Author: Liam Kay, Third Sector

A government-funded evaluation of SIBs by academics and a research organisation says they are ‘no panacea for public service reform’

There is “no clear evidence” that social impact bonds lead to better outcomes for beneficiaries or that they are more cost-effective than other approaches to commissioning public services, a government-funded evaluation has concluded.

The exercise, which was carried out by the Policy Innovation Research Unit at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the research organisation Rand Europe with funding from the NIHR Policy Research Programme at the Department of Health and Social Care, says its findings show that SIBs are “no panacea for public service reform”.

Policymakers should therefore focus on the parts of SIBs that offer the most promise for developing outcome-based contracting, the evaluation says, without suggesting that SIBs are the only way of achieving this.

SIBs work by attracting investment to fund projects, often involving charities and social enterprises, and reimbursing and rewarding the investors if the project is successful.

The concept has been used in other areas of public policy – notably in rehabilitating criminals – but there have been questions about whether the SIB model could be widely replicated.

The researchers, who studied nine SIB-funded projects across England, were also unable to find “suitable quantitative data” to compare the costs and outcomes of SIB-funded and non-SIB services.

Of the nine projects studied, only one reported having any cashable savings as a result of its SIB-funded work, the evaluation says.

SIBs therefore, according to the evaluation, have a role to play in “specific circumstances” where outcomes are “uncontroversial, easily attributable to the actions of the provider and easily measured”.

But SIBs are unlikely to be widely applicable in public services, the evaluation found.

Nicholas Mays, professor of health policy at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “The main demonstrable success of SIB projects in health and social care has been in helping marginalised groups who had, previously, been neglected by public services. It is much less clear that SIB-related services for other groups, such as people with chronic health conditions, have led to marked improvements in health.

“So far, at least, cashable savings from SIBs, despite early hopes and rhetoric, remain unproven. Policymakers should learn from different models, but SIBs are no panacea for better commissioning of health and care services.”

Author: Caitlin Logan, Common Space

The outlook for rural communities in the face of a slew of bank branch closures just got a little brighter, if the ambitious plans of retired accountant Jeff Payne are anything to go by.

Payne’s vision, a series of individually franchised community “one stop shops”, including banking, postal and online shopping services, alongside groceries, homewares and social activities, ticks many of the boxes for rural areas confronted by diminishing town centres and inaccessibility of essential services.

Early this year, RBS announced plans to close 52 branches across Scotland by 2020, while Santander has planned to close 10 by the end of 2018, and the provision of free-to-use cash machines could drop by as much as 40 per cent as banks are set to reduce their payments to ATM providers.

Branded the Community Junction, Payne’s idea has already won the support of Scottish Rural Action, which has been campaigning on the issue of rural banking in Scotland. And with a commercial bank which describes itself as socially responsible, Contis, already on board to provide the banking service, a selection of pilot areas looks set to get the go-ahead.

Speaking to CommonSpace, Payne explained the thinking behind the initiative: “The aim is to restore branch banking in the towns which have lost their banks or are down to last branch status.

“Lots of people have been unbanked or under-banked as a result of branch closures. This is having an effect on small businesses, and high streets have seen a rush of closures in local shops and bigger shops, leading to community deprivation.”

While 2,500 towns across the UK fall into this unbanked or under-banked category, Community Junction plans to start with a pilot of 12 areas over the next 18 months.

Payne added: “One proviso of the whole process is that any profits made go into community projects, not to investors.

“So the funds will help young people, improve recreational and sports facilities, offer job opportunities and provide older people with opportunities to mix with other people.”

While Contis will make a charge for the provision of the banking service, the branches will be set up as community interest companies, with shares owned by as many people in the community as possible.

This is what Community Junction proposes as a “radically reconfigured bank branch” which, as the name suggests, “will be the place where all roads lead”.

The idea was initially derived from Payne’s research into similar projects around the world, including a Bendigo Bank franchise in Adelaid, Australia, which used £140,000 of its £150,000 profits last year to fund community projects.

Chief executive of Scottish Rural Action, Emma Cooper, told CommonSpace that the Community Junction project had come the closest so far in securing a practical solution to the rural banking crisis.

“These things happen because of 20 little things coming together, so this is another step along the way,” Cooper said.

“The key thing about the project is the idea of economies of scale and how difficult it would be to get banking services in individual communities, so a cluster of communities looking to do this together makes it more practical.”

