More detail…….

Eigg hosts eco – festival

The first Giant’s Footstep Family Festival takes place on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May and has something to satisfy everyone’s eco curiosity. The Festival includes talks, workshops, music, theatre, and a range of experts on hand to provide advice and answer questions about what individuals and communities can do to tackle climate change.

The tiny Isle of Eigg is poised to welcome an influx of families with a green future in mind for a weekend of events which explore all things green.   Named after a geological feature on the Hebridean island, the first Giant’s Footstep Family Festival includes talks, workshops, music, theatre, and a range of experts on hand to provide advice and answer questions about what individuals and communities can do to tackle climate change.

Whether visitors come for the day, or the whole weekend, the Giant’s Footstep Family Festival on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May has something to satisfy everyone’s eco curiosity.

The festival kicks off Saturday lunchtime with a family workshop, Community Climate Change Challenge, followed by a talk about the community renewable electricity generation schemes on Eigg and at Findhorn and a hands-on workshop on composting and recycling, by Lochaber Environmental Group.  Children have plenty of choice, with recycled art and weaving workshops, music, circus skills, and fun in the forest with a green mud man workshop.

Eco Drama, Scotland’s only eco theatre company will be premiering their new play The Isle of Egg on Sunday afternoon.  An ecological fable inspired by the real Eigg with live music, eco gadgets, and humorous characters who take a magical journey to an island where the future has already started!  Egg has hydro cars, boats run on candle wax, and its very own solar, wind and wave powered electricity – not to mention some crazy bicycle creations

Sunday also sees talks on the Transition Town movement, and Comrie’s Street by Street insulation project, which aims to insulate the whole of Comrie, thus saving fuel and money.

Between visits to a local tree nursery, organic croft, and Eigg Primary Eco School, and the chance to make your own herbal tinctures from local plants, visitors can get advice and information from a range of experts from Scottish Wildlife Trust, Lochaber Environmental Group, Climate Challenge Fund, Community Energy Scotland, Energy Saving Scotland, Changeworks, The Green Party and SEAD (Scottish Education and Action for Development).

With music from the Belle Star Band, The Duplets, Bevvy Sisters, and Sharon King, and a special screening of the film The Age of Stupid, the festival will be the biggest two day event the island has run as part of its quest to win NESTA’s Big Green Challenge.  Eigg is the only Scottish finalist in this national competition to win £1million, with ten finalists battling to achieve significant carbon reductions in innovative ways which encourage other communities to do the same.

All day time events are free, and tickets for the Ceilidh can be purchased in advance from www.thebooth.co.uk. Ferries come to Eigg from Mallaig and Arisaig and camping is available for those who want to stay overnight. Visitors who travel to Mallaig or Arisaig by public transport will get discounts on local food, bike hire and other services.

The Giant’s Footstep Family Festival is part funded by Community Energy Scotland, The Highland Council, Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund, The Scottish Arts Council, NESTA, Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust and is supported by First Scotrail.

For more information go to www.isleofeigg.org,  telephone 01687 482 476 or email greenisland@isleofeigg.net

Tickets are onsale now from www.thebooth.co.uk – hurry and get yours today!
 

More detail….

A major programme of change started in March 2008 when the Scottish Government announced that it would no longer fund the networks of councils of voluntary service, the volunteer centres, the local social economy partnerships and the social enterprise networks in their current form from April 2011.

The main goal is to align the third sector with the community planning partnerships (CPPs) and the single outcome agreements.

Three letters have been issued by the Scottish Government, advancing the process of change:

18 March 2008
21 October 2008
2 February 2009

The letter of 2 February invited the third sector in each local authority area to offer a progress report, preferably agreed with the CPP. These reports are available as pdf documents here (please note some reports have not yet been received and will be added as we receive them):

Aberdeen City Part 1

Aberdeenshire

Angus

Clackmannanshire

Dumfries and Galloway

Dundee City

East Ayrshire Part 1

East Ayrshire Part 2

East Dumbartonshire

East Lothian

East Renfrewshire

Edinburgh

Falkirk

Fife

Glasgow City

Highland

Inverclyde

Midlothian

North Ayrshire

North Lanarkshire

Orkney Islands

Perth & Kinross

Renfrewshire

Scottish Borders

Shetland

South Ayrshire

South Lanarkshire

Stirling

West Dumbartonshire Part 1

West Dumbartonshire Part 2

Western Isles

West Lothian Part 1

West Lothian Part 2

Aberdeen City part 2

More detail…..

Download full document here http://www.localpeopleleading.co.uk/docs/LPLandCEAP.doc

More detail….

