News Bulletins

Current events - Past events - News bulletins

These News Bulletins have previously been circulated to CDAS members 

‘What Community Development Does’

The CDAS pamphlet ‘What Community Development Does: A short guide for decision makers to how it achieves results’ has been printed and will be distributed shortly, after an official launch.

Controversy over community empowerment

Stephen Maxwell, Associate Director of SCVO, who spoke at last autumn’s CDAS conference on community empowerment, has launched a trenchant attack on the Scottish Government’s recent announcement on the subject (see previous Bulletin). In an article headed ‘the demise of community empowerment’ he argues that “The disappointment is not that the government is intent on doing what it can to strengthen communities' voice in Community Planning Partnerships. Rather it comes from the government's failure to acknowledge that engagement in public sector led structures can never be a substitute for giving communities their own power to act”.

Management information systems for CLD

As part of its work to build the effective use of performance information across Community Learning and Development, Learning Connections undertook research into the management information systems in use by organisations involved in delivering CLD.

Following on from that Learning Connections commissioned a resource which would highlight good practice and help those who are in the process of developing management information systems.  This resource is now available on their website. The resource is aimed at any individual who has some responsibility for management of CLD activities.

The web page also includes a link to a report from Rocket Science (the consultants for the project) outlining the process of developing the resource and setting out recommendations.

Learning Connections would be grateful for comments on this resource and any examples of how it is being used to improve management information systems.  Email learningconnections@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Early Years Framework

The Scottish Government and COSLA have issued a joint statement ‘Early Years and Early intervention’, which sets out their joint approach and describes how early years and early intervention support the national performance framework, and proposes a list of tasks to be taken forward.

One of the 4 task groups now working on this is focusing on: "Creating communities that provide a supportive environment for children and families"

Top Tips for engagement

The Glasgow Disability Alliance has published ‘Are we being served?’ A ‘Top Tips guide to involving disabled people’.  The toolkit can be used to help deliver effective community engagement, and is designed to give practical effect to the National Standards.

Neighbourhood Identity over Time and Place

Douglas Robertson, James Smyth and Ian McIntosh of the University of Stirling have studied the historical development of neighbourhood identity by comparing three contrasting areas of Stirling (Raploch, Riverside and Randolph Road). Their Report, published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, suggests that identity is established at a very early stage of each neighbourhood’s history, and has been resilient to change. However external perceptions of a neighbourhood’s identity were often stronger and more of a caricature than those held by people who lived there. Notions of community were constructed through familiar, everyday social interactions within various localised settings, which were often enough to give people a powerful sense of place, attachment and belonging.

Dormant bank accounts

The Scottish Government has begun its consultation process on the priorities for deploying the funds to be collected from Dormant Bank Accounts.  The sums available may be as much as £40 million in the first year and about £4 million year on year thereafter.  The money will be distributed by the Big Lottery Fund.  Full details of public consultation events will be announced shortly. Contact: Carol Elder (carol.elder@scotland.gsi.gov.uk)

Campaign for a Community Allowance

A new campaign has been launched by the CREATE Consortium, to establish a Community Allowance in the UK benefits system. This would enable community organisations to pay people to do work that strengthens their community without it affecting any of their benefits. http://www.communityallowance.org

DTAS Conference

The Development Trusts Association Scotland is holding its conference in St Andrews on 15 and 16 June. Themes to be covered during conference are:

• Coastal communities – new opportunities
• What’s been happening to the Common Good?
• Powerful partnerships – development trusts & housing associations
• Breathing new life into old buildings
• Healthy living, sport & young people
• Food for thought – a focus on tourism
• Community response to climate change

Learning Disability Week

A special effort is being made to draw attention to Learning Disability Week, 16- 22 June, with a national conference and an Action Pack on organising local activities.

Bill on Empowerment in England

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears announced early details of a new Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill for England, expected later this year. Three new rights are proposed:

• A right to ask for a stronger say on spending decisions that affect communities.
• A right to ensure councils consider the sale or transfer of under-used properties, lands or parks to local community groups, co-ops and social enterprises.
• A right to force a debate on specific local issues onto the council agenda.

