Devolving responsibility for solving problems to the local level

The Natural Law Party government will give more power and responsibility for the solution of pressing national problems to the leaders of local authorities throughout the nation.

Any problem, whether unemployment, crime or pollution, has its origin at a local level. It is there, locally, that the problem is known best and can be solved most quickly. Therefore our policy will be to help the local government solve national problems locally, at their origin. When all local problems are prevented, national problems will never arise.

The Natural Law Party will, for example, solve the problem of unemployment at the local level. The planning and programmes developed by the All-Party Government of experts on the national level will be implemented on the local level. Mayors and leaders of councils will be given the responsibility, the financial resources, and the authority to:

• Educate and take care of the youth of their municipality so as not to let them remain unskilled and unprepared for the work force See section on Education.


• Ensure sustained growth in the local economy to create jobs for newcomers to the job market. This will be achieved through maintaining a local Group for a Government to enliven the evolutionary power of Natural Law in the municipality, and by establishing a local commission comprising business leaders, engineers, and other professionals to recommend programmes that will create and sustain high employment.
  
  
• Local council leaders will work with their local Member of Parliament to administer programmes to employ the unemployed in rebuilding the infrastructure of the area - including roads, bridges, railways, and schools and other public buildings. They will create advanced telecommunications networks, and generally make the environment more attractive for new businesses to be drawn to the area and operate there profitably. In addition, the unemployed will be engaged in the creation of lakes, fountains, public gardens and woods, with a focus on creating an environment that will be not only beautiful but also healthy and nourishing for children and adults alike. See section on Housing and National Planning.


• The capital needed for these projects will be created through local bond issues which will be repaid through the revenues generated by charging tolls or user fees where relevant, and through the greater revenues coming to the city from expansion of business activity.

The Natural Law Party government's policy of decentralisation will also apply to all other government services, such as programmes to care for the needy, which can be more efficiently and inexpensively delivered at the local level.