AQW 47174/11-15

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 12/06/2015
Answered On Date: 24/06/2015
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Social Development whether (i) all eighteen neighbourhood renewal projects in East Londonderry have received funding for 2015/2016; and (ii) his Department will work with councils to ensure continuity of funding through urban regeneration and community development, beyond 1 April 2016.

Answer:

All eighteen projects, that submitted funding applications, have been successful in receiving Neighbourhood Renewal funding in East Londonderry for 2015/16.

As you are aware, successful passage of the Regeneration Bill will confer powers and budgets to Councils for urban regeneration and community development in their areas. It will be for councils to decide how to best address the needs of their areas through their respective community plans. There is no obligation on Councils to replicate the current urban regeneration and community development projects undertaken by DSD. This is in line with the whole ethos of local government reform where the Executive has decided that decisions affecting local people should, where possible, be made at a local level.

However, I remain committed to the objectives that my Department set out in the Urban Regeneration and Community Development Framework published in 2013, which has been shared with councils along with my department’s experiences and knowledge. My Department will retain overarching policy responsibility for these matters and Councils will be required to have regard to any guidance issued by the Department relating to the exercise of these functions. The Department will also put in place appropriate and proportionate monitoring arrangements.

I am also committed to working with Councils in relation to the creation of community plans and to that end my officials have been engaging directly with Councils to discuss the Departments role in each of the community planning processes.