European funds at risk

Briefing for third sector organisations and rural communities 

1. What is the SRDP? 

The Scotland Rural Development Development Programme (SRDP) is intended to provide support for a range of economic, environmental and social measures in rural Scotland. It is jointly funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Scottish Government. The new programme is meant to run from 2014 to 2020 and the Scottish Government has launched a Stage 1 consultation to help them shape it. 

The SRDP’s social dimension, including the LEADER programme, is small compared to the funding for land-based activity but it is important. Through LEADER and other funding streams, it has supported many successful community-based and managed projects, facilities and services. 

This is the first of a series of briefings from SCVO that will highlight issues of importance to rural communities. SCVO will also be developing its own response to the consultation and will seek to take into account the views of its stakeholders and members. 

??This initial briefing is intended to encourage individuals, community groups and third sector organisations with an interest in Scotland’s rural communities to respond to the current consultation, which is available on the Scottish Government website. 

2. What does it have to do with the third sector and community groups? 

Investments made through the SRDP must fit into the EU Rural Development Priorities, which are: 

1. Fostering knowledge transfer and innovation 

2. Enhancing competitiveness 

3. Promoting food chain organisation and risk management 

4. Restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems 

5. Promoting resource efficiency and transition to low carbon economy 

6. Promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development 

Priority 6 is clearly of most importance to most third sector and community-based organisations. However, the sector can also make, and indeed is making, a significant contribution to the other priorities. 

These priorities are addressed using the individual investment articles in the European legislation. The most relevant one for the third sector is Article 21 – Basic services and village renewal in rural areas. 

This covers a wide range of activities including broadband, renewables, basic services and related infrastructure. Investment in these activities promotes economic sustainabilility and resilience in rural communities. 

The Scottish Government’s SWOT analysis for the new SRDP identifies as opportunities for the programme: 

• Possibility to create and maintain vibrant rural communities 

• Ability to enhance the social economy and the voluntary sector in rural areas 

??The SRDP is clearly not designed to be exclusively for farmers and land managers. It is also intended to support rural communities and the wider rural economy, and it is important that this dimension of the programme is fully recognized and implemented. 

3. What about the current SRDP? 

The Scottish Government is being commendably frank in its appraisal of the current SRDP. While it points to success in the delivery of around £1.2 billion of spending, with close to 80% of applicants being funded, it admits there are questions about the delivery of the programme. These include how the funding was targeted and whether best value was achieved, as well as the complexity of the application system, claims administration and audit issues. 

For community groups, the main experience of the SRDP has been through Rural Priorities and LEADER. While many excellent projects have been funded, including community facilities and services, some applicants have found the burdens of bureaucracy, payment delays and audit requirements at best irksome and at worst highly stressful. 

In some cases these difficulties and bureaucratic barriers have resulted in significant delays to projects and increased project costs. They have even discouraged communities from applying for much needed funding. 

The Scottish Government recognises that there have been problems with the programme and has stated that the design of the next programme must be simpler and more customer friendly. They also state that “clarity of guidance, purpose and scheme rules will be essential in the new programme to address the audit risk”. 

SCVO believes that this consultation is an opportunity to use the positive and negative experiences of the current SRDP to influence the new programme for the better, including designing the best possible technical assistance and advisory services to support applicants. 

??Applying for funding through the new programme, including LEADER, will continue to be a demanding and time consuming process. But at a time when budgets are tight and getting tighter, it is important that community groups access the full range of funding that is available to them and are provided with appropriate and relevant support to help them to do so. 

4. How does the new SRDP fit with other European funding? 

For the period 2014-2020, the European Commission has proposed that the SRDP will fit into a new Common Strategic Framework (CSF). This will bring the SRDP together with the European Social Fund (ESF), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Maritime and Fisheries Fund with the aim of achieving better co-ordination and targeting of the funds. This will be developed through a Partnership Agreement between the member state and the European Commission. 

