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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to grant additional powers to Plan for Neighbourhoods Boards beyond those of Town Deal Boards.

The Government set out a comprehensive, non-exhaustive list of the existing powers available to boards and local authorities in England in the published ‘policy toolkit’. The toolkit gives communities the tools and information they need to make informed decisions, empowering local people to have ownership over the future of their neighbourhood and local area. Similar toolkits for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be published shortly.

The Plan for Neighbourhoods programme focuses on three long-term aims - building thriving places, strengthening communities and empowering people to taking back control instead of sticking plaster policies. In addition to the list of powers available to boards, we have doubled the number of interventions on which communities can spend the money, compared to the previous government’s programme, to ensure areas can deliver on the objectives of the programme.