Decentralisation minister Greg Clark has urged councils and their partners to demand from Whitehall the right to run services currently outside their remit.

Speaking to The MJ at the Local Government Association conference in Birmingham on 29 June, Mr Clark said the coalition's long-term ambition for decentralisation was to create a 'right of initiative' for localities, under which they could approach the government with proposals to control almost any locally-spent public services budgets - providing the plan was 'sensible' and met 'due diligence' tests applied by Whitehall.