Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress the Co-operative Development Unit has made in promoting co-operative and community ownership in the West of England.

My Department is working across government to deliver our manifesto commitment to double the size of the co-operative and mutuals sector, following the commitment to establish a Co-operatives Development Unit in the Pride in Place Strategy.

The government has also introduced a new Pride in Place Community Right to Buy Fund that will support communities in taking advantage of the Community Right to Buy, created by our English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act.