A New Model for Local Democracy

Join the Scottish Community Alliance (SCA) in partnership with Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), SURF - Scotland’s Regeneration Forum and Social Enterprise Scotland (SES) to discuss the draft communities blueprint. A proposal to give communities greater powers and influence over local decisions and resources.

Over the last 6 months, the SCA has been working with DTAS, SES, SURF, Scottish Community Tourism (SCOTO), Coastal Communities Network and Scottish Islands Federation on a blueprint for a new democratic decision-making model.

We want to hear your views on a proposed model that creates and reforms a system of 355 statutory Ward Councils in Scotland. A system that aims to give every community a stronger statutory democratic voice and influence the Scottish Government’s next steps in local governance.

These sessions will gather the views, knowledge and practical experience of community organisations on the proposed model and help shape the next version of the blueprint.

Background

In 2017, the Scottish Government and COSLA launched the Local Governance Review to consider how communities could have greater influence over the design and delivery of public services. Democracy Matters consultations over the past 10 years showed strong support for giving communities greater control over local decisions, powers and resources, but the question remained – how?

The Scottish Government has recently published a Public Sector Reform proposal, inviting discussion on a new model of local governance for stronger regional and community-level decision-making and functions.

In response, the Scottish Community Alliance have developed a communities blueprint that builds the case for a model based on genuinely community-led democracy - rooted in place, non-party-political and not simply an extension of local authority structures.

The SCA blueprint

What’s the purpose of this session?

The blueprint is still being developed and we want to test its ideas with the knowledge and practical experience of community organisations.

The key aims of this session are to:

• introduce the main principles and proposals in the blueprint;

• explore what participants support or would change;

• identify potential risks, gaps and unintended consequences;

• consider what communities would need to participate effectively; and

• gather evidence and recommendations to inform the next version.

Who is the session for?

We welcome staff, trustees and volunteers from organisations involved in community development, local services, regeneration, social enterprise, community ownership, place-based work and community-led action.

We particularly want to hear from a mix of organisations working in urban, rural, remote rural and island contexts.

No previous knowledge of Democracy Matters or the blueprint is required. A short briefing, together with the full SCA Communities Blueprint, will be provided before the event.

Why take part?

The experience of community organisations and members of SES is essential for us to understand how this new model for local democracy would work in practice.

What we hear will help refine the blueprint and inform future policy and advocacy work on local democracy. Following the event, we will share a summary of the main themes, recommendations and outstanding questions.

Interested but can't make this session, look out for our partners' sessions:

Friday 9 October, 2–4pm — hosted by DTAS

Thursday 22 October, 10am–12 noon — hosted by SURF