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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 November (HL Deb, col 566), what specific additional support they are providing to those towns and parishes wishing to exercise the community rights provided by the Localism Act 2011 for developing neighbourhood plans, listing assets of community value and running services using the right to challenge; what other such community rights are available to town and parish councils; and what financial contribution they have made to town and parish councils for each of these purposes in each year since those rights came into existence.

The financial support for use of the community rights made by the Department for Communities and Local Government since the community rights came into force amounts to £62.6 million, including spend for the current financial year (2015/16). Spending on the Community Rights programme includes funding for communities to work with public service providers to take on services, Our Place and other related projects.

The Government is currently considering options for funding this activity after the financial year 2015-16.