Applications to CCF approved in April 2009
Crichton Carbon Centre – £67,889, April 2009
As part of this Carbon Busters 2 project, pupils and teachers from eight schools will work to measure and reduce their schools carbon footprint, primarily through behavioural change. The project will be facilitated by the Crichton Carbon Centre, who will deliver lessons about climate change and carbon footprinting, and help pupils create School Action Plans with the ultimate aim of reducing carbon emissions by 15 per cent.
 
Heal the Earth Ayrshire – £30,367, April 2009
The Assloss Walled Garden Allotments in Kilmarnock will grow organic vegetables, using a rainwater catchment system, with few carbon emissions. Local schools, groups and families invited to join the c…
The Assloss Walled Garden Allotments in Kilmarnock will grow organic vegetables, using a rainwater catchment system, with few carbon emissions. Local schools, groups and families invited to join the community venture to grow food for free.
 
Guildtown Community Association – £120,200, April 2009
The Guildtown & Wolfhill Carbon Community Action Project, which will employ a coordinator, aims to wean households and businesses off oil-fired central heating; maximise energy efficiency savings; dev…
The Guildtown & Wolfhill Carbon Community Action Project, which will employ a coordinator, aims to wean households and businesses off oil-fired central heating; maximise energy efficiency savings; develop, test and promote rural transport solutions; and utilise the projects rural location to investigate opportunities for biomass and reduction of food miles. The aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of participating households by up to 30% year. It also aims to test the appetite (and possibly trial) for a community wide carbon cap and individual quotas.
 
East Neuk Communities Group – £212,903, April 2009
Community-based energy efficiency program which will provide local solutions, including energy audits, support and advice as well as enabling increased uptake of the various schemes currently on offer…
Community-based energy efficiency program which will provide local solutions, including energy audits, support and advice as well as enabling increased uptake of the various schemes currently on offer for cavity and loft insulation, draught proofing, new double glazing, heating controls and replacement boiler systems.
 
Perth & District YMCA – £122,052, April 2009
Perth YMCA’s Three C’s Project (Community Carbon Champions) will involve local unemployed young people working with families to grow vegetables in their gardens. They will also create an educational D…
Perth YMCA’s Three C’s Project (Community Carbon Champions) will involve local unemployed young people working with families to grow vegetables in their gardens. They will also create an educational DVD around Carbon Emission Reduction which will be distributed at local community events celebrating the harvest of the vegetables.
 
Deaf Connections – £16,850, April 2009
The DEAFinately Greener project will ensure Deaf people in Scotland have equal access to information and advice about climate change in British Sign language (BSL), overcoming the communication barriers which currently exclude them. It will empower Deaf people so they can take both individual action and work together as a community to reduce their carbon footprint by at least 30%.
 
Barrhill Community Interest Company – £70,365, April 2009
To create a network of Climate Champions from residents within Barrhill and four neighbouring villages. The principal aims are community engagement and capacity building about climate change and makin…
To create a network of Climate Champions from residents within Barrhill and four neighbouring villages. The principal aims are community engagement and capacity building about climate change and making a collective, local response.
 
Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust – £90,067, April 2009
The Out of the Blue Drill Hall refurbishment will transform a building once heated and ventilated with an emphasis on fossil fuels, into one which is an inspirational example of environmental sustainability. New spaces will be created for community participation, namely studios, workshop space, growing garden and community café extension. Secondly, the benefits of the nature of the Drill Hall refurbishment will be promoted through promotional materials and awareness raising sessions.
 
Kilwinning Community Sports Club – £57,347, April 2009
Will employ a ‘green and active’ programme coordinator to implement a wide ranging programme aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of their employees, stakeholders, membership and the wider community.
 
Dumbarton Road Corridor Environment Trust – £160,105, April 2009
The Scotstoun and Kingsway Focus Project is all about addressing climate change at the doorstep of the ordinary household. A range of projects will be undertaken, including composting, creating commun…
The Scotstoun and Kingsway Focus Project is all about addressing climate change at the doorstep of the ordinary household. A range of projects will be undertaken, including composting, creating community gardens, promoting cycling, recycling and changing household behaviour in the areas of energy use and transport choices.
 
Assynt Renewables Ltd – £74,220, April 2009
An energy audit of houses, community buildings and businesses in the Assynt parish area with support from Energy Saving Trust Scotland.
 
Strathblanefield Community Development Trust – £106,885, April 2009
The project aims to reduce household energy consumption in Strathblane. Every household will be offered an energy audit of their home, and personalised advice and assistance about energy efficiency. Many properties will have a thermal image taken. The project will cut energy costs, increase the take-up of energy-saving measures and encourage the use of renewable energy.
 
Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Energy – £267,504, April 2009
To establish drop-in energy information and advice points in seven communities in Argyll; to develop networks of community energy volunteers and to facilitate and support local community energy projects and initiatives.
http://www.alienergy.org.uk/
 
Fintry Development Trust – £22,506, April 2009
Fintry Development Trust is seeking to explore the possibility of a local energy supply company in the village to accelerate the take-up of energy saving behaviours and technologies within the village. This project will look at the feasibility of this approach and will develop a financial model, address the legal issues and establish initial relationships with the key partner organisations so that a pilot project can be run later in the year.

