Author: Martin Sime, SCVO

A recent conversation convened by the Electoral Reform Society felt like it could become the start of a much needed campaign to improve local democracy, which many believe is a priority for reform in Scotland. Most voluntary organisations will have something to say about this.

The meeting opened in promising fashion with some real insights into the problems of the current set-up and the potential to develop something altogether more relevant, inclusive and participative. Despite a heavy Scottish and local government presence this was not about giving existing local authorities more power and resources. We are all bored and generally unconvinced by that. Instead there was a welcome commitment to diversity, one solution will not fit everyone, and a shared understanding that the focus of this debate should not be about boundaries or institutional structures but about citizen participation. 

At best local democracy ought to be untidy and uneven, there should be no appetite for structural blueprints

That’s where local democracy ought to get interesting for the third sector. Mostly people express their concerns and sign up to be involved in the issues and with the organisations that matter to them. Nearly 90% of the public make some contribution to our sector. Can some of these dynamics be applied, for example to parent involvement in schools? And what more could the recent explosion of community land buy-outs, community anchor organisations, development trusts and energy and broadband co-operatives contribute?

Once self-directed support is accepted as the default mode for government-organised human services (as it must be), it becomes more possible to reimagine local democracy in a creative way. With social care and education off the books in terms of workforce and planning, the purpose and functions of local government become much easier to debate. The form and structure debate should follow not lead that discussion.

We heard some very positive experiences from rural Scotland, where people had taken on land or other assets and there is a growing appetite to do more. With the right leadership local government could play a huge enabling role in invigorating new forms of community democracy, which have precisely nothing to do with chains of office or even community planning but are about citizens taking collective responsibility for organising the things that matter to them. Some small towns are already preparing for this kind of future. 

At best local democracy ought to be untidy and uneven, there should be no appetite for structural blueprints. Traditional up and down electoral politics will need to co-exist with networks and dispersed and often intangible centres of power. Agile alliances will get things done with the job of local government in whatever shape and scale it emerges, being much more about engagement and representation of citizens and enabling new forms of community control.

The number of councils and councillors is a sideshow to the real challenge of generating a participative culture where citizen action is the default mode, and where the level and scale of that engagement, is more important than the number of directly employed staff. There is a long road to travel to make the shift from municipal to enabling councils, but the journey starts here.

Author: Fun Palaces

Culture belongs to us all! Find out how anyone anywhere can make a Fun Palace, where everyone is an artist and everyone a scientist. Change the world with radical fun.

A Fun Palace is a free, local event using arts and science to celebrate each unique community and the skills and interests of those who live there.

FUN PALACES AND GOVANHILL BATHS…..

Invite you to a free workshop to find out how anyone, everywhere can make a Fun Palace.

Last year there were 142 Fun Palaces across the country with 2079 people involved in making them and over 50,000 people participating. People gathered to make and share arts, sciences, learning, games and have FUN – this workshop is your chance to find out more about how to get involved. You don’t need to be an expert in anything to make a Fun Palace – you just need to want to make something happen (however tiny) with and for the people that live around you.

“Loved meeting so many other creatives within our area and realising that we can do whatever we want – the world’s our oyster!!” A 2015 workshop participant

Are you intrigued to find out more, interested to meet other people who might want to get involved; got some ideas you would like to share, some queries about how it works? Then come along to this conversation event and see what you think. You can find out more on our website: funpalaces.co.uk/ Or watch this video to find out what happened at Fun Palaces 2015

Any questions? Prefer to book by phone? Need help with travel costs or access? Get in touch! E-mail hello@funpalaces.co.uk or ring 0208 692 4446 ext. 203 and leave a message 

Do you have questions about Fun Palaces Workshop 2016, Glasgow? Contact Fun Palaces

Author: Island News

Villagers in a Lewis crofting township have accused the Crofting Commission of being ‘dictatorial, vindictive and unjustified’  after the Commission sacked their grazings committee when the committee had the backing of the majority of the shareholders.

The villagers of Upper Coll claim they have fulfilled all the conditions imposed on them by the Crofting Commission, following a disagreement with two shareholders.

