by Andy Burnham, Labour leadership contender

Go to any part of England and the story is the same: our once-proud towns have been allowed to crumble and decay.

You will know places which used to be thriving centres now dominated with fast-food restaurants and betting shops.

And they will know streets which used to be full of well-kept homes now dominated by absent private landlords who don’t invest in the upkeep of their properties and are only interested in raking in the Housing Benefit.

This has not happened by accident.

Over many decades, Westminster has stripped local town halls of the powers and the money they need to improve their communities.

And the sad thing is this has not just left our towns to go downhill; it has also corroded trust in politics. People ask: what’s the point in voting if the council won’t act on our problems and turn our town around?

I will be the Labour Leader who changes all that.

I’ve said I will take politics out of the Westminster bubble. That means taking power out of Westminster and starting to trust councils again.

As a start, I pledge to give local communities more rights to control which shops open in their own high streets.

I want local people to have more control over where new betting shops and fast food outlets are set up and how long they are open for.

Betting shop: more control for locals

And it is only a start.

I want local communities to be able tackle rogue landlords who let properties fall into disrepair and drag down whole neighbourhoods.

Councils should be able to use simple compulsory purchase orders to buy run-down properties so they can be improved and added to the council housing stock.

I want local communities to have new powers to build more houses.

But the housing problems of our country will only be solved when we start trusting local communities to build homes again.

George Osborne has talked a good game on devolving powers to councils with his “Northern Powerhouse”.

Osborne: from powerhouse to powercut

But, just a few weeks after the election, we find out it is more like a Northern powercut because he has put the brakes on key rail projects needed to make it work.

It should not be left to George Osborne to decide which parts of the country can power ahead and which ones are constantly pulled back.

The public are sick and tired of waiting for Westminster to give their areas the investment they need.

They know their councils have been starved of funds.

I want big changes to turn this round and put power and money where it belongs - with you.