Future of Community Voices

Scottish Ministers have given approval for the Scottish Government to fund a successor to the Community Voices Network for the next 3 years. It will be focussed especially on supporting community activists and volunteers to build their knowledge, skills, capacity and expertise on community regeneration practice and policy by providing:

• Learning opportunities on a range of topics relevant to community regeneration through a dedicated programme of events
• Opportunities and share experience across Scotland.

Regeneration Briefing

Partners in Regeneration have put together this useful short summary of the current Scottish Government’s policies in areas relevant to regeneration.

Community development and mental health

In June, the Community Development Foundation will publish ‘Connect and Include’, an exploratory study of community development and mental health. It will include a brief review of literature relating to relevant policy and practice, a survey and 39 interviews including community development practitioners, people with experience of mental ill-health, and staff from mental health services.

International Reader

To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Community Development Journal Gary Craig, Keith Popple and Mae Shaw have been commissioned to edit ‘Community Development in Theory and Practice: An International Reader’, a representative sample of the best writing from the Journal, and to write a new introductory essay. The thirty chapters demonstrate the richness and diversity of community development theory and practice in all parts of the world.

April 2008

The Scottish Government has made an announcement on the progress being made with the Empowering Communities agenda.  As a result of the views put forward in the series of discussion events held in October to December last year, the Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed to issue a joint commitment to ensuring that communities have a degree of control and influence over the things that matter to them.  This reads:

“We are delighted that for the first time in Scotland, central and local government are making an explicit joint commitment to helping local people to play their full part in making Scotland flourish. 

For the Scottish Government and COSLA empowering communities is not jargon, it is a key element of what we are both about.  This is an agenda we share with colleagues from across the public, voluntary and community sectors.

A key element of our joint commitment is to be clear about what community empowerment is and why it matters.

We see community empowerment as a process where people work together to make change happen in their communities by having more power and influence over what matters to them.  We also each believe in the central representative role of councillors in invigorating local democracy, and we see the process of community empowerment as a key way of complementing this. 

In getting to this point we have listened to a wide range of people and we have responded to what we heard.  So we are seeking to provide strategic leadership.  We are not launching new short term initiatives and we will celebrate the vibrant work that is already being done across the country. 

To support this high level commitment, we will also develop an Action Plan in partnership with the community and voluntary sectors over the coming months.  Based on feedback we have received to date the broad outline of that plan will cover:

• Highlighting examples of community empowerment;
• Providing direct capacity building investment to community groups;
• Investing in an integrated programme to develop skills, learning and networking in relation to community empowerment and engagement;
• 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 empowerment.

Today’s joint commitment is a starting point for a long term journey, and we look forward to continuing to work together and with communities as it develops.”

VOICE – Visioning Outcomes in Community Engagement

The Scottish Community Development Centre has launched VOICE as part of its ongoing work to support the implementation of the National Standards for Community Engagement on behalf of the Scottish Government. It is a planning and recording tool, using an MS Access® database, designed to assist individuals and organisations to design and deliver effective community engagement. A further description is on their website. For more information on how to get involved contact them on 0141 248 1924 or info@scdc.org.uk .

'Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland'

The discussion document 'Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland: The Future of Mental Health Improvement in Scotland 2008-2011' was issued by the Scottish Government as a consultation to determine the future direction of mental health improvement for 2008-11, focusing on what Local Authorities, NHS Boards and other key stakeholders can do to support the agenda.  The responses received are available here.

Some CDAS members recently attended a discussion hosted by the Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum on the ongoing issues. A note based on these discussions will be circulated soon.

More on Single Outcome Agreements

Useful materials explaining the new Single Outcome Agreement system can be found in the presentations made to a recent meeting of the Community Planning Network – look for example at the slides by Jon Harris of COSLA, amongst others.