Cooper stressed that the community hub model would be more manageable in communities with high capacity and experience in running local projects, but that a pilot in such areas could provide the basis to roll the initiative out across the board.

Equally, Cooper added that the onus must remain on banks themselves to offer a solution. “Scottish Rural Action believe banks have an obligation to provide banking services to people wherever they live,” she said.

“So we hope that banks will continue to work with communities, whether that’s providing a branch or suitable mobile banking, or working with a community to providing banking services in a community hub.”

Led by Payne, along with business and e-commerce academics Tony Davies and Alan Braithwaite, a national campaign to fundraise for each stage of the project will be launched in Autumn this year.

Flavia Alzetta, CEO of Contis explained why the bank has agreed to work with the project: “At Contis we are committed to driving a healthy banking and payments sector that works for everyone, and it is our mission to empower others to disrupt and make change for good.

“With the continuing closure of high street branches, local people are looking elsewhere to find the banking support they need. Through Contis’ fully adaptable technology, communities are able to solve their own specific needs.

“Projects such as Coomola Tree [the original name for Community Junction] are fantastic initiatives that are empowering local communities to take matters into their own hands and offer banking services for everyone, not just the few. Although it is still in its funding stage, we are ready to move when they do. It’s a project we are very proud and committed to support.”

Author: David Prescott

The community group that has been protecting Dunblane’s Holmehill from development for more than a decade was told on Thursday 7 June that Holmehill has a new owner – a local charity that is intent on maintaining and improving the area.

David Prescott, Chair of Holmehill Community Buyout said – ‘Over the last 13 years, the group has sought to secure this lovely green space for public access and has successfully opposed several planning applications to build over Holmehill. We are overjoyed that a newly established local charity has bought Holmehill, expressly for the benefit of the community. This is an exciting new phase for Holmehill and for all of Dunblane and we look forward to working with the new owners, who have committed themselves to involving the community in the future of Holmehill. They plan to start consulting on their plans in the next few months’.

The Holmehill Community Buyout Group was formed in 2004 to buy Holmehill using the, then new, Land Reform legislation. In 2005, they took Scottish Ministers to court in a landmark case to assert our right to pursue community ownership of the land. Since then the group has contributed to work aimed at improving land reform legislation.

In 2005 Holmehill was acquired by local developer, Allanwater Developments, who produced a plan to build up to 50 houses. In response, the local community came together to resist this and to campaign for the retention of – what is seen locally as – an important green space in the heart of the Cathedral city.

Subsequent planning applications and appeals by Allanwater Developments were all refused and Holmehill has continued to be designated at Public Green Space in the Local Development Plans.

Author: Community Land Scotland

Scotland’s first Community Land Week will be held from Saturday 11th August – Sunday 19th August 2018.

Community landowners from all over Scotland will be hosting events which will allow people to see more of what happens on community owned land. Community Land Week is organised by Community Land Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Government

As part of Community Land Week 2018, the following events will be taking place around Scotland. Details of times, exact locations and if booking is required will be published over the coming weeks.

Saturday 11th August @ 10.00

Cuairt Oighreachd Charlabhaigh – join Urras Oighreachd Charlabhaigh for a group walk to help test the Bonnet Laird Walk route.

The guided walk will start from Callanish (Isle of Lewis) and attendees are welcome to join at any of the four points listed below.

If you are planning to attend, please wear suitable footwear and clothing for a moorland walk. Anyone under 16 should be accompanied by an adult. There will be soup and tea / coffee provided at Carloway School afterwards.

There is no need to book but if you are thinking of attending and / or would like more information please contact Sally on 01851 643 481 or sally@carlowayestatetrust.co.uk

Website – https//:www.carlowayestatetrust.co.uk/

Monday 13th August @ 11.30

The Knoydart Foundation will be hosting a guided walk and talk on ‘Community Renewables in Action‘. The walk and talk will look at the practicalities of running your own community energy power company! It is a general interest event – not technical. There is also the possibility of a trip to the turbine house but this will require booking (details to be confirmed).

The event will be open to the general public and anyone interested in renewable energy, housing and community land ownership. Attendees are asked to meet at Inverie village hall at 11.30.

Main contact – angela@knoydart.org

Website – http://www.knoydart-foundation.com/

Monday 13th August @ 19.30

Action Porty will be hosting two talks, and a very brief film, on community empowerment and community lands, ‘Global Resurgence of Community Lands – Examples from Kenya and Scotland: What has the law ever done for us?