In Scotland, the proposal is that EU funds should be marshalled into three ‘Scottish Funds’which seek to explicitly address Scottish Government and EU priorities: 

• Competitiveness, Innovation and jobs 

• Low carbon, resource efficiency and environment 

• Local development and social inclusion 

Each of the three Scottish Funds would have resources allocated to it from the European programmes (including SRDP), depending on the eventual allocations agreed at EU and UK level and individual analysis of need against relevant priorities as set out in operational programme legislation. Land-based rural development funding (including climate change, forestry and agri-environment) will continue to be delivered by the current delivery partners (SNH, Rural Payments & Inspections Directorate and Forestry Commission Scotland) through a new application portal. 

Funding for the ‘wider rural economy’ will be developed and delivered alongside the other European funds (ESF, ERDF). The consultation document says “Our goal is to ensure we identify the right agency/organisation to deliver each aspect based on relevant expertise”. 

??It is important that SRDP funding for rural development ‘beyond the farm gate’ is not sidelined and limited to the 5% minimum of the budget that has to be spent on LEADER. It is therefore vital that third sector and community interests are represented on all decision-making and monitoring bodies. 

5. What role will LEADER have? 

LEADER funding will continue to be delivered through Local Action Groups (LAGs) according to agreed Local Development Strategies, as part of the Local Development Fund. A minimum of 5% of the SRDP budget must be delivered through LEADER. 

While business development applications will be delivered through the competitiveness fund, views are being sought on small local businesses should be supported through LEADER. 

The European Commission are encouraging the use of the LEADER approach across all the funds to: 

• Strengthen the role of local development strategies 

• Be more flexible, innovative and responsible to local needs 

• Provide greater transparency and clarity 

• Focus on animation and capacity building 

• Strengthen private and third sector participation in delivery of funds 

• Strengthen networking and co-operation at all levels. 

The Scottish Government will shortly be asking for expressions of interest in preparing Local Development Strategies by prospective Local Action Groups. 

??Third sector and community involvement in LEADER will be more important than ever, and begins with active involvement in the new Local Development Strategies. 

6. What assistance and advice will be available for applicants? 

The consultation document proposes an improved advisory service for farmers and land owners, but does not mention support, advice and guidance for applicants from other sectors. Applicants to LEADER will continue to be supported by LAG staff, as resources allow, to develop their applications, but there is no mention of wider independent support for community groups through a service such as Rural Direct. 

??All applicants for SRDP funding should have the support and assistance that will help them to achieve success in their applications. This should be fully resourced, universally available to third sector and community groups and integrated into the management and delivery of the programme. 

7. What issues should third sector and community groups raise in their consultation response? 

SCVO will circulate its draft response early in June with detailed answers to relevant questions. Meanwhile, however, the following are the headline issues we have identified: 

??Promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and sustainable economic development should be one of the main priorities of the new SRDP 

??Basic services and village renewal in rural areas should be a priority for investment through the SRDP 

??Spending on non-farm rural development must not be limited to the obligatory 5% of the budget on LEADER required by the European Commission 

??Support and assistance must be available to third sector and community groups applying for funding across the programme 

8. What can I do now? 

??Circulate this briefing to any groups and organisations who may be interested 

??Find out if there is a consultation roadshow near you and and take part in it 

??Consider running a facilitated discussion event to gather views and formulate a response (SCVO’s Rural Direct team can help with this) 

??Get in touch with SCVO with any suggestions or questions about the consultation 

??Draft a response to the consultation, however brief, and copy SCVO into it 

??Look out for further briefings, including a draft response from SCVO 

Norman MacAskill 

Head of Rural Policy 

norman.macaskill@scvo.org.uk 

All change at Community Energy Scotland 

I am writing to thank you for your continuing support and to let you know about some changes that we will be introducing to Community Energy Scotland’s business from August onwards this year. 

