12 October 2007
Louise Casey, the government's 'respect' czar, is leaving her post to head a review into ways of involving local communities in anti-crime initiatives.
Casey's team will work out of the Cabinet Office and will report back to a new ministerial group comprising Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, Justice Secretary Jack Straw, Children and Schools Secretary Ed Balls, Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears and the minister for the Cabinet Office, Ed Miliband.
Smith announced the plan on October 5. She said the review team would assess ways to make local bodies — including the police, councils and criminal justice agencies — more responsive to local problems. She urged community leaders to 'stand up against crime' and said that, depending on the results of the nine-month review, the government could devolve more powers to frontline agencies.
Casey had 'formidable experience of transforming places and making tangible improvements for both victims of crime and the general public,' Smith said.
PFoct2007