The North Howe Transition Toun – £92,755, April 2009
This Transition group will engage the community via door-to-door surveys, carbon foot printing and public consultation and training events on food, transport and eco renovation. There will also be community film and pub nights with visiting speakers, practical projects such as a bulk garden-supplies centre and community apple press, and feasibility studies to improve local footpaths, bike routes, and car sharing schemes.

Church of the Sacred Heart – £136,666, April 2009
The 100 year-old Lauriston Hall in Edinburgh’s West Port is a large city centre community space. The Climate Challenge Fund will help the Church of the Sacred Heart to introduce natural light and provide insulation to the ceiling, wall and floor, to reduce by up to 80% the carbon emissions of this elegant building.

Glasgow Steiner School – £56,350, April 2009
Glasgow Steiner School: Sustainability Strategies to reduce the school’s energy requirements – Feasibility Study and Initial Implementation.

Fife Housing Association – £35,668, April 2009
A feasibility study by Fife Housing Association into the energy potential from minewater lying below Kirkcaldy. If viability can be determined the latent energy will be developed in collaboration with Fife Council and ‘Renew Services Ltd’ to tackle fuel poverty and provide renewable energy to a wide variety of energy users.

Shandon Local Food Group – £22,530, April 2009
Shandon Local Food Group is a newly established community group which is seeking to reduce the carbon impact of the purchase, production and disposal of food in the Shandon area of Edinburgh. Phase one of the project is researching the current carbon footprint of food and developing innovative ways of assessing this alongside building community views of what works best to support local food.

The Energy Advisory Service on behalf of the North Harris Trust – £56,000, April 2009
The Community Carbon Challenge project will work with the residents of North Harris to achieve maximum energy efficiency in terms of Advice, Insulation and heating through a partnership with North Harris Trust and TEAS: The Energy Advisory Service

Lightburn Elderly Association Project – £115,797, April 2009
The Hands on Project' aims to deliver an energy efficiency and recycling programme aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the Cambuslang and Rutherglen areas. The community led project will work with older people to tackle a global problem at a local level.

Sustainable Energy Association Stonehaven – £12,400, April 2009
SEAS (Sustainable Energy Association Stonehaven) was established in January 2008 with the aim of developing income generating renewable energy projects in the town, as well as supporting energy efficiency initiatives where practicable. Income generated will feed into a community trust fund which can then be used as a source of funding for other projects in the future.

Here We Are (Cairndow) – £9,500, April 2009
Here We Are will conduct a comprehensive audit of all the 120 houses in the village and 10 significant commercial sites. They will collate the data from the survey, with an aim to identify how these premises can be improved in terms of energy efficiency; this will have a direct impact on the reduction of carbon emissions on a local, national and global level.
Pilmeny Development Project / North East Edinburgh Care Action Group – £3,460, April 2009
This project seeks to undertake a Community Consultation on the uptake of Energy Efficiency measures with older people and carers in North East Edinburgh (primarily Leith and Portobello). Through this work, we aim to raise older people’s and carers knowledge and awareness on how they can reduce their carbon footprint and address their concerns around fuel poverty. http://www.pilmenydevelopmentproject.co.uk/

Whitsome Village Hall Association – £4,977, April 2009
This award has been made for the Village Hall Association to explore means of supplying and running green electrical power to run the Whitsome Ark hall, which already has solar panels and ground sourced energy.

Milton Rovers Youth FC – £8,568, April 2009
The project by Milton Rovers involves the upgrade and refurbishment of this community facility with the aim of including energy saving measures to reduce carbon emissions and running costs. Any savings made will be re-invested to carry out further carbon reducing/energy saving measures in addition to reduced hire charges for facility users.

East Fife Allotment Association – £1500, April 2009
The East Fife Allotment Association seeks to create the opportunity for local people to grow their own fruit and vegetables. By doing so, not only will there be a contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions, but the communities are provided with permanent leisure amenities. The focus of this initial application to the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) will be to help the organisation achieve the necessary planning, legal and financial consents required to take the project to the development phase.

Woodend Bowling and Lawn Tennis Club – £3500, April 2009
The Climate Aware Woodend Project is an attempt to establish a model of good practice for other sports clubs to follow in carbon management. This model will then be promoted to other similar clubs allowing dissemination of good practice.

Callander Community Development Trust – £5000, April 2009
This project by the Callander Trust is expected to harness abundant supply of water and generate electricity to the benefit of the Community, by providing renewable energy and funds from the sale of electricity for the Community to invest into other carbon reduction projects. The grant will be used to fund a feasibility study to identify and cost the best location for the development of the Hydro Project.

