Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sheryll Murray and Stephen Williams

Monday 21st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Williams]

Mr Speaker, there are many distinguished alumni of that Committee, and I greatly enjoyed my three and a half years under the hon. Gentleman’s chairmanship.

The hon. Gentleman is chair of the Westminster crowdfunding forum. At the moment, the sector is completely unregulated; I am aware that the hon. Gentleman has recently raised concerns in The Sunday Times. If he has specific concerns about the heavy hand of regulation, he should write to me and I shall raise the matter with colleagues at the Treasury, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Cabinet Office.

[Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)]

5. What steps he is taking to promote the take-up of the community rights introduced by the Localism Act 2011.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Stephen Williams)]

The provisions of the Localism Act 2011 have been able to be adopted for the past 12 months, and there have already been more than 1,000 such uses. We continue to promote use of the 2011 Act through local partners and the media. In addition, I am discussing the potential for cross-Government working, combining community rights and volunteering.

[Sheryll Murray]

A play park in East Looe in my constituency has been identified for possible housing development. It is the only green space in the area where children can play and where wildlife can live. What steps can the residents take under community rights to protect their long established and important local amenity?

[Stephen Williams]

My hon. Friend and other coalition colleagues across Cornwall will be pleased to know that Cornwall is a hotspot for use of the 2011 Act. In my first couple of days in office, officials showed me a map revealing that the 2011 Act had been incredibly popular, with more than 50 assets so far having been registered as being of community use. Through local plans across Cornwall itself, or through neighbourhood plans, local communities should be able to identify areas for special protection and use a local neighbourhood plan to attract sufficient homes, jobs and other essential services. My advice to my hon. Friend is that she should perhaps use a neighbourhood plan.