As promised, photos from Hazel's trip to South Asia are now available on our flickr photostream. Enjoy!

Admin team.

We will shortly be posting video clips from Hazel's recent trip to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to accompany her blog posts.

Hazel is off on recess at the moment. This blog will resume again in September.

Admin Team

I'm now back in the UK after an incredibly busy but wonderful trip to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

On the last day of my trip - last Friday - I flew to Sylhet to visit the region where a large part of the Bangladeshi community in the UK comes from. I had a series of meetings with members of the community there as well as Bangladeshis from the UK who are investing in Sylhet. I was struck by the strong links between the two countries and people's willingness to give something back to their community. 

I then visited two primary schools where the children were enthusiastic and engaged. The lessons focussed on active learning and the children took part in games, and singing to help them learn the basics. We then went to a women's empowerment project for the employees of a tea estate in the area. The young women spoke passionately about their desire for more vocational training and access to skills. Listening to them and seeing the children at the school gave me great hope about the future of Bangladesh and reinforced to me the importance of giving people a voice and the ability to influence their own lives.

After returning to Dhaka, I took part in a call in programme on Radio Today. I had a very warm welcome from staff at the station - including a delicious cake - and had a chance to chat everyone working there. The radio interview covered subjects ranging from Preventing Violent Extremism, climate change, and even healthy eating. I really enjoyed interacting with the calls and text messages from listeners and was impressed with the radio station's breadth of coverage and energy.

I had a brief chance to reflect on the trip with my colleagues on Friday evening in the Dhaka airport departure lounge and we all agreed that it had been a very worthwhile and moving trip. There were several messages that came through from all the countries that we visited and I have been inspired to take these back and ensure that they inform the department's work.  This trip has reinforced to me that there is more that we all have in common than that divides us no matter what our religion or nationality and that it is absolutely crucial to keep working to give people a real stake and voice in their future.

We started the day in Delhi, where we had a meeting with some members of a group called the Indian Muslim Women’s Movement. The group is involved practical work and campaigning to improve the position of Muslim women in Indian society. The women we met were deeply passionate about their work. Listening to their stories, I was struck by their optimism despite the obstacles they face, and the limited resources at their disposal. Their commitment was typical of so many of the dedicated, strong, courageous people we have met on this trip.

I have now arrived in Bangladesh - the third and final country of my visit to the sub-continent. We’re in Dhaka, the capital, which is a bustling, modern city, but also green and leafy.

This evening the High Commissioner hosted a dinner for me and my officials at the Residence and there was some very lively discussion on current issues in Bangladesh and Britain. It reinforced to me how different the situations in each of the countries that we have visited so far are and how important this trip is for me to learn more about the countries where many British people come from and have links with.

Tomorrow is our last day and it’s got a full schedule of visits, meetings and press briefings. I’m looking forward to seeing a bit more of Bangladesh before heading home to the UK where I’m hoping to have some time to reflect on all the marvellous experiences and impressions from the last few days.

Today we left Pakistan and crossed the border into India.

Our first stop was Amritsar, where we visited the Sikh Golden Temple. It was a spectacular sight and I was very moved by the important Sikh beliefs about inclusion and the recognition that there are many routes to God through different faiths.

(Edit: Photo added on 5th Aug)

After a moving visit to the JaIlianwala Bagh, which is a memorial to a massacre which took place in 1919, we made our way to Delhi.

In Delhi I had a series of meetings including with the Minorities Minister and the Minister for Local Government. I also visited a Hindu temple and Sufi shrine.

These meetings and visits reinforced to me the fact that the issues we all face - whether as Sikhs or Hindus, Pakistanis, Indians or British - are similar at heart.

This trip is giving me the opportunity to think and reflect on the work that I do back in the UK and to see how much we all have in common.

It is very important to me that this visit is the beginning of ongoing work and relationships between my department and the people we have met out here. I know my officials are busy completing lists of follow-up points from our visit and I’m sure they are going to have a very busy rest of the summer when we get back.

It’s been another intense and busy day here in Pakistan but I am really enjoying my trip.

