Coallition Deal Published

More details of the Conservatives-Lib Dem coalition deal have been published this morning, and it looks like many of the best bits of the Conservatives localism agenda will actually happen - with the following commitments from the coalition:

• We will promote the radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government and community groups. This will include a review of local government finance. 
• We will rapidly abolish Regional Spatial Strategies and return decision-making powers on housing and planning to local councils, including giving councils new powers to stop ‘garden grabbing’. 
• We will give councils a general power of competence. 
• We will allow councils to return to the committee system, should they wish to. 
• We will abolish the Standards Board regime.
• We will implement the Sustainable Communities Act, so that citizens know how taxpayers’ money is spent in their area and have a greater say over how it is spent. 
• We will freeze Council Tax in England for at least one year, and seek to freeze it for a further year, in partnership with local authorities. 
• We will cut local government inspection and abolish the Comprehensive Area Assessment. 

In all, the potential for a radical shift of power to locally elected people, and a huge roll back of the powers used by central government to dictate in detail how local Councils operate. I can't wait to see some of this implemented...