We welcome the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government and, in particular, its clear commitment to place community empowerment and community wealth building at the heart of a new model of governance, alongside implementing the ambitions of Democracy Matters.

The commitment to strengthen local governance and give people the means to articulate priorities and the tools to build community assets and services is an important opportunity to reinvigorate local democracy in Scotland. It closely reflects our belief that communities must have a stronger and more meaningful role in shaping the decisions, investment and services that affect them the most.

We look forward to working constructively with the Scottish Government, local government and partners across Scotland to turn these commitments into practical change for Scotland’s communities.

The important test, however, will be how these ambitions are translated into practice. Community empowerment must mean more than additional opportunities for consultation. It will require genuine influence and power over decisions and resources, clear democratic accountability and sustainable investment in community capacity.

The anticipated dialogue on the future of local governance provides an important opportunity to move from ambition to implementation and to build a democratic infrastructure capable of giving every community in Scotland a meaningful voice and the capacity to act.

For more information on the Programme for Government please see the Scottish Government website – Programme for Government – gov.scot