Manifesto for community and neighbourhood governance reform

Good governance is essential to the health of our communities and neighbourhoods. Reforming the system of neighbourhood governance could be transformational, especially for the most deprived or ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods.

In this manifesto we set out a framework for reforming neighbourhood governance based on four principles, including practical steps for how these principles could be achieved. The four principles are:

1. All communities should have access to good governance
2. Build community capacity to increase uptake and inclusion
3. Bureaucracy should be enabling, not obstructive
4. Transfer power to communities