We know what’s possible when local people are trusted with real power. We’ve seen it in places where communities have taken ownership of buildings, stepped in to deliver public services where the system has failed and shaped local spending priorities.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill should make these ways of working much easier for communities up and down the country, but right now, it doesn’t go far enough.

The Bill has reached the House of Lords, and the government is trying to rush it through with minimal debate. This is a critical moment. If the Bill passes in its current form, it risks shifting power from Whitehall to combined and local authorities, without ever reaching the people on the ground who truly know and love their places and, in many instances, are holding communities together.

Will you write to the Minister responsible for leading the Bill through the Lords' urging them to strengthen the Bill? With the right changes, like giving communities real influence over local investment and a genuine right to shape public services, this legislation could mark a turning point for community power across England.