POLICY AND PRACTICE DEVELOPMENTS
Update to National Performance Framework
The Scottish Government has updated the National Performance Framework. There is a new National Outcome related to older people – ‘Our people are able to maintain their independence as they get older and are able to access appropriate support when they need it’ .
However, the main changes are to the National Indicator set. There are now 50 National Indicators as opposed to 45. There are 12 new National Indicators, including
- Improve the responsiveness of public services (“Responsiveness is a key aspect of the quality of public services, reflecting the extent to which services are designed around the needs of the individual. It relies upon organisations having mechanisms in place for people, particularly users of services, to communicate with service providers and to be heard so that their ideas can go into the redesign of more tailored services”)
- Improve levels of education attainment (This is an additional measure of attainment, based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment of student attainment in reading, maths and science at age fifteen. “What is particularly valuable is that PISA focuses on testing the knowledge and skills required for participation in society and assessing the extent to which pupils can apply skills gained in school in everyday adult life, thus moving beyond the pupil’s ability to master the school curriculum”)
- Increase physical activity
- Increase cultural engagement
- Improve self-assessed general health.
Seven National Indicators have been removed from the original 45. These either relate to targets that have been delivered or have been replaced by more suitable measures of progress towards the National Outcomes, including:
- Increase the social economy turnover (“We do not feel that the turnover of the sector fully reflects the extent to which it is contributing to delivery of the National Outcomes”)
Oxfam Scotland has commented that “there are some positive changes in the document, but these are largely at the level of indicators used, not the Purpose nor headline targets, which remain dominated by GDP, despite the use of some encouraging words and the recognition of some relevant concepts”.
National Network of Community Councillors
Following the demise of the Association of Scottish Community Councillors, an attempt is being made to create a National Network of Community Councillors. On its website it asks “Does the Community Council concept in Scotland need review? What sort of impact are CCs actually making on policy decisions? Could or should community councillors have a place in helping to govern their local communities?” and asks for contributions to the debate.
Planning experiences wanted
Planning Democracy is a charity that campaigns for a fair and inclusive planning system. It is are looking for different people’s good or bad experience experiences of the planning to system to help it to campaign for better public involvement in planning. It has already put a number of case studies and you can look at them on its website and on 21st April will be showcasing them at its conference ‘Planning: The People’s Perspective’.
Volunteering Skills Awards
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is promoting its newly developed Volunteering Skills Awards. These allow volunteers and potential volunteers to work towards a recognised SQA qualification.
Legal victory for Lloyds TSB Foundation
The Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland has won the right to claim £5.25m that Lloyds Banking Group refused to pay it in 2010 and 2011, instead offering just £38,920 a year. The judgement, which was issued by three of Scotland’s most senior judges on 29 December, means that for the next seven years, the bank will have to pay out a proportion of its pre-tax profits to the foundation.
DirectScot public services and information portal
A prototype version of DirectScot, the Scottish public services portal, has been made public as part of the Scottish Government’s consultation on the service. DirectScot aims to provide citizens and businesses with a simpler view of, and a single point to access to, all the public services available to them. The consultation on the prototype runs until 1 March 2012. As well as responding to the formal consultation questions, users are invited to join the discussion on the DirectScot blog, or leave feedback on the prototype site itself.
Funds for fishing communities
A new EU scheme is to provide funding for projects in Scottish fishing communities, with up to £7.6 million to be shared out across 13 local authorities. Under the scheme community-driven projects will be encouraged, including those relating to tourism, food and drink, renewable energy, training and environmental protection. Eligible councils were invited to create Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) to consider applications and decide how the funding will be allocated locally. In total there will be 12 FLAGs: Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dumfries & Galloway, East Lothian, Fife, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Shetland, Scottish Borders, Western Isles, as well as one joint FLAG for Argyll & Bute and South Ayrshire. £4.2 million, which the councils involved need to co-finance, is available under Axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund. This supports the sustainable development of fisheries areas. Objectives include training and capacity building for local communities.
‘Stick Your Labels!’ campaign
‘Stick Your Labels’ is a campaign supported by the Poverty Alliance designed to help tackle the stigma of living in poverty in Scotland. Its latest venture is a Facebook page.
Meanwhile, in Wales
SURF’s Scotregen Bulletin has news of changes to the Welsh ‘Communities First’ programme. The programme was launched in 2001 and there are presently over 150 Communities First partnerships across Wales. Each of these partnerships brings together members of the local community with representatives of the public, private and voluntary sectors to develop local Action Plans. In future there will be fewer Communities First areas, but most will be considerably larger. The new areas will be known as ‘Clusters’. A New Outcomes Framework, using a Results-Based Accountability Model, will be introduced.
INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
Community Action for a Sustainable Scotland A new set of educational resources on sustainable development for community organisations has been produced by the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC). Community Action for a Sustainable Scotland is a set of 7 resources aimed at community projects and groups, which offer advice ranging from how to develop a sustainability plan to simple tips for recycling and saving energy. They also contain illustrative examples from projects around Scotland. The resources were adapted from material produced as part of the Every Action Counts programme in England.
Community development on YouTube The Scottish Community Development Centre has a YouTube channel, on which CHEX and SCDC have a number of short film clips about community-led health and community development.
Scottish Anti-Poverty Review looks at community assets The Poverty Alliance has just published the latest edition of its Review with a focus on how local assets can be used to tackle poverty. The three feature articles are:
- Always Look on the Bright Side: The Rise of Asset Approaches in Scotland by Lynn Friedli
- Understanding Community Assets by Josh Stott, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- The Case for Community Led Regeneration by Angus Hardie, Scottish Community Alliance.
The CLD approach to adult learning Education Scotland have published a report which contains the results of a consultation on the level of commitment to, and use of, a ‘Social Practice’ model of adult learning. The report also provides a clear statement of what that model involves. Community Learning & Development Managers Scotland has endorsed the model as a clear, generally applicable definition of what it is that makes a Community Learning and Development approach to adult learning distinctive.
Planning for Community Developments Planning Aid for Scotland’s has published a guide ‘Planning for Community Developments’ (sic). It provides people who are trying to develop community assets with an introduction to the planning issues they are likely to face, including advice on development management and community engagement, as well as advice on specific topics such as renewable energy and allotments. It is the end result of the 18 month Planning Mentoring Scheme, which provided detailed support to community groups on planning matters. A wide range of groups all across Scotland received support with their projects, including establishing allotments, community halls, renewable energy schemes, sports and play park facilities and other community assets.
Young people, climate change and sustainability Young Scot is working on a project, in partnership with the 2020 Climate Group, about young people, climate change and sustainability. As part of this they are developing an interactive map of Scotland which will highlight current activities for young people to take part in, in their local area. Please let Cat Scott cats@youngscot.org know of any relevant projects or activities in your area for young people aged 14 to 26 years old.
Faith communities and public agencies A new resource ‘Faithful Endeavours’ gives guidance on better engagement between faith communities and public agencies and demonstrates some of the good work which is already going on. It was developed as part of the Scottish Government’s Better Community Engagement programme by Faith in Community Scotland and the Scottish Community Development Centre.
The future for community empowerment The Winter 2011/2012 edition of Scotregen features a special focus on the future of community empowerment, with a look at diverging approaches in Scotland and England, the potential of the JESSICA (Scotland) Trust and the ‘Chance to Thrive’ initiative, and the forthcoming Community Empowerment & Renewal Bill.
New Community Toolkit ‘The Bridge’ in the Borders has developed a toolkit for community groups to help improve skills and knowledge and bring benefits to local communities. There are guidelines on a range of topics, including setting up and running a community group, legal requirements and good practice, planning and fundraising for a particular project and where to obtain useful statistical data on the local area.
Chief Medical Officer’s Annual report Scottish Chief Medical Officer Harry Burns has released his 2011 annual report detailing the health of the Scottish population. Continuing from last year’s report, the CMO emphasises new community-based, preventative, approaches such as asset-based work and co-production.
Sustainable Scotland case studies A set of ‘poster’ case studies on ‘Aligning Public, Private and Community Action to Deliver our Sustainable Development and Climate Change Ambitions’ that were presented at the Sustainable Scotland Network Conference 2011 are available. They describe a mixture of local authority, community and other projects.
Integration Toolkit The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) has published a toolkit to aid organisations working with migrant communities to support their integration, primarily at local and regional levels. It provides guidance on the principles which should underpin projects that aim to achieve integration and showcases promising practices.
RESEARCH AND REPORTS
Power: A Practical Guide for Facilitating Social Change The Carnegie UK Trust has published ‘Power: A Practical Guide for Facilitating Change’. The handbook has been developed from a piece of work that was undertaken by the Carnegie UK Trust and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, exploring the link between analysing power and achieving social change. The work centred on developing an understanding of how those who have traditionally been regarded as having the least power in society can make things happen for themselves through understanding the power they do have, and using it to influence change.
The handbook is for people, within organisations, networks or within community groups, who want to explore power in relation to achieving change in the interests of communities they are working with. Designed primarily for those who want to explore issues of power over a sustained period of time through workshops, one to one mentoring, and self-reflection, it may also be used by those who wish to start with an introduction to power analysis through stand-alone workshops.
