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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 54 of the Civil Society Strategy published in August 2018, what progress his Department has made on issuing revised guidance to help communities take ownership of local assets.

The Department is currently consulting with civil society partners on the development of a Community Guide to Action and hope to be able to publish this in the summer. This is in addition to supporting the online platform “My Community” to provide detailed advice to voluntary and community groups interested in taking assets into community ownership and “Keep It In The Community” to ensure that more community groups are able to identify local assets of community value.

Organisations such as Sport England, Heritage Lottery Fund, and Power to Change also provide comprehensive and bespoke advice, ensuring community groups have access to the knowledge and networks which encourage the community ownership of assets.