Milka Chepkorir, a Sengwer community activist, will talk about her community’s attempts to secure a win-win for the community and conservation, and to halt the burning of their homes and evictions from their lands in the name of forest conservation. This will include the opportunities and challenges of trying to use Kenya’s 2016 Community Land Act.

Justin Kenrick, Chair of Action Porty, will talk about the campaign to secure Bellfield for the community, and Portobello’s ongoing attempt to secure a win-win for the community and Edinburgh Council at the Pitz / Westbank site, including the use of the 2016 Land Reform Act and the 2015 Community Empowerment Act.

The event will take place at Portobello’s Old Parish Church, Bellfield and will be open to members of the community and general public. Booking is not necessary but if you are thinking of attending please e-mail justin@actionporty.org

Tuesday 14th August

Sleat Community Trust will be hosting the following two events:

Come and discover Sleat Community Trust, a community group awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service @ 09.30 – 12.00. Hosted by Sleat Community Trust at their offices, this is an opportunity to meet the Trust and discover the activities and range of projects they have been involved with. Areas of interest will involve the Trust’s structure, community broadband, the subsidised taxi services, tourism group, trading and renewable projects, funding, the planned Armadale trading site redevelopment and essential joined up working.

This event is open to other community trusts, the local community and general public.

Armadale Trading Site Redevelopment @ 13.00 – 14.30 – hosted by Sleat Community Trading Company Limited at Sleat Community Trust offices. This will be a specific opportunity to find out about the planned development of the Sleat Community Trust’s trading site at Armadale. Topics will include challenges, funding and plans.

This event is open to other community trusts.

If you would like to attend any of the Sleat events please e-mail mike@sleat.org.uk

Website – http://www.sleat.org.uk/

The Trust will also be hosting an event on August 17th (please see below for details).

Tuesday 14th August @ 11.00

West Harris Trust will be hosting a guided visit to their renewables projects including a visit to the 100kW hydro scheme, 100kW Xant wind turbine and 53kW Harbon wind turbine. After the tour attendees will return to Talla na Mara for a tour of the building, a brief talk on the aims, objectives and achievements of the Trust and tea / coffee.

The event is open to the whole community and other community land owners. Booking is not required but if you are interested in attending please e-mail linda@westharristrust.org

Please meet at Gleann Dudhlinn, Seilebost @ 11.00. The event will finish at 12.30.

Website – http://www.westharristrust.org/

Thursday 16th August @ 14.00

Garbh Allt is on the Map – celebrating this newly owned community land in Sutherland.

Garbh Allt Community Initiative will be hosting an event to celebrate their newly purchased community owned land, focusing around a flag-waving walk to the Land League Memorial and followed by a ceilidh on the Highland Games field.

The event will be open to the whole community and visitors.

Main contact – Carolyn Smith, secretary.garbhallt@gmail.com

Website – http://garbhallt.land/

Thursday 16th August @ 13.00

South West Mull and Iona Development Trust will be hosting a community event, ‘Tiroran Community Forest – Then and Now‘ which will focus on People, Forestry and Biodiversity & Nature. There will be three stations in the forest each with a local expert who will talk about their subject in relation to what the forest was like post buy-out and what it is like now.

The People station will cover the areas that were cleared in the forest in the late 1800s and the sites for the new woodland crofts and what it could be like again with people living in the forest. This station will be covered by a local historian and one of the potential crofters.

The Forestry station will look at the way the forest was planted in the 1970s and the changes that Forestry Commission Scotland now look for in terms of forest planning and the reasoning behind this. It will also give the Trust a chance to talk about their aspirations in terms of forestry and what their plans are.

The Biodiversity and Nature station will consider the species in the forest and the impact of both the previous and future forest management on this aspect.

The event is open to everyone. There is no need to book but if you are thinking of attending and / or would like more information, please contact Morven – mgibson@swmid.co.uk or 01681 700 021.

Website – http://swmid.co.uk/

Thursday 16th August @ 14.00

Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn will be hosting a talk of the history of the estate and the run up to the buyout. Followed by a walk @ 15.15 to explore key sites of interest relating to the buyout celebration and the history of Galson.

Please meet at the UOG Business Centre, Tom na Ba, South Galson, Isle of Lewis, HS2 0SH – time to be confirmed.

The event is open to everyone and booking is not required.