Transition Edinburgh South – £7305, April 2009
Two community groups, Transition Edinburgh South and the Edinburgh Southside Energy Efficient Group aim to find to best way to transition to lower energy in two tenement streets in South Edinburgh. South Edinburgh householders will share their solutions and plan some more with the two groups.

Friends of the Earth Fife – £1800, April 2009
This project by FoE Fife will investigate the feasibility of establishing an environmental and community information/advice centre in Kirkcaldy. The scoping study will focus on public consultation, but will also investigate the practicalities of setting up such a centre.

Dalavich Improvement Group – £1540, April 2009
Dalavich Improvement Group, on the West coast of Scotland, has undertaken to reduce the carbon footprint of their village hall by at least 50%. Their solution is to use an Air recovery Heat pump system and significantly improve the insulation of the building’s external walls and windows.

The Organic Growers of Fairlie – £47,492, April 2009

More detail….

New national body for parents to be set up

Scotland’s education secretary is championing a “parent power” revolution which would see the setting up of a new national body to give families a stronger voice on school issues.

Fiona Hyslop said that, at a time of significant changes to the curriculum, it was vital parents had a greater say over policy developments.

Today’s call comes with the publication of a government-backed survey of parent councils across Scotland which showed overwhelming support for a new national body. Of the 500 parent councils who responded, 80% are in favour of change.

“It is extremely important that parent councils seize this opportunity to be heard at a time when Scottish education is undergoing its biggest reform in a generation,” said Ms Hyslop.

“The setting up of a new national parents’ body to represent their views would give parents a voice and contribute to the key decisions affecting the education of their children.

“Since parent councils were introduced in 2007, replacing the outdated school board system, more parents have been finding their voice. Now, however, is the time for a new national parent body to act as their mouthpiece.”

There was a mixed reaction to the call for change from the two existing parental bodies – the Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC), set up to represent parent teacher associations, and the Scottish Parent Councils Association (SPCA), which was founded to represent school boards.

Judith Gillespie, policy development officer for the SPTC, said there was no need for a single national body and that it was impossible for one organisation to represent the views of all parents.

“Parents in Scotland do not have one view of education. There are many different views and those views cannot be represented adequately in one single body,” she said.

“It is also important to stress that the role of a parent body is not to be a quasi government-backed body, but to be an independent organisation close to the grassroots.

“One of the primary motivations for this suggestion is the fact that the government has a statutory duty to consult with parents and having a single national body makes that easier – unfortunately, it does not guarantee parents any greater influence.”

However, she said that if change were required, the SPTC could form the basis of a new organisation.

Donald Gunn MacDonald, a spokesman for the Scottish Parent Councils Association, said his organisation was prepared to be dissolved under the right circumstances.

“If a meaningful representative body can be formed we see no future in continuing the dualism of the current system. We want to see elected representation from each of the local authority areas in Scotland running the new organisation, rather than the organisation simply being led by a few individuals.”

Ms Hyslop’s call follows legislation in 2007 which scrapped school boards and replaced them with parent councils which, in most cases, now incorporate parent teacher associations.

The feeling at the time was that the current set-up was not best placed to represent parents nationally and there were also fears that many parents – particularly in deprived areas – were not involved in the education of their children.

The Scottish Government will now invite representatives from all of Scotland’s parent councils to attend a conference in June to discuss how they can make the creation of a national parent body a reality.

More detail….

Launching the European Election manifesto

NCVO and the European Network of National Associations are launching their joint EU manifesto Connecting Civil Society  which has been written in partnership with major national umbrella groups in 14 countries and with recommendations from NCVO members.

The manifesto draws together the key views of national civil society organisations to promote a shared vision of the needs of voluntary, community and non-profit organisations across Europe.

Download the European Election June 2009 manifesto here

Author: Extract from The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 -

5. Engaging Community Bodies and other Public Bodies

Section 15(1 ) of the Act , requires local authorities, as facilitators, to consult and co-operate with community bodies and with other public sector bodies as appropriate in the Community Planning process. Section 15(2) also requires the local authority to invite and encourage community bodies and other public sector bodies within the local authority area to participate in Community Planning. Section 16(2) requires that those bodies required to participate in Community Planning assist the local authority in its role as facilitator. This section should be read alongside Best Value Guidance ( see also Advice Note 5: Effective Community Engagement for more information).

5.1 Engaging Community Bodies – What the Duty Entails

The effective and genuine engagement of communities is at the heart of Community Planning. There are a wide range of ‘communities’, some defined by geography (such as a neighbourhood or town), some by common or shared interests (such as young people or carers). The definition of ‘community body’ in the Act, section 15(4), is therefore deliberately broad in order to avoid excluding any particular communities.

