Plunkett Foundation has re-launched Keep It in the Community (KIITC), with support from Locality and Power to Change. It is an online register of all Assets of Community Value (ACVs) in England, which have been nominated, registered or rejected.

First set up by mySociety, Keep It in the Community has been given a makeover and is now hosted by the Plunkett Foundation – one of the organisations involved in its original conception. The information on KIITC is supplied by members of the public and checked by Plunkett against council records. There are 6,700 assets on KIITC, of which 3,700 have an active ACV registration.

What’s new?

Plunkett’s mission with Keep It in the Community is to help people across the country take their first steps towards community ownership. Although ACV records are available through individual councils, KIITC puts all of this information in one place, along with resources, helpful guidance and support.

KIITC can be used to view, add or update information about ACVs. Its purpose is to:

• Enable people to find protected assets in their local area
• Link people to advice and support to transform underused assets into thriving community businesses
• Provide supporting evidence for a review of ACVs to improve the effectiveness of the Community Right to Bid

Why now?

In the recent Levelling Up White Paper, the UK Government has committed to reviewing ACVs in order to better facilitate community ownership. In preparation, Plunkett will be analysing the data available on KIITC, to provide evidence for the current effectiveness of ACVs. As part of a data refresh to support this work, Plunkett will be gathering ACV data from local authorities in the coming months. Community ownership is a tried and tested means of saving services and social infrastructure.

The KIITC platform could also benefit local authorities as a convenient way of fulfilling their obligation to publish ACV decisions. Having all ACVs on a single database means that it would be easy to list ACVs by nomination date or type of asset, which would give local authorities the opportunity to take stock of assets in their area, and proactively identify opportunities for community business projects to fill gaps in rural service provision.

Over the coming months, Plunkett is keen engage with local authorities to improve the data on ACVs for the benefit of both the public and local government. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Georgina Edwards, Policy and Research Manager ([email protected]).