DEVON County and West Devon District Councils have been given greater powers under the Local Government Act Part 1 which came into force last week.
They now have the power to do anything they consider helpful to the economic, social or environmental well-being of their area — up to now they have only been able to act in support of primary legislation, for example to build new houses or schools.
The snag is that they will have no greater power of fund-raising, except through their wider scope for forming partnerships with businesses or voluntary groups.
'The local authorities will act as community leaders, with a role to play in lots of other areas,' said Mark Stevenson, a policy officer with the Local Government Association.
The councils affected will first have to produce a community strategy, setting out their ideas for making best use of their new powers.
Sally Thorpe, another LGA policy officer, said there was unlikely to be any immediate effect of the legislation, but in a year or two the impact could be quite extensive.
'It will make it much easier for councils to go into partnership with voluntary bodies, pooling budgets and sharing resources,' she said. 'They will be better able to respond to local needs in local ways.'
It will also give councils the ability to form partnerships outside their boundaries, for example allowing them to combine with their neighbours to develop new electronic systems.
Roy Cook, county councillor for Tavistock and district, praised the new act. 'It's an excellent thing,' he said. 'It will give us a vehicle to tackle various problems. There will be no more money available, but it could allow us to use what we have more effectively.'
The act is part of the government's drive to devolution and has been generally welcomed by councils. But how effective it will be in practice has yet to be proved.