Calum Maclean,Grazings Clerk since 1997, said that they had done everything the Commission had asked them to do and asked external professional accountants to carry out the required work for the Grazings Committee and then submit it to the Commission.

He said: ” The Commission had accepted that all the recommendations apart from one had been carried out. The Upper Coll Grazings committee had engaged a well known and reputable company of Stornoway chartered accountants to provide the Commission with the external financial information they required. The basis on which these were to be prepared was agreed between the accountants and officers of the Commission, but then rejected as being insufficient by the very Commission that had told the accountants what was required.”

Mr Maclean said he had no idea why the Commission had asked for accounts for the past five years, but that they had provided all the details, as had been submitted and unanimously agreed at shareholders meetings every year. The accountants confirmed that these were a correct representation of the village’s income and expenditure, Mr Maclean said.

He said: ”The Commission has not asked a single grazings committee in the whole of the Crofting Townships to provide such information in the last five years. Why they have picked on us is an unanswered puzzle. We understand them asking us to provide an independent assessment of our books, but we don’t understand why they won’t accept the independent figures presented.”

He added: “The Grazings Committee had bent over backwards to meet all the Commission’s requirements and were totally shocked that not only would they not accept the accountants figures but that they had sacked the committee with immediate effect.

” We have done everything the Commission asked us to do. We don’t understand what more the Commission wanted. The attitude shown by convener Colin Kennedy when he met with shareholders last year has left us worried that there is some hidden agenda, which we don’t understand.”

Upper Coll Grazings chair Kenneth Macdonald said: “Our village was formed in the face of threats in the 1920s. We are proud of the way the village has been managed all these years and are not impressed by the bully boy tactics that have been shown by the Crofting Commission.

”We feel our local commissioner Murdo Maclennan could have played a part in ensuring a reasoned sensible settling of whatever the Commission found wanting, but regretfully that didn’t happen.”

The committee has asked the Crofting Commission, through its chief executive Catriona Maclean to review its decision.

Mr Maclean said: “”The Commission has to be asked what they seek to achieve with their 19th century landlord attitude. The Grazings Committee was summarily put out of office in one day without recourse to appeal and with no explanation as to the “crime” we had committed! Which Crofting Law are we in breach of?”

A spokeswoman for the Crofting Commission said: “On Upper Coll, there are a number of options for the shareholders in the common grazings to consider and the Crofting Commission is intending to hold an early meeting with the shareholders to present these options to them. It would not, therefore, be appropriate to discuss these with a third party before a discussion has taken place with the shareholders. The Commission will shortly be writing to shareholders to explain this.”

She added: “Action in this case resulted from an approach by shareholders to investigate issues relating to the functioning of the common grazings committee, in terms of Section 47(8) of the Crofting Acts.  It is important that members of the crofting community understand that the Commission will investigate when requests of this nature are brought to us by shareholders.”

The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) said the situation rang ‘loud warning bells of a return to the old Crofters Commission regime’ and called on Crofting Commissioners to reassure crofters.

SCF chief executive Patrick Krause said:  “This is a very alarming incidence for crofting. We are not in possession of all the facts that have led to the Crofting Commission taking the extraordinary step of dissolving a grazings committee, something unprecedented as far as I know.

“So SCF’s concern is directed towards the broader issue of what this says for decision-making within the commission and what this does to the relationship between crofters and the regulator.

“We are all aware of the grievance raised by the Upper Coll grazings committee against the convener of the commission, Colin Kennedy, a few weeks ago, so, on the face of it, this looks like an appalling attempt by the commission to nullify the complaint. So whatever is actually behind their decision, it is a staggeringly clumsy bit of public relations.

“There appears to have been no mediation attempted by the commission and it rings very loud warning bells of a return to the old Crofters Commission regime which was regularly accused of operating on a similar autocratic basis. We very much hoped that we would never see this sort of behaviour again. A direction of such gravity must have been issued by the commissioners themselves so we call on them to reassure crofters that they have acted in the democratic and impartial way expected of a public body”.

