The government has announced that local authorities are to face an average budget reduction of 4.4 per cent in 2011-12, but will receive "more powers".

Communities secretary Eric Pickles said no council would see its spending power reduced by more than 8.9 per cent in 2011-12 or 2012-13. Pickles also confirmed wealthier areas would shoulder a greater burden of the cuts - part of efforts to reduce local authority expenditure by 28 per cent.

The announcement coincided with the publication of the Localism Bill, which will see "significant new powers" transferred from Whitehall to town halls. Under the reforms, community groups will have the chance to buy local assets, such as pubs, and libraries, while the planning system will also be revamped.

Pickles said: "Taxpayers are no longer prepared to write a blank cheque for the public sector. But they do want less interference in their local communities from Whitehall government. "So the coalition government is delivering the most significant shift in power from officials in London to elected local councils in a generation."

sporta chair Craig McAteer said: "We support the government's efforts to create a new generation of community organisations and a national infrastructure to support this. "There is now potential for sporta trusts to play an even bigger part in the Big Society as hubs, hosts and advisors for newly-forming grassroots organisations."

British Property Federation chief executive Liz Peace added: "The government has to perform a delicate balancing act between promoting greater community engagement and unleashing nimbyist tendencies that could hold back economic growth." Image: Department for Communities and Local Government