Questions to the Minister for Finance and Welsh Government Business
Community Asset Transfers

Janet Finch-Saunders
Minister, as many as two pubs are closing in Wales every week, and, too often, we see publicly funded community centres, libraries, and public buildings mothballed out of use, providing no income stream to any local authority that may own them. Now, across the border, of course, under the UK Government, we do have the Localism Act 2011, and that actually allows the devolved institutions to take over these properties. However, in Wales, there is an absolute reluctance to adopt the Localism Act 2011. This is a win-win situation for your Government, for our communities, and for our local authorities. What steps are you taking to fully adopt the Localism Act 2011 in this regard?

Jane Hutt
I’m sure she was already aware of this, but I hope the Member will respond to the consultation launched by the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty on protecting community assets. Of course, that consultation takes us through to 11 September 2015. It does allow us to hear from communities and asset owners, in both the public and private sectors, about how we can protect Welsh community assets.