Crofting commissioner Murdo Maclennan said he could not comment while the Upper Coll case was still in a legal process.

An ongoing Freedom of Information application was filed with the Crofting Commission in March, seeking answers to the following questions:

1: How many crofting townships have been asked to supply professionally audited accounts to the Crofting Commission in each of the last five years?

2: How many crofting townships have supplied professionally audited accounts in the last five years?

3: How many crofting townships have no committees at present?

 4: How many grazings committees have been removed by the Crofting Commission in the last five years?

Author: East Lothian Council

APOGI (A Place of Great Importance) is a community led project aiming to develop the green space between the Muirpark housing area and the recent development of Steading View in Tranent.  Building upon the success of the new allotments and the children’s play park, the space offers a fantastic opportunity for further development into an attractive amenity for both local residents and the wider community of Tranent.

Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing, Cllr Tim Day, explained:

“Funding is in place to begin a first phase of planned improvements, namely a gateway feature to the park which will increase the space’s visibility within the town and create an attractive point of interest at the eastern side of Tranent. Putting the local community at the centre of any planned proposals has been very important to the project steering group.”

“East Lothian Council supported the procurement of an artist for the initial phase of the project through its Percent for Art initiative, which is a condition of planning consent that results in artworks being created as part of building developments. A project group was then established with representatives from the Muirpark and Steading View Tenants and Residents Association, Tenants Information Service and from the Council’s Art service, CLD service and Landscape service. The East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel are supporting the project with practical support and assistance.”

Artist David Wilson was appointed by the Council and the project group to create proposals for the gateway. David undertook consultation with the local community before developing a public art scheme that offers members of the public two exciting opportunities to make their own personal mark upon the project:

Making a Tally

Coal is the story of Tranent and its history has provided inspiration for the proposals.  Miners used a simple physical brass coin system, called a tally, as a record of who was down the mine pit, individually numbered they each represented a person.  Taking that as a starting point members of the public are being encouraged to make their own tally in return for sharing a simple important story from their own personal history.  This will be recorded and become a snapshot of the spirit of the People of Tranent.  These Tallies will then be built into Cairns that will form the Park entrance.  You can come up with any personal Tally story that is important to you and it could be about past, present or future.  We are trying to capture the social value and fabric of Tranent in a unique way that will stand for generations.

Concealment Items

A folk tradition in many parts of the world was the act of building into the new walls of a house a personal item belonging to the residents of the house, often children’s shoes, it was a way of retaining the spirit of that person.  The APOGI project will build into the Entrance Cairns any items donated by the public and record these, again making local people a genuine living part of the project.

Liz Hutchison Chair of the Muirpark and Steading View Tenants and Residents Panel added :

“The project group hopes that the local community will get involved in this exciting and unique project. The ultimate aim is to change this little corner of Tranent and transform it into ……A Place of Great Importance”

The project group is keen to hear from the local community. Stories and pictures that will form part of the tallies and concealment items can be sent via facebook, email or by contacting the project group.

If you would like to get involved by volunteering to help, organise/help at events, donate items, help record stories, build website etc. Further details available from apogipark14@gmail.com or contact East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel on 0131 665 9304 or tenantspanel@hotmail.com  You can also follow the project on:-   twitter@apogipark14  and Facebook – Apogi Park or APOGI

The APOGI project is led by the Muirpark and Steading View Tenants and Residents Association with support from the following organisations :

East Lothian Council

Tranent Belters

Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council

Leader Fund

Castlerock Edinvar Housing Association

East Lothian Tenants and Residents Panel

Author: Catherine McWilliam

To see some photographs of the trip click for a storify account of what happened

On Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th of April, a group of intrepid DTA Scotland members crossed the border to Northumberland, as part of a study trip to visit Glendale Gateway Community Trust in Wooler and Amble Development Trust.

The trip brought together 8 DTAS members from the very top right through to the very bottom of Scotland, all of whom are involved in town centre regeneration projects, as well as the Scottish Government and DTAS Development Officers. An opportunity to explore, share learning and most importantly experiences; it is fair to say that our study group was blown away by the achievements and innovation that we witnessed.

