Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has announced the appointment of a new advisory panel on Community Wealth Building to support local economic recovery.

Community Wealth Building is a model of local economic development that tackles inequality and poverty by redirecting wealth and public spending into communities. It works through changes to public sector investment and spending practices and greater collaboration with the community.

The Minister's advisory panel will bring together local community business leaders with international experts from the Democracy Collaborative in the US. The panel also includes leading Queen's University academic Dr Brendan Murtagh and will be supported in its work by Trademark NI and the Development Trusts NI.

The Minister said: "I believe we need a new economic model that gives more power to local communities, more collective ownership and more just and fair labour markets.

"The advisory panel I have appointed will play a key role in identifying opportunities to grow and scale community wealth building and in supporting my Department to drive this work forward. I recognise this is a very ambitious agenda and will, in the longer term, require commitment from key players across the public sector and beyond."

The panel will begin its work immediately and is expected to report in the autumn.