Author: LPL

What is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?

CSAs are only one method of distributing local food, and integrate with other local circumstances. Typically many CSA farmers will also sell extra produce at farmers’ markets or to local shops. CSAs are also part of a wider range of community food and diet activities which include healthy eating campaigns, food access projects for health risk groups and low income families; school food growing projects; community gardens, etc.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a relatively new form of direct marketing of food, enabling small farms to remain in business through supplying a range of fresh produce to local households. The ‘member’ families commit to take a ‘share’ of the food produced on ‘their’ farm and to meet the real costs of having their food grown for them. The exact nature of CSAs depend on local individuals and conditions.

Structures

A number of models are possible including:

• Producer-led

A farmer grows one or more crops, and markets them to the members.
An example in the Highlands & Islands is Wester Lawrenceton Farm

• Consumer-led

A group of people find land, and employ a farmer to grow for them.
An example in the Highlands& Islands is Earthshare

• Network CSA

Several small producers get together to supply a range of produce.
An example in the Highlands & Islands is the Skye and Lochalsh Horticultural Development Association

Products

The CSA model lends itself to any number of products – indeed anything that is produced locally. Vegetable and fruit are the most common, but CSAs also exist for meat, eggs, dairy products, processed foods, firewood etc. The demand exists for locally reared meat, but regulations on butchering and the relatively few rural abattoirs have made it much more difficult to link producer and consumer directly.

Participation in CSAs

Some CSAs encourage members to help, e.g. with weeding or administration or distribution, in return for discounts. Some have special events, such as Harvest Day Celebrations. In most CSAs, the members have some say in what is grown. Many have educational materials as well, e.g. regular newsletters or recipes.

Production Methods

In some CSAs, the producer chooses, while in others the methods are open to negotiation. Some CSAs are organic, while others use organic techniques but without certification, and rely on trust without regulation.

Distribution

This depends entirely on local circumstances. Some CSAs require members to come to the farm, while others link to box schemes or rely on a limited number of pick up points.

Costs

On most CSAs the costs are agreed at the beginning of the year, so both consumer and producer know what to expect. Usually the consumers will pay in advance, or at stated regular intervals by standing order.

Author: LPL

Letter to Stewart Maxwell, Minister for Communities and Sport (note of meeting below)

John Swinney
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth
Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

20th June 2008

Dear Mr Swinney

Community Empowerment

Please find attached a short paper outlining our concerns about the approach to community empowerment now being followed by the Scottish Government and COSLA as described in the recent Government-COSLA Joint Statement on Community Empowerment. As you will see, we have some serious misgivings that the Joint Statement will not result in sufficient progress being achieved in respect of this important area of government policy.

Our reason for writing to you is to request a meeting with yourself and other relevant Ministers so that we can explain our concerns more fully. We have written to you because of your responsibilities for issues relating to the Third Sector although we recognise that specific responsibility for community empowerment lies with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. If you are prepared to meet with us, could your office liaise with Angus Hardie at Development Trusts Association Scotland who has agreed to coordinate arrangements on our behalf.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Local People Leading Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations
On behalf of:
Development Trusts Association Scotland
Community Woodlands Association
Community Recycling Network Scotland
Community Transport Association
Employers in Voluntary Housing
Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations

cc. Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
Stewart Maxwell, Minister for Communities and Sport

Where now for Community Empowerment?

This response has been written on behalf of a group of voluntary organisations which support the principle of the empowerment of Scotland’s local communities to urge the Scottish Government to take more and bolder steps on the journey towards community empowerment than is currently envisaged in its Joint Commitment to Community Empowerment with COSLA.

There is now a shared and long-standing political consensus about the importance of community empowerment as part of a long term strategy to support individuals and communities to take greater responsibility for their own futures whether as active partners in public sector programmes or as independent ‘civil society’ actors. A key part of the process of community empowerment is what is often called ‘double (or triple) devolution’ in which the devolution of legislative power is complemented by transferring new powers not just to local Councils but also to individual citizens and the local communities in which they live.

The political parties’ election Manifestos for the 2007 Scottish Parliament Elections appeared to confirm the enthusiasm among Scottish politicians for extending the spirit of devolution to citizens and local communities. The SNP’s manifesto was the most specific and included bold and radical commitments on issues such as community councils and the community ownership of assets. These commitments complemented pledges elsewhere in the manifesto to other empowerment measures such as extending the Direct Payment option for users of some public services and the promotion of community owned local energy production.

Against that background – while recognising the political constraints of working as a minority administration and that the Joint Commitment is a first step on a long journey – we are very disappointed by the very limited ambition and scope of the Joint Commitment and the accompanying outline action plan.