This morning we left Islamabad and drove south-east to a small village called Bhera. I had the most wonderful welcome from the villagers there, who were incredibly friendly and open, presenting me with garlands and gifts. They had even arranged a display of camel dancing - I’ll post a photo when I get the chance. I was so touched by their generosity and kindness.

(Edit: Photos added on 1st Aug:)

At Bhera, I also visited a seminary which teaches not only theological studies but also a secular curriculum. I had the chance to talk to current students, both male and female; and a former student, Irfan Chisti, with whom I work in the UK, was there to take part in the discussions on the teaching and to make a presentation on the seminary’s ambitious plans for the future. I was so encouraged to see the activities of the seminary and to see all their hard work.

The Principal of the seminary told me a story which made a huge impression on me. He said, “Once a visitor came to see a great Sufi thinker and brought him a pair of scissors as a gift. The Sufi thanked him and told him that next time he came he must bring a needle as a gift because Sufis are not about cutting things up but sewing them together.”

This image has stayed with me and I am determined to bring this message to my work as well: to build strong communities we need to focus on sewing things together, not cutting them apart.

I am writing from Islamabad, in Pakistan, where I have come on a short trip to find out about the local approach to preventing extremism. I am keen to strengthen the relationship between Pakistan and the UK and see how we can work together to ensure that as well as a security response to the threat that extremism poses, we develop a community-based response - working with local people to tackle this problem head-on.

One of my priorities is looking at work with women and young people to ensure that their voices are heard and to see what they can contribute.

I've had a busy and intense first day, but it's also been really exciting and eye-opening. This morning I went to visit a women's university - the Fatima Jinnah Women's University (see photo below) - where I talked to some of the staff and participated in discussions with the pupils on topics including "women's leadership roles in Pakistan" and "preventing extremism in the UK and Pakistan." The girls were articulate and passionate and we had some really good discussions which filled me with great optimism, as these girls are the future of this country.

As an ice-breaker exercise at the university the girls were asked to think of a word that summed up the UK for them, and my colleagues and I were asked for a word that summed up Pakistan for us. I said that the word for me was warmth: warmth of the welcome I have received, warmth of the people I have met and warmth of the weather here! I have only been here for a day now, but already I have met so many people who have inspired me. I’m looking forward to the rest of my trip and seeing what the coming week holds.

The videos I promised last week are all available at: www.communities.gov.uk/communitiesvideoclips.

I hope you have enjoyed my 7 day blog on the Communities in Control White Paper. It’s been a really good experience doing this and I appreciate all the time you’ve spent commenting on the site.

I wanted to tell you about an event I attended last week where I saw for myself a powerful example of a community working together to deliver something special. It was the Hermitage Riverside Memorial Garden in Wapping - a statue and garden to commemorate the people injured or killed in the Blitz on the East End. A community campaign came together and worked through all the obstacles, and has created a fantastic legacy for future generations. It shows the importance of 'people power'.

As some of you may have seen, I have decided to extend my foray into twittering and I’d like to do the same with my blog. I’ll be widening the topics I blog about and will continue to update it in the coming weeks - so keep your eyes peeled for updates on my recess adventures!

In addition, I will also be writing a weekly blog on the http://www.totalpolitics.com site.

Finally, we will continue to make more video clips available over the next few days so keep your eye on the site for the latest updates.

Written on 17 July

Thanks again for you comments - a slightly longer post today as I missed a day earlier in the week. I wanted to pick up on a comment made by Toby Flux (10 July). Toby made the point about Councillors and residents having to battle to get simple things done. I know that his can be incredibly disheartening and I want to encourage more powers for backbench councillors. I wanted to mention that we will shortly be implementing the Local Government and Public Involvement Health Act 2007 which will bring more power to councillors and should begin to make a real difference.

I also wanted to pick up on Bear's post (13 July). Bear you make some great points in your post, thank you - you also mentioned a glossary of terms being needed for White Papers to help local communities understand the technical terms. It is very important to me that we talk in simple every-day language that people can understand. We have tried really hard with this White Paper to make the language much plainer and clearer and attempted to limit the jargon.

In addition we are also looking at other ways to share information with the local community and seek their views. I'd like to draw your attention to our new Community Power Packs which are designed to support community groups in giving feedback to government. Have a look at the website and find out more. Please let your local networks know about the packs so that they can benefit too.