We have been delivering the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) since April 2009. We were, however, unsuccessful in our bid to deliver the new CARES programme which begins in August 2013. Delivery of the new programme will pass to a consortium led by the UK Energy Saving Trust. For some members, for example those with CARES LOANS or outstanding grant obligations, the relationship will transfer entirely from Community Energy Scotland to Energy Saving Trust. We will help members through this transition and we will do everything we can to assist you with any issues which arise. Members affected should contact the Community Energy Scotland Dingwall Office, or use Community Energy Scotland’s website (www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk) to access this information. 

We have taken this as an opportunity to give consideration to the future development and direction of Community Energy Scotland, as well as the ongoing needs of communities. 

Since its establishment in 2008, Community Energy Scotland has driven forward the prospects for communities to develop and benefit from renewable energy projects. Over 35MW of community-owned capacity has now been installed, with over 100MW currently in development. Our aim has been to ensure communities are able to develop and control their own renewable energy projects as a foundation for their sustainable development. 

We will continue to build on our core mission as Scotland’s leading community energy charity, supporting community-owned project development and championing community needs and aspirations on renewable energy at the highest level, especially those of our 300 + members. 

We aim to radically increase community ownership of renewable energy generation in Scotland and expand the ways in which it benefits communities. 

Following a review of priorities and opportunities, Community Energy Scotland will be focusing on four specific development areas, building on our current work:  

• Strengthening our advocacy, policy and representational work for members and community energy groups, including further development of member services (such as events, training on project development, management and information provision); 

• Renewable energy project development and management services – this will be a new fee-based service focused on community groups and covering the full scope of project development, from the earliest feasibility and resource assessment stage through to post construction management, for both small (microgen) and large-scale projects; 

• Research and Innovation to increase community control of renewable energy resources – we intend to drive forward measures and programmes to increase control and local use of renewable energy, tackling technical, regulatory, financial and policy obstacles. We also intend to step up our efforts to find ways in which the more fragile and deprived communities in Scotland can benefit from the ‘renewables revolution’. 

• International development – we intend to build on our current work on the Malawi Community Energy Development Programme and support community-based sustainable energy development in other developing countries. 

At the same time, we will continue to develop our own renewable energy projects designed to generate revenue to underpin our charitable work. As part of this, we will be keen to explore opportunities for joint ventures with our members. 

Please get back to me if you have any queries or questions on this. The next few months will be a period of significant change for Community Energy Scotland and your support is very important to us. We will be reporting back fully to members at our next AGM and conference, which will be held in Glasgow on 5th November. 

Best wishes 

Carola Bell 

Chair 

Community Energy Scotland

Neal Lawson, The Guardian, 17th June

Must politics disappoint? This is the public affairs question of our age. Our economy is still in crisis, those who are least to blame are paying the highest price, and our environment is heading towards disaster. How is anything ever going to change?

We already know what needs to change. The economy must be made to serve the interests of people and the planet. These always inseparable interests coalesce around polices like a real green new deal, a financial transaction tax to stop wild speculation, and the breakup of the banks to end the “too big to fail” culture. Then a living wage, ratios to control runaway executive pay and a shorter working week. A myriad of other desirable ideas could be added.

The problem is that no one knows how things might change. The political parties merge into one another. Deep in the subtext real differences exist, but they don’t amount to much in practice. That’s because the old parties on their own are incapable of making the transformational change that’s needed.

Power and formal politics have been separated. Increasingly, power exists in two places. First, it is found at the level of global financial flows – over which national governments have little, if any, purchase. When investment decisions became the preserve of rootless private corporations, so demands for low taxes and free markets became irresistible. Control of the economy was severely reduced and democracy became the servant of capital.

As a consequence there is a pervasive feeling that our lives are beyond our control. Decisions are made elsewhere. And nothing any national politician is saying or doing will change that. The story of the last 40 years has been a gradually diminished party political system. Because of their ebbing power no party will dominate, and coalitions will be the rule not the exception. Even if Labour were to win the next election, it’s likely to be with 35% of those who vote, or 20% of the voting population. How can we create a responsible capitalism from such a narrow base?

