By Jo Cooper

A group of UK councils have been given financial autonomy in a groundbreaking pilot scheme that promises to deliver better community spending.

The Community Budgets initiative was launched in the Comprehensive Spending Review in late October 2010, when the Cameron Government
announced 16 areas would be placed in charge of pools of money to address social problems related to a vulnerable group: families with complex needs.

To date, funding in this space has been delivered through hundreds of agencies and schemes.

The Government has stated that Community Budgets will ensure just one budget will “wrap money and services around the needs of the vulnerable”, allowing councils to “directly support those that need help with education, health, antisocial behaviour and housing”.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, said in a recent statement that the current funding pproach “effectively strangled local choice” or councils. Read More>>

Read the full report: Handing over the purse strings [PDF]

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