The £30 million community assets programme aims to empower communities by providing grants to improve public assets so that they can be transferred to community ownership. The need for the programme was established following extensive consultation with the third sector on its priorities.
My constituency in Milton Keynes has a pressing need for more youth facilities. Will the Minister explain whether it would be possible for young people in the community to be actively involved in the groups putting forward bids for these community assets?
I can give my hon. Friend the good news that young people or youth organisations will be able to bid for these resources if they wish to run some sort of youth provision of their own in the community. I have further good news for her: the Bill on unclaimed assets that is currently going through Parliament will release a huge amount of resources so that in every community across the country, young people will have new facilities, new centres and new opportunities to create social enterprises that will meet their own needs and the wider needs of the local community.