Concordat to unleash potential of local communities

An historic new written agreement which will radically transform the relationship between central and local government and which sets out unprecedented new freedoms for local areas and communities has been signed by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and LGA Chairman Sir Simon Milton. The Central-Local Concordat is the culmination of months of careful negotiation with local government and meets a key commitment in delivering what Gordon Brown has called a fundamental transformation in the way we govern, shifting more power to local communities and away from the state.