This guidance sets out the framework and parameters for community engagement in the Community Planning process. Consultation alone is not sufficient to ensure effective community engagement. Community engagement in this context must involve consultation, co-operation and participation. It is the responsibility of the local authority, as facilitator of the Community Planning process assisted by organisations with a duty to participate, to take a view on the appropriateness of particular arrangements to their own particular circumstances.

Purpose of Engagement

In the context of Community Planning, the main aim of community engagement should be to improve the planning and delivery of services by making them more responsive to the needs and aspirations of communities. This will require the Community Planning partnership to seek the views of communities, but also to secure their more active involvement as partners in Community Planning.

It is particularly important that communities are engaged in the process at the local level as it is at this level that agencies can come together and work with their communities to address local problems and concerns in a way that cannot be achieved at a council-wide level alone.

It would be unrealistic to expect that the needs and aspirations of all communities be met in full, and Community Planning partnerships should be clear and explicit about this when engaging with communities. Genuine community engagement will, however, benefit decision making within spending bodies by giving an informed view of priorities.

With Whom?

Local authorities, in their initiation and facilitation of the Community Planning process, should consult and co-operate with a wide range of interests including:

·         Community and voluntary organisations, whether delivering services or representing a specific area or interest which may be locally based or, where appropriate, a regional or national organisation. This could include a wide range of bodies such as: young people and youth work bodies who already make a valuable contribution to the planning and provision of services through their involvement in youth forums and their active citizenship; environmental bodies, rural bodies, consumer bodies; sports and cultural bodies;

·         Community Councils fulfilling their role as representatives of their local area.

·         Equalities groups and interests ( see paragraph 10 on mainstreaming equalities).

·         Business, through representative organisations or businesses themselves.

·         Trade unions as representative and democratic agencies.

·         Professional interests.

Community bodies involved in the Community Planning process should operate in an open, democratic and accountable manner, and be clear about what interests they can or cannot represent. However, as facilitator the local authority should also engage with those individuals who would not normally participate (‘hard to reach’). The process should also be open to individuals who may not always form part of an organised or structured group.

Means of engagement

The ways in which Community Planning partnerships engage with communities should reflect the circumstances of their particular communities. For example, the structure and working practices of organisations and groups in rural areas will be distinct from urban areas and will require tailored approaches. However, there are some common requirements:

·         Community Planning partnerships should ensure that there are agreed criteria in place for the engagement of community bodies and that there is a process in place for systematic review of its approach to community engagement.

·         Representation of community interests on the Community Planning partnership is one means of engagement and this should be considered by partnerships as a potential option for engagement.

·         Community Planning partnerships should fully consider how more localised or neighbourhood Community Planning structures may feed into the Community Planning process in its area. The engagement of communities is likely to be most effective and meaningful at this level.

·         Consultation is important but so is feedback. Community bodies should feel that they have been listened to and that the partnership has taken account of their views. Community bodies should also be provided with information about the actions taken after consultation through transparency in the decision making process and in reporting ( see paragraph 11).

·         Consultation alone cannot provide a basis for effective community engagement. However, good practice in consultation can be used to help provide the basis for other forms of community engagement.

·         The voluntary sector plays a key role in involving communities and excluded groups, particularly at the local level. Local authorities and other Community Planning partners should ensure their skills are fully utilised (see Advice Note 5: Effective Community Engagement for further detail).

Adding Value

The engagement of community bodies in the Community Planning process should build on and enhance existing arrangements and partners should share existing good practice. There will inevitably be a degree of judgement on whether existing approaches are effective but, in line with the over-arching framework of Community Planning, there should be a presumption towards:

·         Using and/or building upon proven or successful representative, consultative or co-operative mechanisms already established e.g. councils of voluntary services, community forums, interest forums or community councils.

·         Complementing consultation and co-operative mechanisms already undertaken by individual organisations who are part of the Community Planning partnership.

·         Collective approaches by agencies comprising the partnership to engaging communities to help avoid consultation fatigue and overload.

To ensure Best Value in the use of resources methods used should be cost effective and be proportional to the issues being addressed and intended follow-up.

Supporting the Process

Building social capital – the motivation, networks, knowledge, confidence and skills – within communities should be an integral part of achieving more effective community engagement. Local authorities, in conjunction with their other Community Planning partners, should provide support to community and voluntary bodies to facilitate community engagement in the Community Planning process to those communities most in need. Support given should respect the independence of these bodies.

Community learning and development can play a central role in supporting the engagement of communities (including young people) in the Community Planning process. Draft guidance,Working and Learning Together to Build Stronger Communities was issued in January 2003 ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/walt-00.asp) and final guidance when launched will strengthen the link between community learning and development and Community Planning at all levels. Support will also be provided by Community learning and development partnerships to assist community bodies to develop their own ideas for their community including education and training support – this support will be targeted towards disadvantaged communities. Community learning and development partnerships provide one important means of engagement for Community Planning partnerships.