But, in tandem, something equally important is happening. Power, as well as being globalised, is bubbling up from the self-organising grassroots. A culture of self-confidence in our views, voices and abilities is being enabled as the internet, social media and older organising techniques help people create new sources of influence.

This means the BNP was not defeated by legislation but by the Hope Not Hate campaign; the living wage is not an act of parliament but down to the organising skills of Citizens UK; tax avoidance isn’t a national agenda item because of the Treasury but the actions of UK Uncut. It is the disability movement that has drawn our attention to the unfair and undignified tests disabled people now face to obtain the support they need; gay marriage is becoming a reality because gays and lesbians demanded it; and it is black youth who have highlighted the grossly disproportionate stop and search policy they frequently endure. What all these movements and campaigns have in common is that they are driven from below; often involving democratic and non-hierarchical structures. This is where their power comes from.

But these are mostly single issues, and the multiple crises we face demand joined-up answers. The political parties we can’t live with, we also can’t live without. The urgent task at hand is to construct a politics that not only joins the concerns of all of us who seek a much more equal, sustainable and democratic world – a good society – but which finds a way of linking formal and informal politics.

But change is complex. No single issue or party can usher in a better future alone. Formal, vertical parties are going to have to work together, and also find ways to embrace the energy and idealism of this new (and not so new), informal, bottom-up politics. So the challenge to the parties is to democratise internally and practise pluralism externally. The challenge to the movements is to shift beyond single issues and join forces to tackle the root causes of markets that are too free or too powerful, and states that are too remote or too intrusive.

The defining political trait of the future will be an “open tribalism”. This recognises that people start from a party or a single-issue bias but that to succeed they are going to have to be pluralistic and respectful of others. Change will come from consensus, not control.

If we are to flourish as fully rounded human beings then the dividing lines are clear. They are between those who want to protect their privilege and the rest of us who want no more than decency, respect and some semblance of economic and environmental balance, but also between the old, closed tribes of heavy-handed politics and the new, open movements for change. The ideas, policies and structures to build a good society lie all around us. It is in our gift to construct them in a way that, in the words of the academic and writer Raymond Williams, “makes hope possible, rather than despair convincing”.

Author: STV Local

The community group who wanted to run Leith Waterworld are “infuriated” and “heartbroken” the council have decided to sell it to a soft play company.
The centre was closed by the local authority in January last year and they planned to sell the site to help fund the refurbishment of the Royal Commonwealth Pool.
The sale had been put on hold while community group Splashback try and put forward a bid to run the site themselves and save it from closure.
In January, a full council meeting decided to give the group until the end of the year to come up with a viable plan for Waterworld.
At a full meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council on Thursday, the coalition which runs the local authority was accused of “renegading” on their promise as they agreed to sell the site for £1m.
Green Cllr Chas Booth, who has supported the Splashback campaign, said community groups could no longer trust the council who have chosen profit over the people they serve.
He said: “That profit comes at the expense of renegading on a commitment to a community group. The council are pulling the rug out from under the community group, they’re renegading on a commitment less than half way through the process.
“What message does that send to community groups? It sends a message that we will talk to you, we might even listen to your plans but only until a better offer comes along from a commercial company.”
The coalition of Labour and SNP decided to take up the bid from A&G Property.
Cllr Richard Lewis, defending the decision at the full council meeting, said it was the best thing to do.
He said: “I genuinely believe this is the best deal the council can be expected to deliver in this economic climate.”
Councillors approved the sale, along with a grant of £125,000 for swimming programmes for Edinburgh’s primary pupils.
A&G Property will spend £1.3m installing multi-level soft play, slides, climbing areas, indoor go karts, mini sport pitches, party rooms, a café and restaurant.
Campaign group Splashback said they were disappointed with the decision.
A spokesman for the group said: “We are infuriated and dismayed that City of Edinburgh Councillors today pulled the plug on Leith Waterworld for good.
“The bid accepted today is a poor result for Leith, for families, children, the disabled or the local community. Losing this unique and much loved fun pool is an utter tragedy for the city – such infrastructure is unlikely ever to be replaced.
“We are heartbroken that we have not been able to save the pool, despite our best efforts. We know this will be deeply felt by many across the city. We would like to thank everyone for your overwhelming support for the campaign.”