Main contact – lisa@uogltd.com

Website – http://www.galsontrust.com/

Friday 17th August @ 13.00

A Millennial’s look at Abriachan’s piece of the Millennium Forest for Scotland

Abriachan Forest Trustees, including our millennial Sam Hesling, (Katharine Stewart’s grandson), will lead an interactive walk on Friday 17th August , 13.00-16.00, to the top of Carn na Leitir and, along the way, will highlight some of the biodiversity, social, economic and creative developments which have taken place in the woodland over the past twenty years of community stewardship.

The event is open to everyone who is interested in what community management of land can mean.

Refreshments will be available at the forest classroom before and after the walk, so an intimation of attendees would be helpful for cake production! Please e-mail abriachanforest@gmail.com if you are thinking of attending and / or for further details.

Website – http://www.abriachan.org.uk/

Friday 17th August @ 10.00

Kilfinan Community Forest, Tighnabruaich, Argyll, PA21 2BD will be hosting an open day for people interested in developing community land; and sharing their experiences of what can be achieved. Friends of Glenan Wood, a neighbouring community, will also be taking part.

How to create and manage Community Woodland

The event is open to the public but especially aimed at those involved with community acquisitions and development. There is no need to book but if you are thinking of attending please e-mail michael@kilfinancommunityforest.com

Website – http://www.kilfinancommunityforest.co.uk/

Friday 17th August @ 10.00

Sleat Community Trust will be hosting a visit to Tormore Forest, a community owned working forest. This event will offer the chance to visit Tormore Forest and discover the work the community has been undertaking – how it was funded, how a working forest works, why diversification is essential, use of timber, renewable projects, current plans and developments.

Attendees are asked to meet at Sleat Community Trust offices at 10.00, moving on to Tormore Forest at 11.00 with the event concluding at 13.00.

The event is open to other community trusts, the local community, general public and visitors.

If you would like to attend any of the Sleat events please e-mail mike@sleat.org.uk

Website – http://www.sleat.org.uk/

Saturday 18th August @ 15.00, Achmore Bridge

Fernaig Community Trust will be hosting an afternoon opening of a new 1.7km footpath on Fernaig land, completed in 2017 – 2018 and funded by SRDP Agri-Environment Climate Scheme, Improving Public Access. After a ‘ribbon cutting’ there will be a guided walk along the path through Trust land followed by a BBQ. There are plans for various fun events e.g. duck (plastic) racing on the burn. All welcome and no booking required.

The date also coincides with the 20th Birthday of Fernaig Community Trust, established in August 1998.

Main contact – Colin McAndrew, colinandrosy@btinternet.com

Website – http://www.stromeferry-and-achmore.co.uk/

Saturday 18th August @ 18.00

Findhorn Village Conservation Society will be hosting a Celebration at the Armstrong Garage Site, Linksview, Findhorn, IV36 3YW.

The Society will be hosting a BBQ / BYOB and holding the draw for the raffle that has been running for three months. Prizes include superb malt whiskies, holidays in Findhorn and Ferness, trips to see the dolphins and more. The raffle is to raise funding for the all access David Urquhart memorial pathway along Findhorn Bay.

The event will be open to the Society’s members and associate members, all residents and visitors.

Main contact – Jo Harris, findhornvcc@gmail.com

Website – http://www.findhornvillageconservation.org.uk/

Sunday 19th August @ 13.00

Mull of Galloway Trust will be hosting an International Lighthouse Heritage Garden Party from 13.00 – 17.00 which will showcase the history of the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse and explain the role of the foghorn and engines which have just been restored. Attendees will witness the foghorn being blasted – this is the only working foghorn on the Scottish mainland. The Trust will work in partnership with the Kirkmaiden Church who will provide refreshments and home baking, the RSPB and a local Scottish band, Cliff Topp and the Foghorns who will provide the music.

The event will be open to members of the local community, general public, visitors, holiday makers and lighthouse enthusiasts!

Main contact – maureenchand@gmail.com

More to follow over the coming weeks.

Author: COEP

The Community Organisers Expansion Programme – a national program to recruit and train 3,500 Community Organisers across England by March 2020. This program is an expansion of the Community Organiser Programme that ran between 2011 and 2015 that mobilised 6500 Community Organisers to inspire resident led social action in neighbourhoods across England.

The ultimate aim of the Programme is for residents to take action together in and across England’s most deprived neighbourhoods for social change – focused on the issues that matter most to them. 

