Community Empowerment

Rural Development Council

Alasdair McKinlay

Regeneration Division

Community Empowerment

• The Scottish Government and Community Empowerment

• Developing the Action Plan - What we heard from our Dialogue

• What is Community Empowerment and why does it matter?

• The Actions Plan

• Shared challenges for the future

The Scottish Government and Community Empowerment

• A cross Government agenda

• Committed to people in Scotland having more control over their own lives and more choice in how their needs are met

• Scottish Ministers were keen to listen to a wide range of views about how to make community empowerment a reality

Dialogue Process

• Spoke with 380 people from October December 2007

• Good mix of participants

• Strong equalities dimension

Dialogue Process – What we heard

• Very broad mix of views – but some consensus

• Empowerment is not something that can be done to communities - but supporting communities is critical.

• Don’t invent new schemes, structures or layers of governance - build on what is there

Dialogue Process – What we heard

• People agreed that community empowerment involved communities taking more direct control of change in their communities.

• However, many people felt that simply having more and better involvement in the planning and delivery of services would be what some communities would want

Dialogue Process – What we heard

• Real community empowerment is about equality, with all sectors of the community being involved and having their voice heard

• Scepticism amongst many community activists and the third sector about whether public bodies were really interested in empowering communities

What is Community Empowerment?

• Joint Statement of commitment with COSLA

• “Community empowerment is a process where people work together to make change happen in their communities by having more power and influence over what matters to them.”

Why does Community Empowerment matter?

• Community Empowerment complements the role of elected members in invigorating democracy

• It helps to deliver better outcomes – Communities doing things for themselves is sometimes the best way to deliver change

• It improves quality of life - People working together unlocks talent and creativity and develops resilience and confidence

Action Plan

• A milestone on a journey – not an end point

• To be launched jointly with COSLA 23 March 2009

• Promoted around the country after that

Action Plan

• Reinforces that the Scottish Government and local government are committed to community empowerment;

• Develops enthusiasm for what can be achieved by empowering communities;

• Celebrates existing examples to show what communities can achieve for themselves;

• Provides clarity on key principles and practical action which will help make community empowerment a reality;

• Shows that this is an agenda shared by all key partners in Scotland.

Actions

• Highlighting 12 examples of community empowerment;

• Sets out for the first time nearly £180m Community Empowerment Programme of potential investment in community groups;

• Investing in an integrated programme to develop skills, learning and networking in relation to community empowerment and engagement;

Action Plan

• Developing support to help communities own assets;

• Investing in improved support for community capacity building;

• Working with Audit Scotland to agree how to assess progress on engagement and empowerment.

Shared Challenges?

• Overcoming scepticism

• Resourcing support for community groups

• Developing an understanding of the benefits of empowering communities with a wide range of colleagues