The Tories have vowed to give power back to councils as battle commences for May's local elections.

Speaking in Bradford, where he ran as a councillor in 1987, Iain Duncan Smith committed the Conservatives to decentralising power to councils, schools and the health service at the local level.

Many blame waning interest and a decline in the importance of local authorities on Tory local government acts passed by Margaret Thatcher in her 80s battles with municipal socialism and "looney left" boroughs. A situation acknowldeged by Duncan Smith.

"I would be the first to acknowledge that previous Conservative governments have at times over-centralised but I believe that this government has centralised more than any other," he said.

Now the new Conservative leader believes "the fightback" against Labour begins in local government.

"The fightback starts at local government. We need to push power down to the nearest level to people," he said.

"To deal with the day-to-day impact of failing public services, we need to move decision-making closer to the people they affect; the personal level, the family level, the community level."

Duncan Smith's mission to "make life better particularly for the most vulnerable in our society" will see a fresh emphasis on local community politics, taking up themes developed after his visit to Glasgow's deprived Easterhouse housing estate.

"It is at the local level that we will need to deliver lasting improvements. That means restoring local government to its rightful place in the community," he told an audience of Bradford residents and councillors.

"It means turning local government into community government, where you spend more time pursuing the paramount interests of the residents you serve and less time implementing the wishes of a distant and disdainful centralised bureaucracy."

In its local election manifesto, the Tories spell out figures showing that Conservative councils charge £135-a-year less on Band D council tax bills than Labour councils and £159 a year less than Liberal Democrat councils.

In a bid to show that Tory policy can deliver, Central Office is highlighting Audit Commission statistics, [finding] Conservative councils have cleaner streets, recycle more, and local residents are more satisfied with the council's services, compared with Labour and Lib Dem councils".