The Programme Theory of Change identifies 5 outcomes which we are seeking to move achieve:

1.            A diverse range of social action & democratic engagement facilitated by people trained in organising.

2.            General recognition of the value of community organising (underpinned by COLtd’s framework) and use of its principles.

3.            A strong, active, inclusive, diverse, skilled, reflective, network of people trained in community organising, accountable to community organising values, their communities and the movement.

4.            Sustainability of community organising models and of COLtd as the home for neighbourhood community organising

5.            A progressive & high-quality CO training offer/package fully tested and widely available which incorporates practical skills, theoretical understanding & the action-reflection cycle.

Major Programme activities and outputs as agreed in the COEP Contract are:

·         Training 3500 people, 2000 through Social Action Hubs and 1500 through national and local partners

·         Employing Member Organisers to facilitate networking and recruit members

·         Supporting 20 Social Action Hubs to roll out training and embed community organising

·         Developing a curriculum of training from Introductory training through to Certificate or even Diploma level training

·         Growing the skills of experienced community organisers as trainers, mentors and assessors

Timeline of the Year

The COEP got going at a breakneck pace!

·         The Programme was procured by the Office for Civil Society (part of DCMS) in late 2016 when COLtd was appointed as the lead delivery partner but not officially launched at the beginning of March 2017.

·         A Learning Partner (Imagine) was immediately appointed and a draft Programme Theory of Change developed.

·         The delayed start led to pressure for very rapid recruitment of the first round of 10 Social Action Hubs and the 10 Member Organisers.

·         The Social Action Hub opportunity was publicised over just 2 weeks in March 2017.  Social Action Hubs were defined as locally rooted organisations supported by an Experienced Community Organiser. ‘Through training local leaders and volunteers at a neighbourhood level they will strengthen the networks of community organisers and be catalysts for resident led social action.’

·         10 Social Action Hubs were selected, and Grant Agreements issued by early April 2017 with first Quarterly Grant payments made towards the third week of April.  The Induction Day for Social Action Hubs took place on 2nd May 2017. This was immediately followed by a 2 day training for the Experienced Community Organisers working with each SAH: ‘Preparing to Train Community Organisers’ – an introduction to the initial One Day Introduction to Community Organising course which would be the first training offered by SAHs in their local areas as part of the COEP.

·         At the same time recruitment for the 10 Member Support Organisers was also under way. The MSO role was intended to ‘bring Community Organisers together from across neighbourhoods and support them to take collective action around their aspirations for the future of their communities’. The MSO role was advertised from early March and applications closed on March 17th and appointments were made by end of March 2017 with first grant payments made mid-April.  Induction took place in May with a training session on Peer Networking led by Shared Assets. Monthly online training sessions continued from this point.

·         10 further Social Action Hubs were recruited and appointed in June 2017 and induction took place in the second week of July.

·         Monthly action learning sets for Social Action Hub leads began and continued through the year.

·         5 strategic partners were signed up within the first three months – NCS Trust, Local Trust, Neighbourhood & Homewatch Network, VSO Overseas and Step up to Serve.

·         In June we ran our yearly conference – CO17, attended by 100 members and friends of COLtd.

·         In May the first one day course in community organising was accredited by Certa and the first training under the COEP took place in May in Croydon – a public Introduction to Community Organising course attended by 28 people.

·         Training by Social Action Hubs really got under way in Quarter 2 with 127 people attending Introduction to Community Organising courses between July and September 2017.

·         In June the Award and Certificate in Community Organising were formally accepted as Qualifications on the RQF Framework.

·         In August the new Programme Manager for the COEP started work having been recruited in June but unable to start sooner.

·         In September ECOs met to start planning the delivery of the Qualification in community Organising. They met again in November to design one day follow-up courses in listening, action and power.

·         In September we also developed and launched the Community Organising Framework which now underpins all of our training and teaching of Community Organising.

·         In Quarter 3,  265 people attended Introduction to Community Organising courses between July and September 2017.

·         In October we launched our Communications Toolkit , designed to support SAHs and members to gain more media coverage for their work .

·         In November we held a review session with our Member Organisers

·         In December we ran a three day ‘Preparing to Training Community Organisers’ training course for 19 members of COLtd – some based at Social Action Hubs and some independent or employed as COs elsewhere – to grow our network of quality assured trainers.

·         We also launched a Grant fund for SAHs to run targeted community organising training for young people. 9 SAHs were offered Grants to run training and provide support to young people aged 16-19.

·         We also welcomed the Director for Social Action at OCS to Pembroke House on Local Charities Day and used this as an opportunity to promote the network of Social Action Hubs.

