Has the community assets agenda made an impact in your area, or not? Is government missing a trick? Please help us make a really strong input, by telling us your experience and ideas, by 8 April 2008.
Read our position paper on community assets which we summarise below and use the box at the bottom of this page to submit your response. Our position paper argues that there is scope for much more to be done around asset transfer including the following:
1)The transfer of at least £100m of assets every year for the next 10 years
2)Extending the impact of the Quirk review to other parts of the public sector, notably health, police and fire authorities, Regional Development Agencies, and Government departments/quangos such as the Ministry of Defence and English Partnerships
3)A UK wide-version of Community Right to Buy, for urban as well as rural areas, to create a ’window’ for community groups to bid for land and buildings of strategic and sometimes iconic significance to a community
4)Access to a mix of capital grants and patient loan finance (We have called for £150m for the next 3 years) for community asset purchase, refurbishment, and new-build, combined with revenue funds for initial feasibility, project development, and to strengthen management and financial competences
5)New approaches to finance, notably community share and bond issues, which can attract finance from local residents as well as venture philanthropists.For example, a £5m pilot community share voucher scheme, matched by individuals, could lead to 10,000 individuals with an average £1,000 share-holding in their local community enterprises. Community Investment by individuals should be linked to Gift Aid tax relief.
DTA was given a lead role in coordinating ‘Advancing Assets for Communities’, a demonstration programme with 80 Local Authorities over three years. Over the last year, 20 selected local authorities (click here to see the full list) were given support to develop partnerships with their local community sector in preparation for potential asset transfers. The hope is that 40 asset transfer projects will emerge from this initial exercise.
One of the lessons we learned from the first year of leading the Advancing Assets Programme is that a focus on the transfer community centres (as it seems to have been the case in many demonstration areas) does not offer the best chances of success for community organisations. Instead, emphasis should be on projects with trading viability for the long term. We must make sure that transfer does result in long term viability rather than liability – with a focus on a realistic business plan, and where necessary with investment and revenue commitments or endowments alongside the land or building.
We are particularly interested in the following:
1. Has your organisation been part of an Asset Transfer area?
2. If yes has it made any difference so far?
3. Are you involved with your local authority or any other public body on an asset transfer project?
4. Is there anything else you would like us to feed into the Quirk Team?
