Progress on community rights welcomed

Welsh Conservatives have welcomed Labour’s progress towards boosted community rights in Wales but continued calls for the full introduction of a right-to-bid scheme.

The party’s Assembly Members have long campaigned for further provisions of the Localism Act 2011 to be enacted in Wales, particularly measures that would enable communities to bid for local assets.

The Welsh Labour government’s White Paper:  Reforming Local Government – Power to Local People, today sets out plans for ‘community ownership’ but falls short of the opportunities available in England.

There, the right to bid empowers communities to help save threatened local assets. No similar powers exist in Wales and today’s proposals have been labelled a ‘watered down’ version of the right to bid.

As part of a continued campaign urging Labour Ministers to put that disparity right, Welsh Conservatives recently launched a ‘Support Your Local Pub’ campaign, aimed at halting the decline of public houses across Wales.

This on-going drive for change calls for the introduction of the ‘Community Right to Bid’, lowered business rates and the reduction of red tape.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Local Government, Janet Finch-Saunders AM, said:

“Welsh Conservatives want to see a Wales where local communities are given greater control over their own destinies.

“While today’s proposals are a step in the right direction, they have taken far too long and don’t go far enough.

“Labour’s approach to localism and the right to bid is messy and muddled.

“Whether a pub, post office or leisure centre; if a local amenity is threatened, the right to bid could offer protection and allow local groups to take these hugely important assets into their own hands.”

Shadow Communities Minister and North Wales Assembly Member, Mark Isherwood, said:

“Today’s announcement is a watered down version of the Conservative-led UK Government’s right to bid.

“It’s heartening to see Welsh Conservatives’ campaign gathering strength – but these proposals leave communities in Wales with a far smaller voice than their English counterparts.”