·         In February we piloted some bespoke training with young people who are part of an NCS Graduate Board in planning social action and developing teamwork. 

·         In Quarter 4, 822 people attended Introduction to Community Organising courses between July and September 2017, including 137 young people and 150 people attending courses through local and national partners such as Community Links, Octopus, St Ethelberga’s and the Co-op Group.

·         We also held a residential for public sector workers which was attended by 18 people from 12 institutions, mostly Councils.

·         In Quarter 4, our Lead for Internal Quality Assurance undertook training observations of 90% of our ECOs at Social Action Hubs as part of our commitment to quality assurance.

·         We completed and piloted the new course, Listening Skills for Community Organising and this was accredited by Certa.

·         A number of variations of the accredited Introduction to CO courses were approved by our Lead for Internal Quality Assurance. 

·         To complete the year we held a reflection event for all of the key partners in the Programme – Social Action Hubs, ECOs and Member Organisers to capture learning, share stories and review the Programme Theory of Change. This fed into the renegotiation of Grant Agreements for Social Action Hubs and a new approach to the member organiser agreements, which were changed from Grants to Contracts. 12 MO contracts were let for 2018-19.

·         By the end of the year we had trained 1242 individuals on one day courses and we had grown our membership to 424 members.

Author: IVAR

Report: What needs to happen for communities to be powerful in the 2020s?

Poverty, isolation and democracy are among the five main barriers against communities being powerful, a report out today from Institute for Voluntary Action Research and Local Trust has shown.

Following an 18-month research project involving conversations with members of communities about what needs to happen for communities to feel and be powerful, there were five main issues that kept emerging, and have been put at the centre of the report. They are:

•             Poverty

•             Transience

•             Fragmentation

•             Isolation

•             Democracy

The research takes a snapshot of the experiences, ideas and opinions of people “living, working or active in disadvantaged communities in the UK’. They were invited to reflect on what is happening in communities today, what’s coming down the line and what that means for the kind of support they need in order to become connected and powerful in the future.

The research project The Future for Communities: Perspectives on power highlights the need for sustained investment in supporting community-level infrastructure, including on places to meet, for organisations to bring people together and for people to facilitate engagement.

Matt Leach, chief executive of Local Trust, said that the report “paints a picture of strong, resourceful communities struggling to cope with the challenges of poverty, transience and isolation; but also people and places where resilience and hope offer the prospect of positive transformation and change.”

He said: “In particular, it highlights the need for sustained investment in supporting community-level infrastructure – places to meet, organisations to bring people together and people to facilitate engagement. These issues were at the heart of CDF’s mission, and remain central to the vision of Local Trust and Big Local.”

Poverty

On the issue of poverty, the report concluded that it makes it difficult for communities to become powerful. It said that the pressure of poverty, including in-work poverty, “affect people’s capacity to engage with their communities let alone collaborate, plan and deliver change – their energies are consumed in the struggle to survive.”

It said: “Communities are doing interesting and positive things to sustain their communities. But without a viable economy and access to jobs, it is difficult to achieve lasting change.”

The research was commissioned by Local Trust, carried out by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR), and funded by the Community Development Foundation (CDF) and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

It involved three main “dialogues” taking place between March 2017 and March 2018. The first of these was scoping the issues, which involved over 170 individuals engaged through interviews and online surveys.

The second was “testing and developing findings so far in far in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, asking people to look ahead” which involved over 550 individuals engaged through interviews and workshops.

The third was on localities, which involved over 100 individuals engaged through interviews, meetings and in conversation at events, where researchers heard from people in “East Cleveland Villages, Mertjur Tydil, Milton Keynes and Rotherham”. 

The themes that emerged as the dialogues progressed were then tested at successive stages as well as being tested in workshops that were held throughout the research and at conferences and events.

Author: What Works Scotland

This briefing is for people tackling the challenges of reforming Scotland’s public services. It outlines the key learning from What Works Scotland’s report: Transforming communities? Exploring the roles of community anchor organisations in public service reform, local democracy, community resilience and social change.

Four page summary

Author: Gerry Hassan, Scottish Review

The people are continually cited and invoked everywhere in democracies. Not only that, but this is the age of directly asking the population via referendums – such is the disdain mainstream politicians are held in.