This morning I was pleased to go and speak at an Empowerment in Action conference where I made the keynote address and took part in a question and answer session. I made a point in my speech that I thought I would share with you too.

When we launched the White Paper, someone asked me in parliament, when people get up tomorrow, will they feel the difference? Now I have a great faith in the power of politics, but even I think it's a tall order to expect a white paper to revolutionise life overnight. 

I think it would be more realistic to judge its impact over years, not months.

I will count it a success if five years from now we have more people coming out to vote, more people understanding local politics, more people having a real say in decisions they care about, more people stepping up to stand as local councillors.

So I hope plenty of you will be inspired to read the White Paper, to see how it could make a difference to you, and to take up some of the new opportunities it offers. Whether it's petitioning your council, applying for new funding for your community group, or standing for your council.

Some short video clips from our case studies echoing the thoughts that making empowerment happen is something we need to do collectively will be posted here soon. These clips show some of the amazing things that can happen when people get involved.

Thanks to all of you who have posted your comments on my blog and the forum pages on the communities site.

Picking up on Hilary Mason's point on Monday, I absolutely agree that there are a number of ways for young people to get involved locally and we should certainly be supporting young people to make the most of all opportunities available. As I mentioned on day two I was privileged to visit South City Radio on White Paper launch day to meet some more young people getting involved in their local area. A short video of my visit there will be posted on here shortly.

Something else I wanted to pick up on from your comments is about the importance of equipping people to become active citizens. Trevor Burchick (10 July) makes an important point about the new City and Guilds Award in active citizenship. Trevor - thanks for your post, you too are an inspiration to me. iPAC is very important and should certainly be supported. MJ (14 July) echos this point and the iPAC qualification is a great step towards enabling people to gain the skills and confidence they need.

Operation Black Vote (OBV) is another organisation supporting the development of individuals to become active citizens. OBV runs shadowing, mentoring and citizenship projects which in their own words are designed to "inform, inspire and/or nurture the next generation of BME decision makers." It's inspiring to see so many organisations committed to the same aim.

I have some more video clips from Operation Black Vote and another of our White Paper case studies - Coin Street Community Builders that will be posted here shortly.

Thanks again for your comments - don't forget to look at my Twitter channel if you have a spare few minutes throughout the day.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the London Councils Summit, which focused on the theme of community leadership. I really enjoyed this lively and engaging event and I was particularly impressed with the diverse mix of people who had taken the time out of their weekend to come along.

London Councils used the summit to promote their 'Be a Councillor' campaign  - the aim of the campaign is to help raise awareness about the work of local councils and councillors, with the view to encouraging more people to consider standing for office.

Several hundred people attended the event and some of these were members of the public who are interested in becoming local councillors. In particular, through this campaign, they are hoping to increase the participation of under-represented groups such as people aged under 45, women, and people from minority ethnic backgrounds.

This is something I am also really keen to support and in Communities in control: real people, real power we similarly look at ways to promote the role of councillors. 

One of the things we're going to do is to introduce a ‘Duty to promote local democracy'. Basically this means that, where it doesn't happen already, councils will be required to reach out to people who would not normally consider standing as a councillor and encourage them to do so.

However, some people would like to build their skills and confidence levels before they feel able to get involved, so we're also supporting a ‘Local Take Part' campaign that will support local projects aiming to involve more people in decision making, including becoming a councillor. We also plan to make it easier for councils to tell people what councillors have been dong on their behalf by reviewing the code of publicity that they operate by.

Details of all these things and more are available on our website in our Response to the Councillors Commission publication (see the front cover above).

Today I thought I'd write a bit more about young people and how crucial I think they are to the aims and aspirations of the White Paper.

As I said yesterday, I'm so pleased that some young people from UpRising were able to join me at our launch event on Wednesday (see yesterday's post for pictures) and also that Akram Hussain (far left on the picture on the right), the Young Mayor from Tower Hamlets could be there too - if you'd like to know more then his case study is featured on page 87 of the White Paper.

I'm really keen to hear first hand about the issues facing our communities from a young person's perspective and in particular, to get their views on policy issues which have specific relevance to, or impact on young people.