Author: Concerned communities of Falkirk

To read more about concerned communities of Falkirk click here

Dart Energy have submitted a planning application to Falkirk and Stirling Councils to build 14 new well pads with 22 new coalbed methane (CBM) wells, pipelines to connect the sites, a gas processing and water treatment facility and a waste outfall into the Firth of Forth. The planned site covers a large area between Larbert and Airth with drilling planned 20m from some homes and directly beneath many more.

If the planning permission is granted, this will be the UK’s first commercial production of unconventional gas from coalbed methane. This process has devastated communities elsewhere in the world. The Environmental Statement for this planning application states that “the current proposal is for the initial stage of the Full Field Development” indicating that this is the start of plans to develop a large gas field with possibly more than 100 wells in Falkirk local authority alone.
Our concerns
The processes are very new and there’s powerful evidence from similar operations elsewhere that they entail significant health and environmental risks, which the proposal has overlooked, including the potential for long-term contamination of our air, farmland, watercourses and ecosystems, and other adverse impacts on our property prices, local economy, and general quality-of-life in the area.

In response to this evidence, Bans and Moratoriums on gas extraction are being imposed around the world, for example in New South Wales, Australia, where a new law was recently imposed, banning CBM (also called CSG) activity anywhere within 2km of residences and business clusters.

Concerned Communities of Falkirk is a group of residents from various communities throughout the Falkirk area who have come together because of their concerns over this important and controversial planning application. We have created a Community Mandate demanding an overhaul of local and national policy and a re-assessment of Dart Energy’s application. More than 1400 of these Mandates have now been signed by local residents and submitted to Falkirk Council. Learn more about our Falkirk Against Unconventional Gas (FAUG) campaign.
If you would like more information, or you would like to help with the campaign, visit our What you can do section. Anything you can do helps, no matter how small. This is our community and we must make our voices heard!