Day 1 – Glendale Gateway

Day 1 began with a late lunch at the Breeze Café, which rents a community owned retail unit in Wooler town centre, where Glendale Gateway’s Tom and Gemma met us and talked through the history of the Glendale Gateway Community Trust (GGCT), highlighting the changes that had taken place in the town during the Trust’s 20 years of operation, most notable of which has been the Trust’s ability to take on and transform 3 commercial and 18 residential buildings in and around the town centre – all of which are occupied. On top of this, GGCT also owns and has redeveloped the Cheviot Centre, a former Victorian workhouse which houses the local library, supports local businesses and delivers community services, as well as housing the Trust itself.

As we gasped in admiration and wonder when Tom then took us on a tour of the said assets, there was one question on everyone’s minds… How did you do it? Tom’s answer:

“We’ve always been good at spotting opportunities…”

Well that and a bit of hard work and determination!

Rounding off what had been an awe-inspiring day, we dined that evening at the Trust owned and operated Youth Hostel at the top of the town. An activity which was of particular relevance to DTAS member and trip attendee Sheila from Callendar Community Development Trust as they too run a youth hostel.

Day 2 – Amble Development Trust

On day 2 we made the short journey from our accommodation in Seahouses over to Amble to meet with staff, board members and Julia Aston, the Director of Amble Development Trust

The Trust was formed in 1994 in response to a number of challenges faced by this former mining community. Located off the main trunk roads, Amble has faced a number of issues over the years, including the loss of over 600 jobs from the closure of a local factory.

Amble DT deliver a range of community services from their building at Fourways 2 – a former dancehall – and have undertaken a number of town centre regeneration projects over the years, including turning a disused hotel into a thriving business centre, and owning three fully occupied retail units.

Their newest project – and the highlight of our visit to the town – is Trust’s Harbour Village regeneration project.

Born out of a consultation which explored the feasibility an industrial estate, the Harbour Village project includes 15 small retail pods, located as you would expect, by the harbour, as well as a seafood centre designed to help support the local fishing sector. Still in its infancy, the project has already experienced many major successes, but worth highlighting is the 100% occupancy of the retail pods and subsequent waiting list for space as well as the launch of Creel Fish Club, a fish box delivery scheme available throughout Northumberland.

Julia’s take-home advice to our group:

“Forward planning relevant to place is key…”

Funded through the Scottish Community Alliance’s (SCA) Community Learning Exchange Fund, this study trip created not only a fantastic opportunity for development trusts with similar projects to network and get to know each other, but has also left those who attended motivated and driven to see success in the town centre projects that they are looking to deliver in their own communities.

“Both towns visited were inspiring almost to the point of Wow! The interaction with others on the trip was also very useful. Well done, super trip. Thank you.”

Author: GlenWyvis Distillery

Realising its long held ambition to create Scotland’s very first community-owned craft whisky distillery. Exactly 270 years to the day after the Battle of Culloden, GlenWyvis launches its Community Share Offer to raise over £1.5m of investment that will help to put whisky distilling back at the heart of Dingwall.

The launch, organised in conjunction with Community Shares Scotland (CSS), will offer investment opportunities for as little as £250 to locals living in all IV postcode areas. This will ensure a high level of local ownership of the distillery, but the Share Offer is also open to whisky lovers worldwide with investment opportunities rising in tranches* to a maximum investment of £100,000.

Whisky has been made in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire for centuries and inspiration has been taken from former distilleries: Ferintosh, Ben Wyvis in Dingwall and Glenskiach in Evanton. The original Ferintosh Distillery was established by the Forbes of Culloden family in 1690, on the Black Isle just east of Dingwall, and is one of the oldest recorded whisky distilleries in Scotland. The new Distillery will re-instate craft whisky distilling to the Dingwall area, some 90 years after the last of the town’s original distilleries closed down.

The famous Ferintosh brand of the day was a much loved whisky throughout Scotland and was a favourite of Scotland’s great bard Rabbie Burns, who lamented: “Thee, Ferintosh! O sadly lost! Scotland lament frae coast to coast!” … on its closure in 1785.

