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Communities will be offered new powers by the Government, but they will also have to cope with council cuts.

The Government has always insisted that its localism and Big Society agendas have nothing to do with cuts in council funding.

Rather oddly then, they have decided to make big announcements in both areas on the same day.

Just as the Government publishes its Localism Bill to show how it'll hand more power to communities, it'll also be revealing the details of .

Critics will see a link between the two, with people forced to take over services or watch them cut to shreds by local authorities.

The Government still rejects that reasoning. Instead, they will be hoping headlines about their plans for people power will help to drown out the groaning from councils bemoaning their financial fate.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles was on the Politics Show talking about plans to give local people and organisations the power to buy public buildings.

People will also get the chance to question how services are run and take them over in some circumstances.

And voters will get a bigger say on planning decisions and where houses should go.

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There are cheerleaders for the plans in our region.

Penrith and the Border's Conservative MP Rory Stewart believes his constituents are at the forefront of the Big Society. They're already looking to run services and take over buildings.

The question is can the Coalition convince communities in urban Labour-voting areas to embrace the ideas too?

And will people's power to decide where houses go just lead to a rash of nimbyism, and a crisis in the house-building programme?

There's also some doubt about public enthusiasm for elected mayors in our region at least.

Voters have had the chance for years to push for mayors in cities like Newcastle, but there's been precious little evidence of a popular campaign.

Indeed, the last time any of our communities had a chance to vote for an elected mayor was in Darlington. .

A campaign to push for a mayor in Sunderland also fizzled out through lack of interest.

But with participation in council elections so poor, it's clear something needs to be done to make voters feel they do have a say over what goes on in their areas.

Many of our councils though will feel that what the Government's giving with one hand, it's clawing back hand over fist with the other.

We already know that local authorities will lose a quarter of their government funding over the next five years, but they are about to find out all the grisly detail through the announcement of the settlement for individual areas.

Hundreds of job losses have already been announced in Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Darlington, Cumbria and Northumberland, and others councils will no doubt reveal even more cuts in coming weeks.

We do also know there will be pupil premium for schools which may help some classrooms in the north.

But many northern councils will be looking for evidence that the Coalition will offer them more protection than wealthier areas in the south.

If it isn't forthcoming, some won't be shy of criticising the Government.

Middlesbrough's Independent Mayor Ray Mallon has already accused the Coalition of declaring "financial war" on the North East.

And so many of our councils may end up being only too happy to offer voters the chance to fund and run services that they can no longer afford to support.

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