Communities for local Government

Welcome to the discussion forum about unlocking the talent of our communities. Our ambition is see every region, city, town and neighbourhood do well, not just the few. We want all British people to be able to rise to their full potential, for the benefit of all of us.

In this forum, we are asking for your views based on the questions posed in Unlocking the Talent. This discussion forum will run until 10 April 2008.

Globalisation means that no country can take its place in the world, or its prospects, for granted. In addition, significant social and demographic changes will continue to present complex challenges. People's expectations of public services and the demand for more responsive services, tailored to individual needs, are rising continuously. To respond in an innovative and effective way to all these challenges, we need to unlock the talent, knowledge and experience in our communities.

We are seeking your views to feed into our White Paper on empowerment in the summer to be published in the summer.

We would specifically like to hear your thoughts on how to actively involve people in:

• improving deprived areas through regeneration and promoting work and enterprise
• encouraging active citizenship, and reviving civic society and local democracy
• improving local public services by involving local users and consumers
• strengthening local accountability

Thanks for joining in what will be an interesting and lively debate on unlocking the talent in our communities. We want to hear from as wide a range of people as possible, so please let us hear your views on these questions.

Your contributions over the next few weeks will be used to inform the discussion on the essential issues for the development of the Empowerment White Paper.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Anne (Moderator)

I'm pleased to announce that the closing date for this forum has been extended until 2 May 2008.

Thank you to all those who have already participated.

Anne (moderator)

Many thanks to all those who have taken the time to write post a response over the last two months. All of your comments and suggestions have been passed to the policy writers and will be used to inform the development of the White Paper. Your comments have really helped us to understand the complexity and variety of the different policy responses that need to be made to enable people to become active citizens.

Whilst this forum has now closed we can still be contacted at unlockingtalent@communities.gsi.gov.uk.

Over the coming weeks we will continue to provide updates via our newsletter. Please visit http://haveyoursay.communities.gov.uk/newsletters/default.aspx. Once registered please select newsletters and subscribe to future editions.

You can also use the following link www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/powerpack to find out more about our Community Power Packs. These packs have been designed to help local groups to contribute to the empowerment debate by running a discussion group. Whilst the feedback from these events will be used to inform the development of the White Paper, they should not be limited to this and our aim is that over time we will develop the packs to support ongoing work on empowerment and future consultations.

Samina (Moderator)