Author: Community Energy Scotland

The big official switch–on for the Isle of Muck Electrification Scheme took place on Wednesday the 29th of May. Community power on Muck has taken a leap forward with the successful installation of new wind turbines and solar photovoltaics which now provide almost all the electricity and heat needed on the island.
Community Energy Scotland’s Manager in the West Highlands, Rab Lees was asked some direct questions about the scheme.
So where is Muck and why is it important?
Muck is a small island, just 1700 acres, like a large farm surrounded by sea, about 2 hours by ferry from the port of Mallaig.  There are around thirty islanders. The farm produces quality lamb and beef. Islanders welcome all visitors on day trips or for longer stays. Muck has a primary school and a new community hall. The hall is super-insulated, and the school is designed to take output from the island’s renewable electricity system.
So Muck is quite special?
Yes, it is one of Scotland’s special places.  Like the neighbouring Isle of Eigg, it will never have a cable linking it to the National Grid, so islanders need to generate their own power and run their own local electricity grid. Eigg has been doing it for a few years now and Muck is now doing the same. Muck is determined to sustain itself economically and retain a vibrant population.  The energy scheme is now part of the island tour. The islanders are happy to show and explain to tourists or visiting groups.
 So, why is a new electricity scheme on a small island so important Rab?
This new scheme is crucially important for the islanders on Muck who now have a reliable grid with generation from wind and sun, and storage in a battery bank.  This scheme shows what can be done to harness renewable energy and power-up a community’s needs for modern life.
You’d better give us the technical details – on the mainland we take the grid for granted
Well, the Muck scheme uses the output from six 5kW Evance wind turbines and 30kWp solar photovoltaic panels to give round the clock power. The battery system is state of the art and can store 162kWh of electricity from the wind and sun.  The total cost of the system was supported by a grant of £978,840 from the Big Lottery and the main installers were Scottish Hydro Contracting. The initial design was completed by Senergy, and funded though a Scottish Government CARES grant awarded by Community Energy Scotland.
When you say the islanders own and operate the system, how does that work?
The islanders are doing it for themselves.  The contractors have put the scheme in, but without the islanders own efforts they would be still on old-fashioned diesel generators and paraffin lamps.  The islanders dug trenches and provided labour for an earlier partial scheme, they ensured that all the consents and volunteers were in place to run the project and raised the funds required for the full electrification to go ahead. 
So the islanders get free power from the wind and sun Rab?
Oh no!  The Muck Community Power Company charges all the users for the power they consume.  They need money to fund maintenance of the system, insurances and replacements.  There’s no free electricity on Muck!
Thanks for putting us straight, Rab – so what was Community Energy Scotland’s role in this?
Community Energy Scotland’s Jamie Adam and myself have provided  a lot of support to the islanders throughout the scoping, planning, development and installation of the scheme.  Community Energy Scotland has given the funders the confidence to invest their money and topped-up the islanders’ capacity to promote and manage the new scheme.  After the successful scheme Community Energy Scotland helped to happen on the Isle of Eigg, we knew we could help Muck match – or go one better with this innovative whole-island energy solution. It wasn’t easy and it did take some time, but that makes it all the sweeter now that its built!
So what do the islanders have to say?
Before I gave this interview, I spoke with Ewen MacEwen.  Ewen’s family have lived and worked on Muck for over a century now.  He is looking forward to the big switch-on this Wednesday and we will post photographs and comments on the Community Energy Scotland website as soon after the event takes place as we can.
 So what is your message Rab?
We can all learn from the tenacity shown by the Muck Islanders, they had technical and financial challenges to overcome, but were ultimately successful and this scheme is of great credit to their determination. It shows what can be done and other communities should take heart from what they have achieved.
Thanks Rab – have you any further comments?
Yes.  Community Energy Scotland’s work over the past decade means that wherever you are in Scotland there is a community project we have helped with.  Muck’s turbines are not the substantial 900kilowatt machines now owned by numerous island communities, but what Muck now has is the ideal scale and blend of technologies that the population needs for 21st century life.  I’d urge anyone to come and see the scheme and see what they think for themselves. It will change your mind about how natural resources can be used sustainably to satisfy local energy needs – how good is that?

Making the Grassroots Grow at Coalfields Regeneration School

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust is offering local organisations the chance to go back to school to learn how to become more enterprising and have a bigger impact on their local communities.  The Trust has launched the Coalfields Regeneration School which will teach a range of management and development skills to grass roots organisations in former mining areas across Scotland.

Tom McAughtrie, Scottish Trustee of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, and a former business development officer with the organisation said: “There is huge potential for small local organisations in former mining areas to develop their services by moving up a level.  The Regeneration School offers a great opportunity for them to become more enterprising, develop skills within funding, strengthen their governance and leadership and lay down strong foundations for growth. These groups are already doing a great job serving the needs of their members and the local community. Now they have the chance to move onto the next level and be even more effective.”

Tracey Muirhead who will run the Coalfields Regeneration School on behalf of the Trust said: “We are looking for two individuals from each of eight groups to take part in a course on how to run their own organisations in a more enterprising way.  We particularly want to help those groups that are really struggling with funding applications, especially in these times of austerity when grant funders themselves are being pushed and are looking for more robust applications. We will be tackling governance, finances, marketing, presentation skills and how the organisation is perceived – all the things that makes them more professional.

“We are laying on lots of support from mentors, local businesses, successful voluntary organisations and social enterprises, and we are confident this will be an enjoyable as well as a worthwhile experience.”

Tracey is the chief executive officer of the School for Social Entrepreneurs – Scotland.