Local authorities, in fulfilling their duty to facilitate, and other bodies in a supporting role to local authorities, should also ensure they have the necessary skills and motivation to engage with community bodies.

Author: Government Economic Strategy

The Government is concentrating the whole of its purpose -through all its institutional apparatus -on economic growth. HIE, as one of the Government’s key delivery agencies, therefore plays a central role in advancing this agenda in the Highlands and Islands.

The Government continues to value HIE’s SC remit and wishes HIE to be involved in community development activity but it has re-aligned the institutional context within which HIE delivers the work. Creating stronger, more dynamic and sustainable communities is integral to the work of HIE and its activities in achieving GES objectives. These challenges are greatest in the fragile areas, but are also still to be found in rural parts of the H&I away from the main settlements. HIE’s SC activities contribute to the following GES strategic challenges:

• Economic growth -enabling social enterprises and stronger communities to foster growth
• Population -creating the conditions for talented people to live, work and remain in the area
• Solidarity (social equity) -developing social enterprises and an enterprising third sector to offer opportunities for those more distant from the workforce
• Cohesion (regional equity) -ensuring remote and fragile areas contribute to, and benefit from, economic growth
• Sustainability (inter-generational equity) -taking forward community renewable energy and other environmental initiatives.

As the Government’s enterprise agency for north Scotland, HIE will take a leadership role in promoting social enterprise. Whilst it is accepted that a healthy voluntary sector is vitally important in civil society, HIE can no longer be a lead player in supporting this activity, a task which will instead be carried by the Government itself, with local government and national sectoral bodies such as SCVO.

Policy Objectives

With GES clearly in mind, the following objectives for SC assistance are suggested:
• Asset development.
• The acquisition and/or enhancement of community-owned assets which have the potential to generate income.
• Building community capacity.
• Building the skills, confidence, leadership and infrastructure of communities so that they can maximise the income-earning potential of their assets, tangible and intangible.

These objectives apply to all rural communities, but we will focus our resources especially on the fragile areas, where disadvantage, peripherality, lack of local resources and constrained service provision are most keenly felt.

Policy Framework

The objectives above lead to the following proposals for a new policy framework:
• That every proposal is worked up so that it shows clearly how it will achieve GES objectives
• We will assume a proactive role. Every approval will be clearly targeted at new emergent or established social enterprise activity which has the potential to grow. This will mean that in many cases we will lead by making the first contribution rather than being the last brick in the wall.
• We will eliminate the very smallest grants, recognising that these are rarely directed at social enterprise activities, and acknowledging that resources in nearly all of our communities are comparatively greater now that in previous eras, and they have access to a wider range of external funding sources other than HIE.
• The emphasis will be on assisting community-based social enterprises, defined as incorporated open-membership voluntary groups. Assistance will be defined as assisting with the acquisition/enhancement of assets, and the building of capacity.
• Currently policy on capacity building will be retained and refined; current policy makes use of a series of capacity ‘credits’ which demonstrate that the community’s ability to operate is enhanced in some way by the award.
• Global approvals will cease
• We will draw a firmer distinction between fragile and non-fragile communities, and will provide preferential levels of interventions for the fragile area, as described below.

Fragile Areas

HIE will tackle the equity challenges of solidarity and cohesion through a new Growth at the Edge approach to generate economic growth and create the conditions for population retention and growth in the fragile areas. This will include the following elements:
• Differential rates of intervention. The minimum SC grant to assist the acquisition of income-generating assets with be £5k. While communities will be expected to make a contribution, the rate of HIE intervention will be governed by appraisal of additionality and displacement (while retaining compliance with State Aid regulations). Assistance for capacity building (feasibility studies, start up costs, marketing, R&D etc) will be assessed on a case by case basis, and can be upto 100% fundable by HIE intervention
• Continued programme of assisting communities to acquire land assets e.g. North Harris, S Uist, Assynt; and develop renewable energy initiatives which generate income e.g. Eigg, Gigha, and Tiree
• Targeted focussed proactive intervention, potentially through ‘community account management;, which we will undertake work to define
• Evolution of the Initiative at the Edge programme into a mainstreamed approach, in partnership with Local Authorities and CPPs
• Selective interventions to other public bodies projects where there is clear community benefit and genuine partnership working is in evidence
• Assistance to micro businesses where there is clear community benefit
• Development of innovative ideas such as low carbon islands, community “hubs”, development of new crofts and woodland crofts and delivery of services through digital technology.

