Agenda item

Presentation by the Communities & Partnership Team, Strategic Policy Unit, Scottish Borders Council.  

Ms Shona Smith, from the Communities and Partnerships Team, was in attendance to give a presentation on the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.  In her introduction, Ms Smith advised that although the Act received Royal Assent on 24 July 2015, it was recognised that further regulations and guidance were required for most parts of the legislation.  The Act was made of 11 parts.  Part 2 of the Act was about Community Planning and more specifically local organisations working to benefit the local community.  This would be carried out through joint working, agreeing joint policies and making sure partners knew what each other was doing.  Community Planning Partners, who had a statutory duty, were Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland, NHS Borders, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Borders Council.  The Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP) replaced Single Outcome Agreements.  The LOIP would contain the outcomes for the Scottish Borders that were a priority for the Community Planning Partnership.  Appropriate community groups must be consulted when developing the LOIP.  Subject to the approval of Scottish Parliament the legislation would come into force on 20 December 2016.

Locality plans focused on smaller areas, one of these being Teviot, and again appropriate community groups must be consulted.  Part 3 of the Act concerned Participation Requests. Ms Smith explained that a Participation Request was a request that could be made by a community participation body which believed it could improve the outcome of a service.   The request must be agreed unless there were reasonable grounds for refusal. It was hoped that this part of the Act would come into force in February/March 2017.   Part 4 of the Act dealt with Community Right to Buy.  Ms Smith explained that communities, with populations over 10,000, would now be able to use Community Right to Buy.   Part 5 of the Act was regarding Asset Transfer requests. Assets were land or buildings owned by public authorities.  Public authorities would be required to publish a register of their assets; Scottish Borders Council had published their register on their website. Ms Smith went on to explain that a group could request to buy or lease land from a public authority if it had a written constitution, was open to anyone in the community, was community led and was for the benefit of the community.  This part of the Act would come into force on 23 January 2017.  Part 8 of the Act was the requirement for all Councils to publish a list of all their Common Good properties, Councils would have to consult with community councils or other community groups before selling or changing the use of any of their Common Good properties.    Part 9 of the Act deal with allotments. The Act set out a standard size of 250 square metres for an allotment. Applications for allotments would be required to be submitted in writing.   Part 10 was in respect of public decision making.  This part of the Act would give Scottish Ministers the power to require that public authorities, such as SBC, promoted and supported the involvement of the community in the decision and activities of the organisation.  To conclude her presentation, Ms Smith advised that further information on the Act could be found on the website at: communityengagement@scotborders.co.uk

There followed a discussion on allotments. Ms Smith advised that SBC were trying to encourage people to take up allotments.  However, there was little interest.   Members noted that the Act gave power to communities and would be an opportunity for them to become actively involved to benefit their community. However, it was highlighted that many communities would need support and guidance.  Ms Smith confirmed that officers would be available to give advice and to attend community council meetings if required.  Ms Smith added that there would also be changes to the granting of Community Choice funding as it would no longer be controlled by local authorities.  The part of the Act relating to Common Good properties was discussed and Ms Smith advised that community groups required to be consulted before SBC made any changes or sold a Common Good properties.  She suggested that community groups be involved in any conversations around decisions involving Common Good properties.  Community groups would also be able to participate in the decisions affecting their community, for example, SBC’s budget setting process.    In answer to a question regarding the former Hobkirk Primary School building, Ms Smith advised that each Asset Transfer request would be dealt with on an individual basis.  Consideration as to funding, what services the community council proposed to provide, operational control and maintenance of the asset would need to be established. The Communities and Partnership Team would be available to give advice and guidance on the procedure to follow.   The Chairman thanked Ms Smith for the informative presentation.

DECISION

NOTED the presentation.