The course involves a commitment of 17 days spread over six months from July to December, with a celebration event in January next year. The Closing date for applications is June 26 . Full details from Tracey Muirhead at tracey@ssescotland.org or on 07828030741

Author: Jon Hollingdale

Community Woodlands Association’s response to the Land Reform Review Group’s interim report

The Land Reform Review was launched last year with bold words like” radical” and “innovative” attached and a wide ranging remit:

a. Enable more people in rural and urban Scotland to have a stake in the ownership, governance, management and use of land, which will lead to a greater diversity of land ownership, and ownership types, in Scotland;
b. Assist with the acquisition and management of land (and also land assets) by communities, to make stronger, more resilient, and independent communities which have an even greater stake in their development;
c. Generate, support, promote and deliver new relationships between land, people, economy and environment in Scotland.
(my emphasis)

But any expectations that it might live up to the radical, innovative tags it was given are crushed on the very first page of the Review Groups Interim Report, which both repeats the above in full, and then posits a very much narrow reinterpretation, whereby the remit has contracted into reviewing the 2003 legislation and:

considering how the benefits of community ownership could be extended through the exploration of new relationships between land, people, economy and environment in Scotland.

Naturally as an organisation representing ~150 current or aspiring community land owners we think that extending community ownership is an important topic, and we’re pleased that the proposal made by ourselves and others for a Land Agency to facilitate this has been taken up for further discussion, but theres little else to cheer, not least because the language of the remit and thus the stance of the report has moved from “deliver” to “consider”.

Likewise, a technical review and revision of the ridiculously over-engineered Land Reform Scotland Act is long overdue, and amending the legislation so that it actually supports the empowerment of communities rather providing a series of obstacles, will be very welcome, but there was no need to go through this extensive pantomime in order to add SCIOs to the list of approved forms for Community Bodies.

In the meantime a huge range of topics and issues have been quietly sidelined. Andy Wightman and others have highlighted a number of key omissions, of which the abandonment of the tenant farmers is the most striking. Critically, there is minimal discussion of the context and circumstances under which we having (or not having) the debate in the first place. Whilst the report does, briefly, note that:

Scotland has significantly large private landholdings and the discretions of ownership allow a few people to make decisions about large parts of the country’s land resource and also in some cases about the options available to the people who live their lives on it.

it makes no attempt to quantify Scotland’s extraordinary concentration of landownership, or to recognise that, as even the Scottish Government’s own Land Use Strategy does, the current ownership arrangements are not delivering sustainable development and the broad range of desired social, economic and environmental benefits.

Moreover, there’s no analysis at all of how this astonishing pattern of inequality arose or is perpetuated. I’m told they rarely sing the third verse of “All things bright and beautiful” in church these days, but it might yet serve as the epigraph of this report, so little does it challenge the current dispensation. Land ownership, and thus land reform, is all about power and money, but it’s clearly considered impolite to discuss such matters as the only financial references in the report are to the difficulties of funding community acquisitions. As we wrote in our submission to the call for evidence, the status quo is:

neither divinely ordained nor the logical outcome of a rational market… (but)… the product of decades of intervention … and sustained by vast public subsidy.

Unless the review is willing to tackle these difficult issues then the prospects for the Land Reform agenda, and even for extending community ownership on any meaningful scale are bleak indeed.

Local media isn’t dying. It’s just being badly cared for, and won’t recover unless communities take action themselves. Come to one of our 2 workshops in Scotland and learn how communities are taking control of their local media, and finding it’s more sustainable, accountable and relevant than ever before, and how you can do the same where you live.

As ever more local newspapers close and titles merge, more and more communities are left without a local media outlet, feeding a sense that local media is undergoing a slow but inevitable death. But there are examples across the British Isles, the US and elsewhere that tell a different story.

Co-operatives UK and Carnegie UK Trust have joined together to organise a series of meetings across the UK showcasing these alternatives.  By attending these free events we hope you will be inspired and stimulated to take action to save your local media.  This is your opportunity to make local media work as a sustainable business and help to protect our democracy through local accountability.
To book for the Glasgow event click here

Who should attend?
Anyone with a passion or interest in the role of local media and news and an interest in finding out about co-operative and community ownership.
How to book?
Events are free and places are limited and available on a first come first serve basis from the links above.

