Local authorities should shift their focus away from direct service provision and focus more on enabling communities to ‘step up,' a new study has argued.

A report from the NLGN think-tank warned that financial pressures and rising demand meant that the relationship between councils and communities will have to change.

It claimed that communities have a ‘real appetite' to take on more responsibility so local authorities should play more of an enabling role.

Senior policy researcher at NLGN, Pawda Tjoa, said: ‘As councils are faced with budgetary pressures and rising demand, the traditional roles of local authorities as provider and communities as recipients need to shift.

‘This asymmetrical relationship is no longer sustainable and, in any case, it isn't credible as people expect more control over their own lives.

‘In the future councils will need to step back more often and make space for communities to step up.'