Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to implement the conclusions of the Equality Strategy - Building a Fairer Britain, published in December 2010, particularly those in Section 3 of that strategy involving the devolution of power to local authorities.

A progress report on the Equality Strategy was published on 22 May 2012. In relation to Section 3 of that strategy, the Department for Communities and Local Government is undertaking a number of initiatives in support of this aim. These include the Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods programme, which is providing 24 local authorities with grants to redesign services so that they are delivered at neighbourhood level, and the Our Place programme, which is putting the local community at the heart of decision making by bringing together local councillors, public servants, businesses and the community to revolutionise the way the neighbourhood works.