None of this is surprising. Politicians, or most politicians, talk a strange, discombobulated, evasive, managerialist language. They show in nearly everything they say and do that they are not to be trusted. Defence secretary Gavin Williamson – he of supposed tarantula fame – cannot even answer a direct question from that pussycat of interviewers, Richard Madeley, on whether it was a wise choice of words to tell Russian leader Putin to ‘go away and shut up.’

Look at what happens when real life bursts into the political bubble. This is one way of seeing the phenomenon that is author and rapper Darren McGarvey on ‘Question Time’ the other evening in Perth. Darren has become a rare voice who is not pigeonholed in modern day Scotland. In his book, ‘Poverty Safari,’ he has written fearlessly about his own journey, weaknesses and mistakes, and importantly, learnt from them – embracing personal responsibility in a way which isn’t simply of the left or right.

On ‘Question Time’ he was that unusual beast: someone talking in a very human way, showing doubt, humour, even a cheeky chap side – particularly in relation to his exchanges with David Dimbleby. More than this, he drew from lived experience – of facing your own shortcomings, of making mistakes and having at critical points little support to draw upon. He talked with passion and insight on the damage that alcoholism and addiction can do, which few politicians have the courage or backstory to draw upon, although Labour MP Caroline Flint, on the same programme, also mentioned having had an alcoholic mother who died at the age of 45.

This brings us to what has just occurred in Ireland. Someone said about Scotland’s indyref that if you ask people an important question there is a good chance that they will respond with dignity and recognise their own individual and collective power. That was true in 2014 in Scotland – whatever side you were on – and it is true of Ireland in 2018.

The Irish referendum did not just emerge from nowhere. Prior to the vote, the Irish Constitutional Convention (set up in December 2012 in the aftermath of the banking crash) ran until March 2014. Comprising 100 members, it had a chair, 33 politicians (29 from the Republic; four from the North) and 66 members of the public, drawn together to act and speak as a representative section of the public, and reflect on some of the biggest affairs of state.

It was the convention which spawned the Irish Citizens’ Assembly which engaged in some of the most powerful and far-reaching discussions and foregrounded the maturity of the process which led up to the 25 May vote. It was the assembly, made up of 99 randomly chosen citizens who, after listening and weighing up evidence from all sides and perspectives, came up with the proposal for legalising abortions up to 12 weeks, which became the central proposition of the referendum. This is what being modern citizens and the act of citizenship feels like. This is what being a modern country and democracy looks like.

The Irish are not on their own. All over the world new examples of constitutionalism are being made that are about more than the end-game and bright, shiny proclamations, and instead about the integrity of the process and people becoming active agents of change.

None of these are perfect, but as well as the Irish there were the Icelandic National Assemblies of 2009 and 2010 which attempted to crowdsource a new constitution. Made up of 1,500 people each, four-fifths (1,200) were chosen by a random process, with the rest representing various interest groups. This led to an official Constitutional Assembly (whose ideas were ultimately blocked by the political classes) but Icelandic democracy was changed as a result and enriched. Another is the Australian Constitutional Convention of which there have been several examples. The most recent in 1998 saw the creation of a body half-directly elected which considered whether the country should become a republic; this led to a referendum the following year when Australia voted to remain a constitutional monarchy.

To return home, Scottish discussions about constitutions, conventions and the people usually invoke the latter but seldom invite them centre stage. Instead there has been a long history of talking shops that can cite the idea of popular sovereignty as an abstract principle, but never actually implement and live it. This was true of the Scottish Convention of the 1940s, Scottish Constitutional Convention of late 1980s and 1990s, and the Scottish Independence Convention of today. Indeed, the latter group, which is an ad hoc convention, is now trying to establish another group – a cross-party campaigning group for an independence vote in a future campaign – when it hasn’t actually earned its spurs, reputation or place as a convention.

The world is changing all around us, including the meaning of democracy, authority, power and voice. This is an age of surprises and disruptions, some benign, some not so benign, and some clearly malevolent. Rather than politicians or alternative politicians citing the mythical power of ‘the people,’ and claiming that they alone are the true interpreters of the popular will, here is a radical thought: why don’t we look at ways we can directly trust the people?

What would that entail? Shouldn’t we just leave it to politicians or after the experience of referendums in recent years in the UK, experts? Look at the mess which the Brexit vote has made, or the unsettled nature of Scotland’s 2014 indyref.