Consultation on ‘Tackling Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation’

The Scottish Government has extended until 30 June 2008 the deadline for responses to the discussion paper 'Taking Forward the Government Economic Strategy: A Discussion Paper on Tackling Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation in Scotland'. 
The Poverty Alliance is working with GCVS and EVOC to encourage voluntary organisations (and others) to respond to the consultation. Two half day seminars will be held on 21st May (Edinburgh) and 22nd May (Glasgow). Please let Peter Kelly peter.kelly@povertyalliance.org  know if you wish to attend. For further information on the consultation visit http://cci.scot.nhs.uk/Publications/2008/02/01150409/0 

New Light on Adult Literacy and Numeracy

A Scottish Government report  ‘New Light on Adult Literacy and Numeracy  in Scotland’ was published earlier this year (a summary is also available). It says little about approaches to increasing literacies, being principally intended to present factual data. It is interesting if depressing to note the new data that shows that men and women with lower literacy and numeracy levels (SCQF Access Level skills) ‘were generally less engaged with their community, being less involved in clubs, groups or activities or to hold any political interest’.

Rowntree reports

Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports have been published on:

• ‘Routes and barriers to citizen governance’, looking at the structural, environmental, cultural and personal factors that encourage different communities to get involved or prevent them, based on experience in the English Local Strategic Partnerships
• ‘Community empowerment in practice: lessons from Communities First’, looking at the experience of that Welsh programme. This emphasises the need for support to community members to develop the skills required, multiple routes to participation and clearer links between strategic partnerships at ward level and those at the local authority level.

Forty Years On

At the recent CDAS Seminar Chair Stewart Murdoch paid tribute to the forty years of contributions to community development by Alan Barr, who has just retired as Co-Director of the Scottish Community Development Centre (and from the CDAS Management Group). Rumour has it that after a few months’ well-deserved break he intends to be very much in evidence again, on an allegedly part-time basis.

Scottish Government:  Housing and Regeneration

A guide to the structure of the Housing and Regeneration section of the Scottish Government since 1 April (including how responsibility for community empowerment sits within this) is available here.

Scottish Parliament seeks evidence on community policing

An inquiry into community policing in Scotland is to be undertaken by the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament. They are looking for evidence on good practice, the different mechanisms used to engage local communities in policing, etc etc. More details here.

Support for community gardens

The Big Lottery Fund has announced a grant of nearly half a million pounds to the Growing Communities in Scotland partnership. This includes the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, the Scottish Therapeutic Gardening Network (Trellis) and the Allotments Regeneration Initiative (ARI).  The funds will allow it to provide support to at least 350 community, therapeutic and allotment gardens across Scotland. The three partners will be able to work together to help projects develop new ideas, knowledge and skills so they can offer more consistent services.

Community Empowerment – English discussions

Following Communities Secretary Hazel Blears’ announcement on 5 March of a new Empowerment White Paper, the Department of Communities and Local Government is inviting groups to run their own local events on Empowerment.
It has jointly produced a ‘Community Power Pack’  with suggestions on how to run an event, advice for facilitators and organisers and detailed information about empowerment issues.  You can read the launch document about the White Paper on the Communities and Local Government website.

CLDMS Conference

The Community Learning and Development Managers Scotland Conference takes place from 20th to 22nd May at the Seamill Hydro, on the theme of ‘Capacity to Improve: developing a quality improvement culture in CLD’. Day delegate rates are available. Contact Fiona Galbraith, Community Learning and Development, St John’s Primary School Base, Morrison Avenue, Stevenston KA20 4HH  01294 468035.

Developing Community Assets

A free event is being held in Glasgow for community development staff working with community groups who may have an idea or a building they want to develop or may be considering applying to the Big Lottery Fund’s Growing Community Assets Fund. The event is on Thursday 8 May 2008, 9.30am to 3.45pm at The Albany Learning and Conference Centre, 44 Ashley Street, Glasgow G3 6DS. For more information or to obtain a booking form, please contact Jackie on 0141 425 2917 or jackie.donaldson@ceis.org.uk .

Archive of past bulletins

Peter Taylor

Policy & Development Consultant,
Community Development Alliance Scotland,
56, Turnberry Road
Glasgow G11 5AP
0141 586 7588
peter@pdtaylor.com