The new GlenWyvis Distillery will be built on a farm above the town of Dingwall and will be 100% community-owned distillery and 100% powered by green energy.

The distillery is the brainchild of the Flying Farmer, John F Mckenzie, supported by a board of directors and local community representatives. John said: “We have a truly winning combination here of a stunning Scottish Highland location, immense historical appeal linking back to Culloden, Burns and Ferintosh and readily available hydro, solar and wind energy to bring this innovative whisky project to fruition.”

“From the outset we have envisaged the project as more than a distillery. It is an opportunity for all social investors to help reinvigorate the historic town of Dingwall. GlenWyvis will be built on its whisky heritage, its community-ownership and its environmental credentials. We have amazing local resources and will be using only local barley from a farmers’ cooperative – hence our strapline built on history – powered by nature”

John added: “There is a real buzz around Dingwall at the moment as our local football team Ross County has just won the Scottish Football League Cup and now we are launching our community-owned distillery. It’s double plaudits all round!

“This Friday we are one of the main sponsors of the Ross County Annual Dinner and Auction with 300 guests in attendance and each guest will receive a commemorative miniature of Ross County Football Club League Cup GlenWyvis Gin.

“On the eve of our launch, we want to get the message out to the local community as well as to whisky lovers near and far to invest in the future of the GlenWyvis Distillery.”

Construction of the distillery is due to commence in June 2016 with the first run of whisky planned for Burns Night 25 January 2017. The distillery will produce craft Scottish whisky and there are plans for an associated Visitor Centre in the town to be added as part of a wider plan to recreate Dingwall as the Craft Distillery Town of Scotland, and as a quality tourism destination on the North Coast 500 route.

Commenting on the share offer Kelly McIntyre, Programme Manager, CSS said: “This is one of the biggest community projects we have been involved in and we hope it will make a seismic impact in the kind of projects that we will see coming forward to work with Community Shares Scotland in the future.

“GlenWyvis has a truly international appeal with an amazing whisky heritage story which will strike a chord with expat Scots and the Scottish Diaspora worldwide and has the added impact of sitting nicely along the North Coast 500 route. And with its historic story links to Forbes of Culloden there is all the more reason for investors and visitors alike to become involved.”

Scott Armstrong, VisitScotland Regional Partnerships Director, said: “In Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, it is fantastic to hear about this innovative scheme, which ensures a high level of local ownership of the distillery. Whisky is one of our strongest draws for visitors and I am delighted that GlenWyvis has taken this opportunity to tell their own whisky heritage story.

“With an associated visitor centre also planned, this offers another stop-off point which we would hope will increase visitor numbers to the town. Without tourism, many remote communities would not be sustainable and business sectors like drinks, retail or construction would be severely impacted.

“Our visitor research has revealed that the one thing that makes Scotland different to any other destination is its ability to ‘stir your soul’. Through our ambitious new global Spirit of Scotland campaign and #ScotSpirit social movement, VisitScotland is working to raise the profile of Scotland to unprecedented levels as a place to visit, invest and live – and this project really does have #ScotSpirit!”

The GlenWyvis Community Share Offer opens on 16 April 2016 and closes on 24 June 2016. However, the board reserves the right to extend this deadline if the amount raised is close to the total required to proceed.

To download information on the GlenWyvis Distillery Community Share Offer – check out http://www.glenwyvis.com

Author: Galloway Gazette

Community councils in Galloway forced to disband last week over failure to ratify a constitution will be able to re-establish themselves as soon as July, council chiefs announced yesterday.

A spokesman for Dumfries and Galloway Council said: “By-elections will be held on July 7, and 33 of these communities have applied to be re-established. The remaining communities are considering next steps or planning to apply for re-establishment in the near future.

“Prior to this, one community council was already considering establishing itself as a community group rather than a formal community council, and they have now confirmed they wish to do so.

“We will now be in contact with the 33 community councils to advise them of the process which will now be followed.

“Community councils play a vital role in our local communities across a range of issues.

“We recognise the time that individuals devote voluntarily to service their communities.

