Agenda item

Consider report by Director Resilient Communities. (Copy attached.)

With reference to paragraph 7 of the Minute of the meeting held on 26 June 2019, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Director - Resilient Communities which gave details of work which had been undertaken on reinvigorating the Area Partnerships and proposed further work be undertaken on a way forward.  The report explained that Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 was created to strengthen community empowerment, engagement, and participation, and how that could be supported and embedded within communities.  Scottish Borders Council welcomed the introduction of the Act and the ethos behind it, anticipating that it would provide a strong legislative basis which could be built on to achieve the Council’s vision of stronger, empowered and sustainable communities able to participate in public decision making and shaping their communities.  In response to the Act, and taking steps to achieve its vision, the Council at its meeting on 2 November 2017, reshaped Area Partnerships with part of their remit being to inform the development of Locality Plans by involving communities in establishing a shared understanding of need in the area; the outcomes and priorities for the area; and the proposed outcomes to be achieved. That saw the constitution, remit and focus changed to one of community engagement and involvement with a view to increasing public participation.  Those changes brought greater emphasis on community empowerment, participatory budgeting, and locality planning.  Following a Fit for 2024 update report to Council in June 2019 it was identified that more needed to be done to achieve the Council’s vision and, the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) was commissioned, in July 2019, to consult with individuals, groups and communities to identify how they could become more involved in Area Partnerships and decision making.  Further work took place in 2021, delayed due to the pandemic, to seek views on the changes proposed by Area Partnership Working Groups, established following SCDC’s work.   There had been significant progress in relation to the development of Area Partnerships, both with the involvement of local communities and also by the investment made by the Council in 2021 to increase community capacity building.  However, whilst there had been progress, significant steps of achieving the Council’s vision of meaningful and increased community participation at Area Partnership meetings had not been achieved.   Meetings often felt formal and Council led, which may be perpetuated by the fact that Area Partnerships are committees of Council.  Members welcomed the report, highlighted that ensuring effective public engagement with the Area Partnerships was key, and encouraged officers to assess the effectiveness of different models used by Local Authorities across Scotland. 

DECISION

          AGREED to:-

                   (a)     note the work undertaken so far in terms of reinvigorating Area Partnerships;

                   (b)     request the Director – Resilient Communities, following further engagement with Area Partnerships, brings a further report to Council due course on a future model for Area Partnerships, taking account of the following points:

                          (i)        removing Area Partnerships from the Council’s Scheme of Administration 

                          (ii)       establishing direct links between Area Partnerships and the Community Planning Partnership; and

                          (iii)      ensuring the management of any Council allocated funds to Area Partnerships takes account of the criteria within “Following the Public Pound”.