To see a short clip of the film, click here

The story so far, and the next chapter…

The last few months have been a profound journey for The Spirit Level, as, fresh from the first round of interview filming, we began to tackle the heart of the film – finding the stories through which we can begin to understand how structural economic and social shifts can impact on all our lives.  It’s been an exhaustive process of speaking to thousands of individuals all over the world, and being privileged to hear about their lives, hopes and fears.

When the project began last year, my quest began to secure each of the key figures behind the research in the book – and I was astounded as the responses came back. “yes I would be pleased to take part”, “this is important”, and so on. I started voraciously reading everything each of my interviewees had ever written, keen to understand the nuances of the research, lest I missed something vitally important. There were works by Michael Marmot on health, James Gilligan on violence, economist Ha-Joon Chang, Noam Chomsky, Amartya Sen. The list is endless. And of course, I read Chris Snowdon (The Spirit Level Delusion) and Peter Saunders, who take a completely different view. My journey into what producer Christopher Hird had termed “the intellectual detective story” was truly under way. Armed with questions (and criticisms) I set out to the many wide and varied locations to film interviews with these thinkers, accompanied by the able director of photography Woody James.

Each of the extraordinary figures I met seemed to have one thing in common – a profound sense of humility, mixed with some of the most insightful things I’ve ever heard uttered about the world we live in. I could have interviewed Michael Marmot for hours. So I did. So long in fact that he had to help us navigate the corridors of UCL to find a way out after hours.  

When our van hit a puncture on the 3 hour drive into New York state to film the son of one of the world’s richest men, Peter Buffett, I expected him to be angry, or at least a bit annoyed. Not so. He met us at a local cafe several hours later, and rode back with us in our clapped out van, positioned somewhere between the sandwiches and the large steel boxes of equipment.

Back in London, I handed the material over to editor Claire Ferguson with trepidation. She’s cut some of the best documentary features of recent years, including the fantastic film on the threat of overfishing The End of the Line, which created substantial change in fishing policy as a result. After a couple of days her emails came through: “I love it!”. Phew.
So, I started on the next phase of the journey buoyed from the experience.  It’s been months of intense preparation, taking me the length and breadth of the UK, from conversations with young men on the outskirts of society in Manchester, to activists fighting for change in Glasgow, and community leaders in the North east and elsewhere who tell of how economic shift has ripped the heart out of communities, and the people left fighting for a decent standard of living
What a relief. The one thing I know is if Claire likes something, we’re onto a winner.
I’ve spoken to people demonised by the media: the “riot boys”, the low-waged, and the unemployed. I’ve found thoughtfulness and compassion where we have been told there is laziness and fecklessness. And it’s not just in the UK – my evenings have been spent speaking to those all over the world, from call centre workers to inmates in a California prison and young women preparing for motherhood.

Many of you supported the campaign last year and helped us launch with a bang, others I’ve met along the way and have offered support with research, on social media and through organisations. It’s thanks to our collective work together that we’ve got this far. When we launched we managed to make a huge noise online, and raised enough money to finance these first important shoots.

Having tracked down the most powerful stories on inequality from around the world, the time has come to bring our talented crew to them, so we can capture the next stage of the film. We need to come together again to make this happen.

Today I’m launching a short clip of just some of the interviews we’ve managed to secure so far. You can help us by simply taking time to share this clip with your friends, colleagues and online networks today. The finished film is available to pre-buy as a download, and if just 2,000 people buy it in advance, we can complete the UK leg of the film. The more people see it, the more likely we are to reach those who can help us. Our community is bigger now than ever before, which gives us a great opportunity to get the message out – so please share far and wide!

Our aim is to be able to get back on the road and filming as soon as we can, so we can make our planned release date of summer 2014. Thanks again for being part of the journey to bring The Spirit Level to the screen – we’re excited about what lies ahead and look forward to sharing more with you.

Visit www.thespiritleveldocumentary.com to see more