Localism Bill gets royal nod of approval giving a vote of confidence to local community enterprises

The Localism Bill, which has been making its way through Parliament since December last year, received Royal Assent on 15 November, to become the Localism Act.  Co-operatives UK, the national trade body that campaigns for co-operation, is pleased that the legislation now exists to help ensure local people and community enterprises have a real opportunity to shape and influence their communities.

The Localism Act brings opportunities for local communities to take on the planning system, to take over failing services, and to take ownership of the land and buildings that matter most to them.

But it remains to be seen whether the Act will help in real terms.  Experience from our members and the government funded Community Shares programme, demonstrate that community groups need relevant support to develop their capability, need time to organise themselves and need support to become "investment ready" if they are to take on local assets and not let the opportunities slip them by.

The experience of co-operatives around the country has shown that local communities have been taking control of much needed local services and community assets for many years, often saving them from closure or neglect despite the odds.

Over the past couple of years, shop and pub closures have been at record levels. Over 1,000 rural shops and 2,400 pubs (rural and urban) were predicted to close by the end of the year. Now, the prediction is for a further 2,700 pubs to shut down this year, which means one pub now closes every three hours, with big consequences for the lives of local communities.

Britain’s first urban co-operative pub, the Star, re-opened after the community were given three weeks notice by the pub chain that the Star was going to close and be put up for auction. Local people clubbed together to raise the money to buy the Star for community use.  Other community owned pubs include Butchers Arms in Crosby Ravensworth, Hudswell Pub in North Yorkshire and The Old Crown, Hesket Newmarket.

Ed Mayo, Secretary General, Co-operatives UK advises "The Localism Bill is designed to help exactly this kind of co-operative action. It is a signature piece of legislation for a government that has set out it's stall on the case for the big society."

Community owned village shops have been one of the leading success stories of the UK co-operative movement. In 1991 there were 33 community-owned shops in the UK; and this week will see the opening of the 269th new community-owned shop.

Peter Couchman, Chief Executive, Plunkett Foundation responded to the Act "Too often there are significant barriers facing rural communities wanting to save their local shop and pub. The Community Right to Bid to Buy aims to help communities to address some of these barriers. We encourage rural communities to explore using the new Community Right powers to see how it can help safeguard their local shop and pub."

We welcome the Community Right to Buy in England although this does not force a sale or give a right of first refusal, nevertheless it does provide a window for local groups to prepare bids for the land and buildings of most value to their community, and that has to be good for communities everywhere.

The legislation will require local authorities to list “assets of community value”.  If these assets are up for sale, local authorities will also need to provide a moratorium period of six months, during which time, provided that a local group expresses interest, the asset cannot be sold – giving local groups the opportunity to put together a bid to take over the asset for community benefit.

The Localism Act has also brought a welcome exemption from HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupation) registration for smaller housing co-operatives – a successful outcome of several years’ campaigning. HMO registration was brought in to protect tenants from unscrupulous private landlords. Housing co-ops don’t really need protecting from themselves and being told by local authorities how many bathrooms they should have! In Scotland, fully mutual housing co-operatives that are managed by general meeting have been exempt from registration and now that’s also the case in England. See http://www.fhaction.org/ for more information.

For government news release click here

For a plain English version of Act click here

To learn about the 5 key measures click here