are local communities themselves. There’s as much common sense in your local community centre than in all the national think tanks and seminars in Whitehall put together. And there isn't a single service or development in Britain which hasn't been improved by actively involving local people.

I'm going to blog until Thursday 17 July 2008 and in that time, I hope to hear from as many of you as possible. If you would like to tell us your thoughts, but can’t participate right now, please get involved in our discussion forum.

During this time you will also be able to see where I am and what I am doing through our twitter channel.

Communities in Control: real people, real power sets out our proposals. The question that I have for you is - how should we make this happen?

I want to hear everyone’s views, from local citizens to local authorities. As a citizen - I’m keen to know what would make you get more involved in your local community? What are the barriers or challenges you face? What could we, or our colleagues in local government, do to make it easier?

For local authorities or organisations hoping to increase public participation - please tell us about your successes and challenges and what we can do together to get people more involved.