Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to promote community rights under the Localism Act 2011.

This Government wants to put communities in control; giving people more power to make decisions about their local area. The community rights are promoted through local, national and consumer press, broadcast media (tv and radio), ministerial visits, conferences, workshops and social media.

Over 1,200 assets of community value have been listed and we have helped 150 organisations to acquire a community asset or obtain significant investment towards doing so. More than 900 neighbourhood planning areas have been designated, and all 21 plans which have reached referendum so far have passed with significant majorities in favour. Our network of 50 neighbourhood planning champions host awareness raising events and provide informal local advice based upon their experiences to promote and support neighbourhood planning.

In March we ran two ‘Information Exchange' events focussed on the community rights for local councillors in Essex and Buckinghamshire and will be offering these out across the country. We are also running a series of workshops for local authorities focused on the Community Right to Bid and Asset Transfer.

But the rights form just one part of the wider package of policies which drive our ‘communities in control' agenda.

We are supporting 21 local campaigns for new parish councils covering local populations of more than half a million people. Over 100 new Our Place areas are starting work within their communities to transform neighbourhood level service delivery. Community share issues have raised over £24 million for community ventures.

Over £60 million has been made available, across a number of different programmes, to help communities take more control of their areas. This encompasses grants, advice and professional expertise to use the community rights, setting up an Our Place area, campaigning for a new parish, supporting community pubs, promoting the use of community shares and empowering tenants to ensure their landlord provides the services they want.