“During April, we confirmed, following legal advice, that 37 community councils had dissolved themselves for failing to properly adopt constitutions. This followed a complaint by a member of the public and was not a position we wanted community councils to be in, so council staff have been working to ensure these groups can be re-established at the earliest opportunity. A notice of election to seek nominations in the affected communities will be placed in the local press in the coming weeks.

At a meeting in Kirkcudbright on Wednesday evening, ex-members of the dissolved community councils decided to write jointly to the council about what one community representative called “its high-handed”. He added: “We all agreed that the council has overstepped the mark.

“Those at the meeting expect an apology and a reversal of the dissolution of nearly half the community councils in the region, which many regard as ultra vires and an affront to local democracy.”

John Thom, the provost of New Galloway, added: “We will be carrying on as normal and representing the community as best we can, sitting as the Royal Burgh Council – which was never repealed.”

One of the serious problems now faced by some local communities is the disruption of emergency services set up to respond to adverse weather and the withdrawal of insurance cover by the Regional Council.

In Newton Stewart, ex-members of Cree Valley Community Council, which was also dissolved, held an emergency meeting last Thursday night when all agreed they would stand for election but following that process though could delay getting a representative body for the area until the autumn.

A statement from the group said: “The volunteers who were elected to serve on the Cree Valley Community Council were actively involved in many ongoing issues in its area. Issues such as, flood prevention, flood resilience, repairs and cleaning of the Cree Bridge and the Earl of Galloway Monument, refurbishment of the foot path from Ewart Drive to Windsor Road, repairs to pavements including the installation of tactile slabs where appropriate, improvements to the A75 junctions at Palnure and New Galloway road junction, Christmas lights installation and removal, bus route negotiations, waste recycling issues, planning applications as well as the distribution of the wind farm community fund and the joint operation to collect and distribute the flood fund donations with Newton Stewart Initiative.

“We regret that all this work is now on hold until the group can re-establish itself, this could take up to three months to organise, however all elected members have agreed to stand again for election and we hope that we can get back to working for our community with the help of the local authority and without delay.

Author: Carnegie UK

The Carnegie UK Trust has today published a new report which reveals that residents in Fife rely heavily on the Forth Road Bridge for employment, leisure and social activity, raising questions about the investment needed in local towns to make them more attractive and resilient places to meet the modern needs of residents.

The closure of Forth Road Bridge in December 2015 was a significant disruption to Fife’s transport infrastructure, causing residents to seek alternative modes and routes of transport to pursue their economic and social activities.

The Carnegie UK Trust commissioned a representative poll of 500 residents in Fife, conducted an online survey with 63 Fife-based businesses, and collected other data sources to determine the impact of the Forth Road Bridge closure on how residents in Fife worked, travelled, consumed goods and services, and pursued leisure activities during this period, and the impact on local businesses as traders and employers.

The report published today demonstrates that respondents overwhelmingly used a different or longer route to work or to take part in leisure activities during the closure, rather than changing work patterns or avoiding travel. Residents polled were more willing to change their shopping behaviour, however, and use a local store as an alternative.

Residents reported strong satisfaction with their neighbourhoods in Fife. Taken together with their belief that the area might be over-dependent on the Forth Road Bridge, this suggests that there could be an opportunity for more innovative approaches to creating employment and leisure opportunities more locally as part of building a fairer Fife.  

Author: SNP

Local People Leading on Regeneration

An Empowered Scotland – chapter of SNP Manifesto

Local Governance

We want to re-invigorate local government by reconnecting it with communities. One size does not fit all. The approach taken in Glasgow does not have to be the same as the approach in Galashiels. The principle of local control, not on behalf of a community, but by a community is key.

We will review the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and the relationships between local authorities and health boards. We aim to transform our democratic landscape, protect and renew public services and refresh the relationship between citizens, communities and councils. We will:-

Consult on and introduce a Bill that will decentralise local authority functions, budgets and democratic oversight to local communities

Review and reform the role of Community Planning Partnerships so they are better placed to drive reform, including through use of citizens’ panels and town hall meetings

Continue to grow and develop City Deals, Town Centre Partnerships and Regional Economic Partnerships so that clusters of agencies and shared interests can work together for the benefit of their local economies and communities

Following the report of the independent review of local government ward boundaries we will protect local communities by taking forward changes only where communities have been adequately respected in the new proposed arrangements.

