There is a huge amount to welcome in the Brown Commission Report - it provides a compelling rationale for devolution, and a clear blueprint for an ambitious programme of political and fiscal decentralisation.

Much of the detail in the report remains to be negotiated, but the clear commitment by the party and its leadership to devolving power, responsibility and resources to local government is an important step.

I fully endorse the need for a debate about local revenue and capital raising powers; for a leading role in economic and social development for councils; for a long-term financial settlement with national government, and for more democratic means of electing local representatives. It is crucial that new respectful and constructive relationships be fostered between the parliaments and assemblies of Great Britain and the villages, towns and cities of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so that our communities can determine their own futures and invest in their own priorities.

In recent years, several councils have conducted interesting experiments with a number of deliberative mechanisms to involve citizens even further in the decisions that affect their lives, such as citizens' assemblies and people's juries. While these approaches have their limitations, including holding no mandate from the wider public, I am interested that further such innovative approaches should be explored, with the aim of rooting decisions in the communities they affect.

Democracy should be at the heart of everything we do. As LCER's lead on local government, I want to work with others to discuss how we might involve local democracy in areas of public, private and voluntary activity, but particularly in our public services, to make them more answerable and responsive to the needs of their local communities. Obvious examples currently outside the remit of local government are police, schools, universities and our NHS, but there are other areas of enterprise and activity where the local voice can best be heard through the megaphone of democratic representation.

Duncan Enright is deputy leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, and served for several years as LCER's lead on local government and devolution.