January 15, 2008
LPL drafting Scottish community empowerment strategy
Following consultation last Nov/Dec, Scottish Government is going to publish a community empowerment strategy next month. Meantime, the LPL Steering Group has decided to publish its own ideas on community empowerment. We’ve already made a start on this and we invite your comment on possible actions that we should be calling for.
Possible actions for inclusion in LPL statement on community empowerment:
Improving representative democracy
• Community call for action (petitions)
• Community Councils – pilot enhanced powers
• Community kitties/ delegated budgets
Resourcing communities
• New focus on wider role for community controlled RSLs – embed sustainability into wider action programme
• Actions to facilitate increased levels of ‘direct’ community benefit from windfarm developments
• Asset transfer. Acknowledge the findings of Quirk Review and publish a Scottish Action Plan as a response.
• Land Reform Act. Agree timescale for wholesale review of Act. (Extend to all communities in Scotland. Review and simplify process of registration of CRtB)
Building local capacity
• Community Anchors – acceleration programme
• National training programme for activists and community workers
• National intermediaries – support and better cross sector working?
• Recognise the community sector as a discrete sub-sector within 3rd sector
• Formalise mechanisms for community influence at Community Planning Partnership
• Minimum of 50% community representation in local allocation decisions of the new Fairer Scotland Fund.