Roll up, roll up, ladies and gentlemen, for the show of the century! The Great Illusionist is about to perform! With one wave of a white paper, the perspicacious prestidigitator will scatter the stardust of empowerment among the awed masses… And boy, do they need it. A mere 38% of people feel they can influence local decisions, according to the latest citizenship survey – down from 44% in 2001. What’s more, only 57% of the local area agreements approved this week have set targets for more people to feel they can influence local decisions.