We can do something different. First, we have to understand that the time for talking shops is over. They once served a purpose, particularly in past times such as the 1940s, or when people felt that they had nowhere to turn – faced with Thatcherism in the 1980s. Second, closed or insider conversations which are based on controlling the agenda and scale of debate are not very helpful or likely to win the trust of the average voter who doesn’t live and breathe politics. Hence, a set of conversations defined by which modern day tribe you belong to, and where it is all about whether you are pro- or anti-independence, has limited currency.

More importantly, we have to invest time, energy and resources in deep democracy. This sort of thing is happening in many in Scotland below the official radar and away from formal party politics. Examples include the pioneering work of the Electoral Reform Society Scotland and their ‘Act as if you own the place’ events which have travelled the length and breadth of the country, from Oban and Dalmellington to Dumfries and Dundee; and some of the work with citizens’ juries which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has undertaken.

Critically, we have to start somewhere and that isn’t at the national or at the constitutional, but at the local. Despite all the national noise and comment, most people find more ways into caring about the place they live in, their immediate surroundings and future. Building deep, living, deliberative democracy in Scotland would involve starting small – in one or more places and being rooted in it. Not scaling up; not being a pilot for a national exercise which would subsequently be ‘rolled out.’ And, in the process, showing the potential of a thousand different Scotlands blooming and being that country of experiment, taking chances and allowing different visions to emerge.

This would entail thinking about democracy, our future and the choices we make in a very different way from the present. This isn’t about a country as a monoculture where what matters the most is whether your tribe comes out on top by vanquishing the opposing tribe, and it would not reduce power and legitimacy to be capturing and running the Scottish parliament. This would be a mosaic nation of many colours, hues, and perspectives. Sounds idealistic? You bet. But it is possible, if we dared to think of our country in different ways and didn’t define politics and power in such a limited manner. It would put us in the vanguard of a universal set of conversations and it would certainly be better than the present too predictable diet offered from the political mainstream.

This is a Scotland of personal and collective responsibility and of actual, lived self-government. Might it be that too many of our politicians wouldn’t like it because instead of putting them centre stage, it would put the people? And who knows where that might end?

Author: MACC

To see a short film about MACC click here

Run by the community, for the community, we are the group that purchased the former RAF Machrihanish on the Kintyre peninsula for £1 from the Ministry of Defence.

Maximising benefit for our local area, our vision is to build a prosperous and sustainable future for our community by unlocking the potential of our properties and assets and acting as a platform for socio-economic growth in Kintyre.

We aim to work with local groups, businesses and entrepreneurs in exploring new ventures, events and innovative uses for the site, whilst steering the future development of the park in order to attract inward investment from diverse industries; creating more job opportunities and long term benefits for future generations.

Our unique properties and assets are available to let from MACC Developments Ltd, the trading arm of our company, with the park offering a secure and flexible location for a vast array of commercial developments, TV, film and events.

Our site has been shortlisted as one of eight potential locations for a UK Spaceport. Please visit Discover Space UK for updates on our bid.

Author: Causey Development Trust

To watch a video explaining how the Causey have taken advantage of Sustrans funds – click here

Please let me know if you have any questions or if there’s a potential share our info through other platforms that you’re involved with, then it’d be great to learn more.

The Causey: vibrant, colourful, a place for people at the heart of the community, playing host to an array of engaging and uplifting arts and community events, rooted in history and community, recreating the buzz of this historically significant meeting place. A beautiful inspiring space, enabling people to create new stories for this authentic quarter bordering Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site.

The Causey Development Trust is working at grassroots level to transform a neglected, car-dominated cityscape into a vibrant, people-friendly place that celebrates the history and spirit of the Southside of Edinburgh.

Our aims

·         To create a distinctive city landmark at the edge of the World Heritage Site, drawing visitors beyond its boundary and connecting other key public spaces such as Holyrood Park and The Meadows, that will become an asset to the Southside of the city of Edinburgh.

·         To create an uplifting and inspiring community space that can play host to a wide variety of arts and community events, including farmers’ markets, community celebrations and art installations, and provide outreach space for the nearby Southside Community Centre and other local partners.

·         To complement and enhance the evolving university quarter by creating an accessible urban place, using high-quality design and sustainable materials, acknowledging the beneficial effect of good design in creating a sense of well-being.

·         To celebrate the heritage of this overlooked yet historically significant part of the Southside, providing an engaging learning experience that draws in visitors, increases footfall in and around the area and brings together the diverse local community.

·         To promote positive health and well-being through active travel by prioritising walking and cycling, and by creating opportunities for neighbourliness and community partnership.