Mr. David Dalton:

Not at present but we seek, in conjunction with local authorities, to rework their local economic and community plans with them. They are six-year plans. Most of them only have been in place from around 2015 and 2016 and so are not due to lapse until 2022 or 2023. For a number of reasons, we are working with local authorities to redo those plans based on the learning we have gleaned over the past few years, given they are nascent structures, and to take on board other priorities that include climate action and Brexit, an issue that was not on our radar at the time. We are working specifically with them. We are working with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment as well to help raise awareness and understanding at a local level. We will build that into our local economic and community planning guidance.

At a higher level, we have the framework policy for local and community development, which also includes actions to help build the capacity of communities to engage and participate in policy and decision-making processes and the structures at local level, be they community groups, LCDCs or local authorities, or even Departments in how they engage with all structures and the development of tool kits and best practice models for inclusion and guidelines.