Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rory Stewart and Greg Clark

Monday 28th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Rory Stewart (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

In Cumbria and elsewhere, local charities are finding it very difficult to compete with big national charities for council contracts. What steps will the Minister take to allow local charities, which know more and can often do more, to compete fairly?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He is a great champion of the local voluntary sector. He will know that the Localism Bill will establish a right to challenge, which I expect to be taken up especially by local community and voluntary groups to enable them to do what they do best, which is to know their local community and provide a better way of doing things than what has been required so far.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rory Stewart and Greg Clark

Thursday 21st October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Rory Stewart (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

10. What progress has been made in establishing projects in the big society vanguard communities.

[The Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark)]

Good progress is being made on removing barriers to local action in the vanguard areas. In my hon. Friend’s constituency, we are working with the local community in the Eden valley on the roll-out of next-generation broadband, on advancing neighbourhood planning and on devolving budgets to communities. Similar progress is being made in the other areas, as part of my commitment to put my civil servants, in my Department, at the service of communities across Britain.

[Rory Stewart]

I thank the Minister for the work that his team is doing to support the Eden communities and the councils, and for the real progress on broadband. What lessons and experience can we take from Eden and apply to other parts of the country?