Islands

We have placed the needs and aspirations of our island communities at the very centre of the Government’s agenda. The establishment of a dedicated Ministerial post demonstrated our commitment to our island communities. This post will continue in the next government.

We will consult on, and bring forward, an Islands Bill to reflect the unique needs of these communities and implement our ten-point manifesto for our islands.

We will protect the Road Equivalent Tariff to all routes in the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry services network and take action to reduce fares on ferry services to Orkney and Shetland. We will also maintain the existing air discount scheme at 50 per cent.

We will establish a new Islands Strategic Group chaired by the Islands Minister to build on the work of the Islands Areas Working Group and develop a new National Islands Plan.

Island communities will be able to control and determine how to invest 100 per cent of locally raised Crown Estate revenues once these are devolved.

Participation

The Community Empowerment Act delivered new rights for communities and is backed by the Empowering Communities Fund and the Strengthening Communities Programme. We will build on this by:-

Setting councils a target of having at least 1 per cent of their budget subject to Community Choices budgeting. This will be backed by the Community Choices Fund to help public bodies and community groups build on examples of best practice.

Allowing community councils that can demonstrate a strong democratic mandate to deliver some services. We intend that in future community council elections will be held on the same day across the country to increase their profile and recognition.

Encouraging improved tenant participation in management of their homes. We will use a partner organisation to help tenants become more aware of their rights and encourage tenants to become more involved in the management of properties.

We want to encourage and make it easier for people from all backgrounds to get involved at all levels of decision making. Our elected representatives should better reflect the society we live in.

That is why we will continue to support the Women 50:50 campaign to increase – to 50 per cent – the representation of women in our Parliament, councils and on public boards.

We will also support the One in Five Campaign to increase the participation of disabled people. We will build on the example of the pilot fund for the 2016 elections and establish a £200,000 Elected Office Fund to provide support for disabled people seeking to stand for selection and election in the 2017 local government elections

Valuing our Third Sector

We have made significant investment in and promoted the role of the third sector, social enterprises and volunteers. The sector plays an important role and we want to increase and encourage it to grow its influence. We will take steps to consolidate voluntary sector funding into single grant funds to provide greater clarity to applicants. We will also support the extension of core funding.

We will introduce three year rolling funding where possible. We will introduce a system across government that highlights when funding is due to end, to provide greater clarity for the sector and enable better planning for the longer term.

We will provide support to help social enterprises compete for public sector contracts and encourage councils to promote the procurement of services and goods in their local area from the third sector.

The Scottish Government has taken a supportive approach to Supported Businesses, such as Remploy. We use public sector spending, through procurement policy, to assist Supported Businesses and use our influence with leading private sector companies to encourage them to use the sector. We will continue to work with the sector, with BASE and others using public sector spend, to provide practical help for those businesses employing large numbers of people with a disability, so that they have an opportunity to thrive and prosper.

By increasing the number of Modern Apprenticeships in the third sector and social enterprises we will help to diversify skills and training.

Author: Island News

Villagers in a Lewis crofting township have accused the Crofting Commission of being ‘dictatorial, vindictive and unjustified’  after the Commission sacked their grazings committee when the committee had the backing of the majority of the shareholders.

The villagers of Upper Coll claim they have fulfilled all the conditions imposed on them by the Crofting Commission, following a disagreement with two shareholders.

Calum Maclean,Grazings Clerk since 1997, said that they had done everything the Commission had asked them to do and asked external professional accountants to carry out the required work for the Grazings Committee and then submit it to the Commission.

He said: ” The Commission had accepted that all the recommendations apart from one had been carried out. The Upper Coll Grazings committee had engaged a well known and reputable company of Stornoway chartered accountants to provide the Commission with the external financial information they required. The basis on which these were to be prepared was agreed between the accountants and officers of the Commission, but then rejected as being insufficient by the very Commission that had told the accountants what was required.”

