English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill gets Royal Assent — Wales must not fall further behind
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill has now received Royal Assent. Without delving into detail of the (now) Act, the direction of travel is unmistakable. More power moving closer to communities and places, with a stronger set of tools for local decision-makers and strengthened community right to buy measures.
Whilst the Act applies to England only, it has implications for communities in Wales. It means communities here have fallen even further behind our counterparts elsewhere in Great Britain. When governance and investment levers are being re-set across the bridge, Wales can no longer afford to delay. The pressures facing community infrastructure, high streets, local land markets, and the basic resilience of towns and villages are real and increasing.
That’s why it’s more important than ever that whoever forms the next Welsh Government urgently introduces a Community Right to Buy; a clear, workable right for communities to step in when valued land and buildings come up for sale, and a fair process that helps local people keep assets in local hands. This new right needs to be supported by financial resource to fully realise its benefit.
With seeming cross-party recognition that stronger community rights are part of the answer, not as an ideological ‘nice to have’, but as practical infrastructure for resilient places. we hope that whatever the outcome of the election, parties will work together to introduce a community right to buy.
Legislation is urgently needed to:
Protect community infrastructure (pubs, shops, community centres, green spaces) before they’re lost to speculative resale or neglect.
Unlock local investment by giving communities the certainty to organise finance, partnerships and business plans.
Improve health and wellbeing outcomes by enabling stable, locally-led spaces and services that reduce isolation and support preventative approaches.
Build social cohesion by creating shared spaces and locally-owned assets that bring people together across generations and backgrounds.
This shouldn’t be a vague aspiration or a weak manifesto commitment. It needs timetabling in the first year of the next Senedd term, resources for community acquisition and capacity-building, and mechanisms that work fast in real situations.
As England accelerates on community empowerment, Wales must act now to break out of inertia by putting a Community Right to Buy at the heart of a serious programme for stronger, fairer and more resilience communities.
Read more about what we think a Community Right to Buy should include in our Thriving Welsh Communities Manifesto and dedicated blog post.