Shadow Social Justice Minister and North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has highlighted concerning findings that Welsh communities are the least empowered in Britain and has called on Ministers in Cardiff Bay to respond to calls for the Welsh Government to develop better support for community-led, long-term, local approaches in Wales.
Mr Isherwood raised the matter in Wednesday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament during Spokespersons Questions to the Social Justice Minister, highlighting that “Wales is trailing other Nations in the UK when it comes to community ownership rights”.
He said:
“The Local Trust 'Left Behind?' report in England evidences that poorer areas with greater community capacity and social infrastructure have better health and well-being outcomes, higher rates of employment and lower levels of child poverty compared to poorer areas without.
“January's Wales Co-operative Centre discussion paper, ‘Communities Creating Homes’, states ‘Wales is trailing other nations in the UK when it comes to community ownership rights’, adding that the policies in Wales do not offer ‘quite the same empowerment as enjoyed by communities in England or, particularly, Scotland’.
“February's Institute of Welsh Affairs 'Our Land: Communities and Land Use' report found ‘that Welsh communities are the least empowered in Britain’, and community groups in Wales told them ‘about an arbitrary, demoralising scenario with little real process for communities to take ownership of public or private assets’.
“Further research by the Building Communities Trust with community groups across Wales shows they often feel ‘overlooked and under-resourced by local and national government’. How, therefore, do you respond to their statement that they ‘believe there is a big opportunity for Welsh Government to develop better support for community-led, long-term, local approaches in Wales’?”
The Minister replied that she “had a really useful meeting last week” with the Building Communities Trust “to talk about community policy, to talk about our community assets' reach. You will be able to engage in that as you do support co-production, Mark Isherwood”.