If you haven't had a chance to look at it yet - please take a moment to read chapter 4 of the White Paper where it talks about some of the things that we plan to do. For example - a scheme for young people to shadow government ministers and other leading political figures - such as elected mayors; a programme of internships, in partnership with the National Institute for Youth Leadership and, through our support of the Young Advisors Charity, increasing the number of local areas with Young Advisors.

These plans should provide a great opportunity for a number of young people to gain close-up experience of the democratic process, whilst also giving ministers, councillors and those in leadership roles, the chance to spend time with and seek the views of the young people - future leaders - of this country.

It would be especially good to hear from any young people reading my blog or from those who work closely with young people and get your thoughts on our proposals.

Over the next few days I want to have a good look at the comments that I've had on my blog so far and come back to you on Monday with specific points on some of these - so please keep on sharing your thoughts.

Thanks again for reading. Have a great weekend!

What a day we had yesterday - It was fantastic!

I spent time in the morning briefing the press and then I had the pleasure of visiting some young DJs at South City Radio, a community radio station for the south London area, where I was interviewed about the White Paper. The radio station is a great example local communities coming together to discuss and take action on the issues that effect them most.

After that I was straight to the Parliament to make my statement about the White Paper.

From Parliament I went directly to our official stakeholder launch at Cambridge House in Camberwell. What an inspiring place! For those who don't know, Cambridge House was founded in 1889 and was part of the settlement movement, which was all about the goodwill, compassion and commitment of people looking out for each other. 

Over the past 119 years that principle has always been at the heart of Cambridge House, as it impressively adapted to changing times.

For example, in the 1900s, when unemployment was rife, the centre opened a Labour Exchange. In the 1950s, in the wake of immigration from the Commonwealth, it opened a nursery for West Indian women and children. In the 1960s, determined that no-one should be left behind as a post-war generation discovered opportunities undreamt of by their parents, it started adult literacy classes.

During these changing times a wide range of people have been involved in keeping it running - from Cambridge graduates, to local volunteers, to paid staff. I heard lots of stories about what Cambridge House is remembered for: one person remembers it as somewhere that arranged for their great uncle to go hop-picking and another as somewhere that gave their grandfather free shoes in the war!

Here's me below with the staff from Cambridge House including Claire Gilhooly, Chief Executive (2nd from left).

We had a really good time at the event, talking about the White Paper and I gave a short speech outlining what it all stands for. I was also pleased to welcome my colleague Phil Hope MP, Minister for Third Sector to share the microphone and outline more about our new £70m Communitybuilders programme which will support community organisations across England to acquire and run community buildings, provide local services and become more financially self sustainable.

It was also a really important time to spend talking with many of our delivery partners who are so instrumental in making things happen. I particularly enjoyed talking to the young people from UpRising, Akram, Alvin, Hollie and Charlotte (pictured below) and was so pleased that they could join me at the launch event.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the day.

For those who haven't seen the introductory film on the White Paper, see my video below:

Format: swf
Duration: 00:00:30

Thank you for reading my blog. I’m really pleased to have launched the White Paper 'Communities in control: real people, real power' today.

This White Paper is really important to me - it marks a significant shift of power into the hands of communities and local people. Lots of good work goes on across the country already but there is more to do if we are really going to make a difference to the numbers of and ways that people can get involved in local decision making.

We want to make these changes because we believe that local people are capable and willing to take difficult decisions and solve complex problems for themselves. It is right that at the centre, we should set national priorities and minimum standards and make sure that resources are distributed fairly but we don’t have the all the answers when it comes to deciding how things should done on a street by street basis.

The White Paper is split into key questions that we think people are asking and over the next few days I want to cover some of these things in more detail but as an overview the document covers the following topics:

- being active in your community
- access to information
- having an influence
- challenge
- redress
- standing for office; and
- ownership and control.

Please read my blog for the next seven days to keep up-to-date with the latest news on what we're doing on empowerment. I’m going to blog until Friday 18 July 2008. Please send me your comments via this blog, or posting a comment on our discussion forum. You can also keep up to date with empowerment news by following our seven day twitter channel which will run alongside the life of this blog. I hope to hear from as many of you as possible. 

Tomorrow I will give you an update on how the launch went and my initial thoughts on reactions so far.