Non-fragile areas

• Differential rates of intervention. The minimum SC grant to assist the acquisition of income-generating assets will be £10k. While communities will be expected to make a contribution, the rate of HIE intervention will be governed by appraisal of additionality and displacement (while retaining compliance with State Aid regulations). Assistance for capacity building (feasibility studies, start up costs, marketing, R&D etc) will be assessed on a case by case basis, and can be up to 100% fundable by HIE intervention.
• In smaller and more rural communities, assistance will be offered to communities wishing to acquire and develop significant income generating assets, such as land, community renewable energy projects, community buildings, and recreational/amenity facilities e.g. woodland management in Laggan; the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, renewable energy in the new community centre in Boat of Garten; mountain rescue HQ in Arran; multi- purpose community centre in Dalmally; community shop in Sleat
• Selective ‘transformational’ projects in the cultural and sports area e.g. Campbeltown swimming pool, An Lanntair in Stornoway, Fas centre for the creative industries in Skye
• In disadvantaged urban communities, in close liaison with Local Authorities in their delivery of Single Outcome Agreements, the establishment of social enterprises designed to promote sustainable social cohesion and participation e.g. COPE in Lerwick; Ness Soaps in Merkinch; Pultneytown People’s project in Wick.

We will no longer be assisting:
• Small grants as outlined above
• Social projects in larger settlements particularly in the Inner Moray Firth
• Ongoing revenue costs
• Repeat funding
• Good causes
• Non-revenue generating activity
• Small scale sporting and arts activity.

The effects of adopting these policies will be a clearer focus on social enterprise, and the contribution it makes to economic growth, population increase, and to solidarity, cohesion and sustainability Bearing in mind that the growth sectors within social enterprise are renewables, recycling, and food, often combined with providing access to the workplace for mentally or physically disabled people, we will develop sectoral approaches to working with these and other emergent key sectors.

Programme targets are also set to reflect the contribution which the activities will make to the achievement of the GES targets. The measures for the key
programmes are as follows:
2008/09 2009/10 2010/11
No of account managed social enterprises growth plans** 40 50 60
Increase in turnover in the social economy £m * * *
No of community groups supported to invest in renewable energy 20 25 30
Decrease in carbon dioxide emissions (tonnes) * * *

*Targets under development
**New each year

Guidelines

We will develop detailed guidelines for incorporating in the revised rulebook, which will include clear and agreed definitions of the terminology and the concepts underpinning the new SC approach.

John Watt/Chris Higgins
HIE, Strengthening Communities,
4/6/08

Cordale Housing Association recently received the CIH Scotland Excellence in Regeneration Award from Housing and Communities Minster Alex Neil MSP. The award sponsored by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration, part of the Scottish Government, recognises the invaluable role that housing organisations play in revitalising communities across Scotland by doing much more than providing good quality affordable housing.

Announcing the award winner at the CIH Scotland Annual Conference and Exhibition in Aberdeen, Cy Neil, Chair CIH Scotland said:

“Cordale Housing Association, based in Renton, West Dunbartonshire, has been a catalyst in improving the area and the lives and prospects of the people there. It has become a lead player in West Dunbartonshire in a number of social and economic development initiatives. These include the building and leasing out a much needed new supermarket site, but retaining ownership of the site to give the local community an asset for the future and more control over its own future. It also includes the building and owning of a Healthy Living Centre home to a much needed new doctors surgery and chemist. It has also just completed a 40 apartment extra care housing development. It has been active in supporting the Carman Centre which provides a range of social, learning and training facilities for the community. All of this has helped to create more than 50 jobs in area where employment opportunities been scarce. On top of all this Cordale has done what all housing associations do well, by building many new homes in the area for both rent and sale and refurbishing run down ones.

“Cordale is receiving the award today because it exemplifies how housing organisations can provide a holistic approach to regeneration and help the Government in the drive to improve people lives throughout Scotland. We are launching a new Action Plan later on this week at the conference which shows just how housing organisations can help the Government deliver regeneration in Scotland.”

In receiving the award Stephen Gibson from Cordale Housing Association said:

“We are obviously delighted to receive the 2008 Regeneration Award along with West Dunbartonshire Council and the Carman Centre. We’ve argued for a long time that building houses is only the tip of the iceberg. In order to deliver sustainable regeneration in Scotland and maximise opportunity, housing-led investment must be used as a catalyst for redressing the social and economic development issues that marginalise areas and communities”.

Thirty years ago Youth Work aspired to a special relationship with young people. It wanted to meet young women and men on their terms. It claimed to be ‘on their side’. Three decades later Youth Work is close to abandoning this distinctive commitment. Today it accepts the State’s terms. It sides with the State’s agenda. Perhaps we exaggerate, but a profound change has taken place.

