We are writing to you as local leaders and national organisations working as part of, and alongside, the We’re Right Here campaign.

We welcome the passage of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act. It is a meaningful step forward for community power, and a testament to years of work and dedication on the part of our movement. The introduction of the Community Right to Buy and new neighbourhood governance arrangements reflects what can be achieved when communities are put at the heart of policymaking.

But this must be the beginning of a journey, not the destination.

Across the UK, we are seeing a growing sense that decisions are made too far from the people they affect and that the way we do politics is letting our communities down. Against this backdrop, community organisations and groups are stepping up to rebuild their neighbourhoods: bringing people together and creating the change that areas need.

This is community power in practice – local people actively shaping and delivering solutions.

This Act gives people a chance to shape the places they love and could help turn democracy into a lived everyday practice, not just something people experience at the ballot box now and again.

The forthcoming statutory regulations on neighbourhood governance will be key to determining whether that vision is realised. These regulations will decide whether the new neighbourhood governance arrangements are transformative or tokenistic – whether they genuinely shift power to local people or simply add new layers of box-ticking and bureaucracy.

We know you are a champion of community power and recognise the potential of neighbourhood governance to revitalise local democracy. We welcome the engagement you have undertaken with our movement on this to date.

We also welcome the change that programmes such as Pride in Place will unlock in some communities. But the new neighbourhood governance arrangements offer a chance to reshape how decisions are made in every neighbourhood, and to embed community power at the heart of how our country is run.

Moments like this are rare. We hope you will seize it, and we stand ready to work with you to make that vision a reality in every corner of our country.

In that spirit, we are writing to urge you to:

1. Commit to agreeing statutory regulations that enable – and accompanying guidance that actively promotes – community-led models of neighbourhood governance, such as Community Covenants and approaches rooted in participatory democracy;

2. Ensure that neighbourhood governance arrangements are not limited to advisory or consultative roles, but are equipped with meaningful powers over matters including the design of neighbourhood health services, regeneration funding and the local environment;

3. And meet with community leaders from the We’re Right Here campaign to discuss how to realise the full potential of this Act in the forthcoming regulations.

To succeed, these regulations must be shaped by the realities of how community power works in practice. Community leaders are not just stakeholders in a policy process – they are at the heart of our neighbourhoods, building and sustaining local change.

Drawing on their lived experience and practical expertise in galvanising change within communities will be essential to ensuring that the new neighbourhood governance arrangements genuinely shift power downwards, close the gap between people and politics, and enable meaningful outcomes for the places that need it most.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Jackson, Heeley Trust (We're Right Here Campaign Convener);
Annoushka Deighton, Stretford Public Hall (We're Right Here Campaign Leader);
Inayat Omarji, All Souls Bolton (We're Right Here Campaign Leader);
Charlotte Hollins, Fordhall Community Land Initiative (We're Right Here Campaign Leader);
Claude Hendrickson, Leeds Community Homes (We're Right Here Campaign Leader);
Deana Bamford, Coalville CAN (We're Right Here Campaign Leader);
Jane Dawe, Safe Regeneration (We're Right Here Community Champion);
Phil Frodsham, Transition New Mills (We're Right Here Community Champion);
Leah Chikamba-Mulando, Angels of Hope (We're Right Here Community Champion);
Hannah Sloggett, Nudge Community Builders (We're Right Here Community Champion);
Rich Bell, We're Right Here Campaign Director;
Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive, Locality;
Dame Caroline Mason, Chief Executive, Esmee Fairburn Foundation
Rachel Rowney, Chief Executive, Local Trust;
Dr Sue Griffiths, Chief Executive, Young Foundation;
Tom Chance, Chief Executive, Community Land Trust;
Tom Brake, Chief Executive, Unlock Democracy;
Maddy Desforges OBE, CEO NAVCA [National Association for Voluntary and Community Action];
David Barclay, Chief Executive, Good Faith Foundation

And the wider community power movement.