We’re Right Here – a campaign for a Community Power Act
Charlotte is one of eight community leaders from across the country who, together with many sector partners, are campaigning for a Community Power Act.
Our vision is that people should have the power to shape their places and communities and should have the rights and tools they need to come together and take control of their own futures.
What is it about?
We want to continue to build on the lessons that we learned through the pandemic – showing how we all worked together to find the solutions to support the vulnerable in our communities. We shouldn’t need legislation to do it. But unfortunately, it is needed to make sure that that path is clear for communities to take it forward.
A Community Power Act with real legislative rights will giveour communities a propersy in how local assets are managed and services are delivered.
The Act would:
- Establish three new community rights:
- A community right to buy: Giving communities the right of first refusal once buildings and spaces with significant community value come up for sale.
- A community right to shape public services: Encouraging greater collaboration between communities and public institutions when designing, commissioning and delivering local services.
- A community right to control investment: Increasing community control over the key spending decisions which affect local neighbourhoods.
- Introduce community covenants:
These neighbourhood-level arrangements would bring local people, community organisations and local authorities together to share power and make decisions.
- Establish a community power commissioner:
This independent office would be charged with ensuring action is taken across government to uphold the new community rights, enable the formation of Community Covenants everywhere, and generally unlock community power.
Why are Charlotte and Fordhall involved?
"If the Community Power Act had been in place when we were campaigning back in 2006 life would have been a lot easier. It shouldn’t have been the battle that it was for us to secure Fordhall Farm. Everything was on our side to do it, everyone wanted it to happen, everyone locally wanted it to happen. But because of a few individuals who were not local and did not want it to happen, the battle for us to get there was huge. Fordhall should not be a one-off; the opportunities need to be there for others to take resources or assets and put them into community hands, using them for the benefit of their communities and local environment.
“Farmland is being lost every single day because land is worth too much money due to the potential that it has in for future development. Because it is worth so much money it out-prices local people. Paying a mortgage off on a farmer’s income was impossible in 2006 and now it is a magnitude worse.
“The incentive of how we manage our land is all based around who can make the most money for it. It’s not based around what is best for the land and the community in that area. We need to change that focus. We need to be able to make the power weighting more equal, to ensure that our land, our resources, our assets and our services are directed in the best way possible.
“That’s why I’m absolutely committed to the We’re Right Here campaign and getting that Act into parliament. We’d welcome anybody and everybody to get involved with the campaign and help take that forward.”
Community Right to Buy
The Community Right to Buy is the most significant ask for Fordhall. We were, therefore, extremely excited to see that this right was announced as part of Labour’s commitments in the King’s Speech in 2024. Charlotte and the We’re Right Here team continue to work hard to ensure this legislation includes the clout required to facilitate real change.