Terms of reference: Task and Finish Group, Community Assets

The Senedd Local Government and Housing Committee (the Committee) heard evidence in connection with their inquiry into community assets in the Summer of 2022.

The Committee’s terms of reference for the inquiry were:

• Whether the current statutory and policy framework empowers communities in Wales to develop community assets.
• The extent in which the Community Asset Transfer scheme promotes and supports effective development of community assets.
• To explore barriers and challenges faced by communities in taking ownership of public or privately owned community assets, including finance and support services.
• To discover what lessons can be learnt from beyond the Welsh border.

These terms of reference in essence form the basis for the work of the Task and Finish Group with the overall aim being to stimulate innovative thinking on community ownership of land and assets in Wales. While reference is to ownership, consideration should extend to alternatives as well, such as stewardship, right to use etc, to reflect differing models where communities may take control and/or manage local assets.

For completeness all the recommendations from the Senedd Committee report and relevant to this groups work are detailed under Annex 1.

What do we mean by Community Assets in context of the groups work?

While definitions have been detailed below to form part of the terms of reference, it should be recognised that fixed definitions in relation to these issues are unlikely to be fully satisfactory and may become unhelpful, so the ones provided should be regarded as provisional and to be kept under review as the work progresses.

Community Assets

The Task & Finish Group’s work is focussed on land, building and natural assets rather than intangible assets. Local facilities that bring people together, including pubs, libraries, museums, green spaces, arts centres and leisure centres. It is considered that assets in public, private or voluntary sector/community ownership are all within scope.

Community

There are many possible definitions of “community” in relation to community assets. The primary focus of this work will be on facilities which have significant value and importance to specific, usually small, geographic areas such as a village, housing estate or definable part of a town, city or rural area. At the same time, however, “communities of interest” – i.e. groups of people linked by shared background, interests, culture or concerns – will also be important. In many cases a geographic focus will be combined with one or more community of interest linked to a particular community asset.

• To advise Ministers for Climate Change, Local Government and Finance and Social Justice (The Ministers) in accordance with the recommendations of the Senedd Local Government and Housing Committee Report into Community Assets (2022).
• The Task and Finish Group will be constituted for a period not exceeding two years and will be concluded once final recommendations are delivered, by the Chair, to the ministers.
• The Group will be supported by academic research, stakeholder engagement and evidence provided by Cardiff University (School of Planning and Geography). The academic lead for this work will be Professor Andrew Flynn.

• Membership of the task and Finish Group is set out at Annex 2.
• The Group will be chaired by Gwyn Roberts.
• The Chair has overall responsibility for reporting back to the Ministers and will be supported by the secretariat – to be provided by Wales Council for Voluntary Action. It is important to stress the outputs from this work, which will comprise a series of recommendations will be a group product.

• Meetings of the Group will be taking place following each of the workshops in Annex 3. Members of the Group will be invited to those workshops as stakeholders but will not be obliged to attend.
• The Secretariat will organise and minute meetings, to be held on Microsoft Teams.
• Nominated members of the Group will be required to attend all meetings wherever possible, which will be closed to the public. Deputies will also be considered.

Recommendation 1

Action for Commission: 

To stimulate innovative thinking on community ownership of land and assets in Wales.

Work with stakeholders to develop an action plan for its work.

Make recommendations to the Welsh Government.

Recommendation 9

Action for Commission:

Support Package – explore with stakeholders the package of support communities require in order to buy or lease land or assets.

Recommendation 10

Action for Commission:

Regulatory Framework - explore options, including legislation to give communities equal opportunity when competing against private investors in purchasing assets of interest.

Recommendation 11

Action for Commission:

Finance - Review Funding streams that support community assets, including WG and Local Authority, and explore options to increase the availability of affordable loan finance for community groups.

Recommendation 12

Action for Commission:

Finance - Consideration to the establishment of a community assets fund.

Recommendation 13

Action for Commission:

Regulatory Framework - Consideration of whether a register of assets would be beneficial in empowering communities in taking on assets they would like to see continue. (WG are already looking into expanding the data available on DataMap Wales to include all registered land. This will cover 85% of ownership).

Recommendation 15

Action for Commission:

Regulatory Framework - consider options for developing Welsh specific legislation, tailored to meet Welsh needs.

Workshop 1

Sharing information on the current system of community assets.

Mapping of stakeholder perceptions of the CA agenda, networks, knowledge gaps and controversies.

Community perspectives on asset transfer and management, challenges and opportunities of different types of asset, how assets contribute to a community and what would their absence mean.

Agreement on purpose, scope, and ways of working. Overall ambition. Key issues. Others who should be invited. Evidence base

Workshop 2

Exploring effective and ineffective practices from Wales and elsewhere.

Community voices on their ideas about how to use an asset for the good of the community.

Exploring the motivations of communities, what inhibits them or encourages them to pursue asset management. Identifying factors for success and failure.

Investigating how those with assets (e.g. Welsh Government, Public Sector. local government, charities and other land/building owners think about community assets. What assets may they need or want to transfer into community ownership. How do asset owners think about long term management agreements.

Exploring motivations in the transfer of assets, from those such as councils who may purchase farmland for leasing, developing rural skills and biodiversity for the public good, to those organisations that need to ‘balance the books’ and get a liability out of the property portfolio.

Workshop 3

Outreach: Working with practitioners, communities and policy makers - ways of working in managing community assets.

Explanation of how the land use planning system works and how land use decisions are made by local government, especially in relation to housing.

Access to finance for community assets and their management.

Community capacity to engage in asset transfer and their ongoing management.

Role of Welsh Government in setting the strategic context for community assets.

Role of local government in asset transfer and management: providing skills and leadership

Private landowners and landlords’ responsibilities and liabilities in relation to community assets.

Different types of CA and models of ownership/stewardship/leasing. What works best where and why? Examples of good/poor practice. What can be learnt?

What do participants believe to be the barriers and enablers to different forms of asset management.

Workshop 4

Exploring options to improve the 'System'.

Learning from elsewhere (e.g. the Scottish experience of access to land, the English experience of Community Rights to Bid)

Options for different types of community assets, their transfer, value and governance. Exploring how different types of wellbeing outcomes can arise from different assets.

Identifying future trends and their implications for community assets. For instance, in a changing climate creating warm or cool spaces for vulnerable people, spaces for sharing food production and consumption, changes in biodiversity in greenspaces.

Maximising multiple benefits from community assets (e.g. improving social capital within a community).

Examples from Wales, England and Scotland of novel models of community engagement and community asset management and why they work and why they fail.

What is needed and from who to improve the experience of CA management by communities. Identifying the ongoing relationships and responsibilities of those who transfer assets.

Workshop 5

Strategy, leadership and resourcing - Delivering change.

Working up different options for how assets can be transferred, exploring priorities for communities and those who wish to transfer assets. What are the trade-offs in taking on responsibility for different types of assets? What are the trade-offs in not passing on an asset to the community?

Funding, policy and regulatory initiatives that would enable viable innovative options for asset transfer and management. For example, training, capacity building, and the ongoing management of an asset within a community need to be recognised.

Who will provide leadership in identifying opportunities for asset transfer? What networks need to be developed to realise the transfer of an asset? How will responsibilities be assigned on the transfer of an asset?

How can communities learn from one another about their experiences of asset transfer and management? What resources are needed to facilitate skills and knowledge development? How might skills and knowledge be shared between communities?