This shift has not happened overnight. Back in the 1980’s the Thatcherite effort via the Manpower Services Commission to shift the focus of Youth Work from social education to social and life skills was resisted. In the early 90’s attempts to impose a national curriculum on the diverse elements of the Youth Service ground to a halt. However with the accession of New Labour the drive to impose an instrumental framework on Youth Work gathered increasing momentum. With Blair and Brown at the helm youth workers and managers have been coerced and cajoled into embracing the very antithesis of the Youth Work process: predictable and prescribed outcomes. Possessing no vision of a world beyond the present New Labour has been obsessed with the micro-management of problematic, often demonised youth. Yearning for a generation stamped with the State’s seal of approval the government has transformed Youth Work into an agency of behavioural modification. It wishes to confine to the scrapbook of history the idea that Youth Work is volatile and voluntary, creative and collective – an association and conversation without guarantees.

For many within the work this has been a painful period. For many there has seemed to be no alternative to making the best of a bad job. But History is an unruly character. In the space of only a few months everything has been turned upside down. Capitalism is revealed yet again as a system of crisis: ‘all that is solid melts into air’. Society is shocked into waking from ‘the deep slumber of decided opinion’. The arrogant confidence of those embracing the so-called ‘new managerialism’, which has so afflicted Youth Work, is severely dented. Against this tumultuous background alternatives across the board are being sought. We believe this is a moment to be seized.

Our contention is that we need to reaffirm our belief in an emancipatory and democratic Youth Work, whose cornerstones are:

• The sanctity of the voluntary principle; the freedom for young people to enter into and withdraw from Youth Work as they so wish.
• A commitment to conversations with young people which start from their concerns and within which both youth worker and young person are educated.
• The importance of association, of fostering supportive relationships, of encouraging the development of autonomous groups and ‘the sharing of a common life’.
• A commitment to a democratic practice, in which every effort is made to ensure that young people play the fullest part in making decisions about anything affecting them.
• The continuing necessity of recognising that young people are not an heterogeneous group and that issues of class, gender, race, sexuality and disability remain central.
• The essential significance of the youth worker themselves, whose outlook, integrity and autonomy is at the heart of fashioning a serious yet humorous, improvisatory yet rehearsed educational practice with young people.

Such a definition is at odds with much that passes for Youth Work today. But, as we have suggested, this is the time to challenge anew the new managerial attempt to make Youth Work the servant of the Market. To give some examples, we need to question:

• The shift from locally negotiated plans to centrally-defined targets and indicators.
• The growing emphasis on identifying the potentially deviant or dysfunctional young person as the centre of Youth Work’s attention.
• The increasing incorporation of youth workers into the surveillance of young people, perceived as a threat to social order.
• The insidious way in which delivering accredited outcomes, even if only on paper, has formalised and thus undermined the importance of relationships in the work.
• The distorting effect of identifying individuals as suitable and urgent cases for treatment and intervention, ‘to be worked on rather than worked with’.
• The changing role of the youth worker, from being a social educator to a social entrepreneur, submitting plan after bid after plan, selling both themselves and young people in the market-place.
• And finally, but not exhaustively, the delicate issue of to what extent professionalisation, hand in hand with bureaucratisation, has assisted the suffocating grip of rules and regulations upon the work and played a part in the exclusion of the volunteer, once the lifeblood of the old Youth Service [see Jeffs and Smith 2008: 277-283].

Of course it is easy to spout rhetoric on paper. Doing something solid with this analysis is another matter altogether. This is especially the case, given the very different settings occupied by youth workers today. Without doubt the space to duck and dive, to argue and criticise, varies enormously. Yet this very diversity lends weight to the proposal we would like to make, which is quite simply that we must come together to clarify what is going on in all its manifestations; to understand better how we can support each other in challenging the dire legacy of these neo-liberal years.

If we possess the wit and energy to do so, we will not be alone. Organised, dissident resistance is growing. Adult Education, devastated in the name of vocationalism, is reviving at the grass roots. The Social Work Action Network opposes managerialism and marketisation, the stigmatisation of service users . Closer to home the Federation of Detached Youth Work describes its members as neither social entrepreneurs nor social spies, but democratic educators. The National Coalition for Independent Action campaigns to reassert the autonomy of voluntary groups. The Youth Work unions are having to counter savage attacks, as in Coventry, upon young people’s provision and workers’ conditions. All such opposition offer the chance to ‘join up services’ under our own steam, under our control, on our and young people’s terms.

If you sympathise with and support the position set out in this Open Letter, we ask you to join with us and sign up to its intent. In doing so, you are not agreeing to some party line. There is so much to think through together. However, in doing so, you are lending your voice to what might be a radical revival of a form of Youth Work that wishes to play its part in the creation of a just, equal and democratic society.

Criticisms welcome, but if you feel able to put your signature to this Open Overture, please inform Tony Taylor mailto:tonymtaylor@gmail.com

Reference

Jeffs, A and Smith, M. [2008] ‘Valuing Youth Work’, Youth &Policy, 100:277-302.