Mr Maclean said he had no idea why the Commission had asked for accounts for the past five years, but that they had provided all the details, as had been submitted and unanimously agreed at shareholders meetings every year. The accountants confirmed that these were a correct representation of the village’s income and expenditure, Mr Maclean said.

He said: ”The Commission has not asked a single grazings committee in the whole of the Crofting Townships to provide such information in the last five years. Why they have picked on us is an unanswered puzzle. We understand them asking us to provide an independent assessment of our books, but we don’t understand why they won’t accept the independent figures presented.”

He added: “The Grazings Committee had bent over backwards to meet all the Commission’s requirements and were totally shocked that not only would they not accept the accountants figures but that they had sacked the committee with immediate effect.

” We have done everything the Commission asked us to do. We don’t understand what more the Commission wanted. The attitude shown by convener Colin Kennedy when he met with shareholders last year has left us worried that there is some hidden agenda, which we don’t understand.”

Upper Coll Grazings chair Kenneth Macdonald said: “Our village was formed in the face of threats in the 1920s. We are proud of the way the village has been managed all these years and are not impressed by the bully boy tactics that have been shown by the Crofting Commission.

”We feel our local commissioner Murdo Maclennan could have played a part in ensuring a reasoned sensible settling of whatever the Commission found wanting, but regretfully that didn’t happen.”

The committee has asked the Crofting Commission, through its chief executive Catriona Maclean to review its decision.

Mr Maclean said: “”The Commission has to be asked what they seek to achieve with their 19th century landlord attitude. The Grazings Committee was summarily put out of office in one day without recourse to appeal and with no explanation as to the “crime” we had committed! Which Crofting Law are we in breach of?”

A spokeswoman for the Crofting Commission said: “On Upper Coll, there are a number of options for the shareholders in the common grazings to consider and the Crofting Commission is intending to hold an early meeting with the shareholders to present these options to them. It would not, therefore, be appropriate to discuss these with a third party before a discussion has taken place with the shareholders. The Commission will shortly be writing to shareholders to explain this.”

She added: “Action in this case resulted from an approach by shareholders to investigate issues relating to the functioning of the common grazings committee, in terms of Section 47(8) of the Crofting Acts.  It is important that members of the crofting community understand that the Commission will investigate when requests of this nature are brought to us by shareholders.”

The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) said the situation rang ‘loud warning bells of a return to the old Crofters Commission regime’ and called on Crofting Commissioners to reassure crofters.

SCF chief executive Patrick Krause said:  “This is a very alarming incidence for crofting. We are not in possession of all the facts that have led to the Crofting Commission taking the extraordinary step of dissolving a grazings committee, something unprecedented as far as I know.

“So SCF’s concern is directed towards the broader issue of what this says for decision-making within the commission and what this does to the relationship between crofters and the regulator.

“We are all aware of the grievance raised by the Upper Coll grazings committee against the convener of the commission, Colin Kennedy, a few weeks ago, so, on the face of it, this looks like an appalling attempt by the commission to nullify the complaint. So whatever is actually behind their decision, it is a staggeringly clumsy bit of public relations.

“There appears to have been no mediation attempted by the commission and it rings very loud warning bells of a return to the old Crofters Commission regime which was regularly accused of operating on a similar autocratic basis. We very much hoped that we would never see this sort of behaviour again. A direction of such gravity must have been issued by the commissioners themselves so we call on them to reassure crofters that they have acted in the democratic and impartial way expected of a public body”.

Crofting commissioner Murdo Maclennan said he could not comment while the Upper Coll case was still in a legal process.

An ongoing Freedom of Information application was filed with the Crofting Commission in March, seeking answers to the following questions:

1: How many crofting townships have been asked to supply professionally audited accounts to the Crofting Commission in each of the last five years?

2: How many crofting townships have supplied professionally audited accounts in the last five years?

3: How many crofting townships have no committees at present?

 4: How many grazings committees have been removed by the Crofting Commission in the last five years?