Independence of the Voluntary Sector The Baring Foundation’s Panel on the Independence of the Voluntary Sector, set up last year, has published its first statement (or see press release). It lists a number of factors that are putting the sector’s independent status at risk. It documents problems with the Work Programme in some detail and identifies other challenges:
- The sector’s inability to influence design, delivery and funding models
- The increasing blurring of boundaries between the three sectors
- The risk of charities censoring themselves in order to maintain their statutory funding
- The risk that independence may slip down the priority list for trustee boards preoccupied with ensuring the survival of their charity, and
- The need for a regulatory environment that protects rather than hinders independence.
It notes that “There is a danger that parts of the voluntary sector which deliver public services could in effect become not-for-profit businesses, virtually interchangeable with the private sector” and calls on the government and the private sector to help protect the sector’s independence by including social value in contracts, encouraging advocacy on behalf of those without a voice, and working to remove barriers to smaller organisations taking part in service delivery.
Lifetime Neighbourhoods The English Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned the Centre for Housing Policy at York University to produce a research report on Lifetime Neighbourhoods. The report brings together existing writings and research and practice examples of Lifetime Neighbourhoods i.e. places designed to be inclusive regardless of age or disability.
Local Housing Strategies Co-Production Pilots with Disabled People The Scottish Government has published an evaluation (Summary) of two pilot projects using co-production as a method of working with disabled people to ensure their needs are addressed in local housing strategies.
2009-10 Citizenship Survey Topic Reports from the English Citizenship Survey on Community Spirit and Community Action tell us that e.g.
- The majority of people believed that people in their neighbourhood pulled together to improve the area
- The vast majority of people agreed that their area was somewhere that people from different backgrounds get on well together – this has steadily increased since 2003
- Levels of civic engagement (civic activism, civic participation and civic consultation) have fallen since 2008-09. The decline was driven by a fall in civic participation – the most common form of civic engagement
- The proportion of people who felt they were able to influence decisions affecting their local area has fallen to 37%, the lowest level recorded since the start of the Citizenship Survey in 2001.
EVENTS
Scottish community councils: Local democracy at stake Thursday 26th January, 5 – 6.45 pm, David Hume Tower, Conference Room, George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JX
An event organised by the Citizen Participation Network of the University of Edinburgh based Public Policy Network. This event seeks to stimulate an open dialogue about the challenges currently faced by community councils, and the ways in which those challenges may be overcome. Register here.
Empowering Communities through Community Ownership and Asset Transfer All events run from 10am – 3pm.
Education Scotland will provide a series of staff development opportunities in 2012 and beyond to support the contribution of Community Learning and Development in encouraging community empowerment and renewal. The first of these opportunities will focus on community ownership and asset transfer and the aim will be to support the important work that CLD practitioners do with communities when taking on the ownership of assets.
The events are open to anyone with a CLD role. Places will be allocated on a first-come basis and anyone who would like to attend should complete the appropriate electronic registration form (links above).
From the local to the national: tackling poverty during austerity
These free Poverty Alliance seminars are an opportunity for all concerned about poverty to come together to debate how make progress.
| Date | Location |
|
30 January |
Glasgow |
|
31 January |
Edinburgh |
|
7 February |
Dundee – FULL (waiting list available) |
|
10 February |
Inverness |
|
13 February |
Bathgate |
|
16 February |
Greenock |
|
20 February |
Aberdeen |
|
23 February |
Glasgow |
For further information and to register click here.
Economic development and preventative spend Monday 13th February 12.30 – 15.30 Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. Free to EDAS Members, £15 (excluding VAT) Non Members.
The Economic Development Association Scotland AGM takes the form of a discussion with John Swinney MSP, EDAS Chair Alan McGregor and EDAS members and colleagues on how economic development can work more preventatively and collaboratively across institutional boundaries and sectors. Many labour market interventions, for example, are primarily motivated by the desire to avoid the psychological scars of unemployment. The question that faces economic development now is this: how can we contribute more systematically and effectively to the preventative spend agenda?
Identity, self, community and belonging for disabled people 22nd of February, 6pm – 7.45pm then drinks reception until 8.30pm, Glasgow Caledonian University, Saltire Centre.
“Boxed in” is a question time style debate. A panel of experts will discuss a wide range of issues around disability; issues of definition, perception, belonging, image, multiple-identities and what these and other issues mean for individuals and communities. The debate is organised by Independent Living in Scotland and partners. RSVP by 10th February 2012 to: contact@ilis.co.uk 0141 228 5921, Freepost, RSHG-GZXY-YYAL Independent Living in Scotland, Equality and Human Rights Commission, 58 Robertson Street, Glasgow G2 8DU.