Of course, we welcome that the Scottish Government and COSLA have stated unequivocally that both see community empowerment as a key element of what they are about and their vision of community empowerment as a process where people work together to make change happen in their communities by having more power and influence over what matters to them. The Joint Commitment also gives some recognition to the importance of community capacity building and the community ownership of assets. However, it seems from the outline action plan that there are to be no additional resources for or new approaches to community capacity building; the commitment to an integrated programme to develop skills, learning and networking on community empowerment and engagement in practice only extends to engagement; and the development of support to help communities own assets extends only to assessing what might be needed to help them do so. Crucially, there is no reference in the Joint Commitment or the outline action plan to the devolution of power beyond local authorities to Community Councils or other bodies. We also understand that the Scottish Government has agreed with COSLA that there is no expectation let alone a requirement that local authorities should devolve funding decisions to Community Councils.

We believe that the Joint Commitment and outline action plan as they currently stand will be a huge missed opportunity if they do not do more to empower communities directly. We understand and support the importance of ensuring that local communities engage effectively with Community Planning and other public sector partnerships. However, we believe that such engagement will only be at its most effective when it is conducted by empowered communities which have the self confidence which comes from possessing their own powers of action and means of representation. Indeed, giving local communities a greater power to act on their own initiative is an essential pre-condition of strengthening local democracy to the benefit of local Councils as well as democracy at national level.

We are also concerned that without effective action to increase community empowerment and the social capital it creates, local communities will be unable to contribute to their full potential to the achievement of the Government’s key social objectives in local regeneration, anti-poverty programmes, local environmental programmes, health improvement programmes, and even to national empowerment initiatives. This will in turn mean that those objectives are much less likely to be achieved.

There is a wealth of experience and skills in the community sector in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK which would enable the piloting and implementation of a much more effective programme on community empowerment and engagement. Such a programme is justified not only in its own right but also to enable the Scottish Government to achieve wider political and social objectives. We have specific proposals on how to make such a programme a reality and wish to discuss how they can be incorporated into the work associated with the Joint Commitment.

Local People Leading Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
June 2008

———————————————————-
Notes of the meeting with Stewart Maxwell , Minister for Communities and Sport

LPL was represented by Angus Hardie (Development Trusts Association Scotland) Jon Hollingdale (Community Woodlands Association) and John MacDonald (Community Transport Association). Stephen Maxwell represented SCVO.

Purpose of the meeting was to set out LPL’s position on community empowerment to the Minister and to raise some concerns that we have voiced recently through the LPL Briefings regarding overall progress that is being made with this agenda.

We referred the Minister to LPL’s list of proposed actions that had previously been submitted for consideration and in particular focused our comments on the importance of community ownership of assets and the various proposals that we have made that would advance this agenda. In particular, we raised the issue of the transfer of assets to communities from local authorities or other public bodies at less than best value. Stephen Maxwell proposed that where a Council has deemed an asset as being surplus to requirements, there should be a presumption in favour of community ownership when consideration was being given to the subsequent disposal. Although this would not lead to asset transfer in all cases, having such a presumption in place would give a clear message that, all things being equal, this was the desired outcome and as such would reflect that the Government’s broad support for it. However the Minister was advised by the civil servants in attendance that this would not be practicable as a mainstream policy.

LPL argued that some clear signal from Government was necessary which would indicate the scale and scope of its commitment to the community empowerment agenda. While LPL recognises there are many in local government that are committed to genuine community empowerment, we also recognise that there are many that would prefer the status quo and indeed argue that current commitments to community planning and community engagement are synonymous with community empowerment.

The Minister gave assurances that the Scottish Government was fully committed to deliver on community empowerment and emphasised that local authorities were now signed up through the Concordat to play their part in implementing the Action Plan when it eventually comes out. The Minister said he expected to see the first draft of the Plan in the New Year and that it would be launched early in the Spring.

Author: Fablevision

SPARR – A gaelic word meaning riveting:
“Making an opening for joining together”

Fablevision , based in Govan, is the organisation in Scotland leading on creative approaches to regeneration based on the celebration of resources, skills and talents rather than fixing problems and tackling issues. With numerous examples of successful practice using what mainland Europe, the USA and Australia call “cultural planning”; with three successful years of running a learning network in partnership with the university of Strathclyde and with support
from both national government and the grass roots in communities throughout Scotland, Fablevision has almost succeeded in embedding the term “cultural planning” as a description for creative approaches to planning and policy within everyday language.

Almost, but not quite – there remains a lack of understanding in the “middle tier” of government at local authority and community planning partnership level as well as amongst conservative funding bodies like the Big Lottery Fund. Even here, transformation is occurring and there evidence of interest amongst various forward looking local authorities like Glasgow and the Western Isles.

“We’ve been encouraged to sell our training programmes to local authorities and community planning partnerships” says director Liz Gardiner. This is possible where local government already appreciates the potential of cultural planning approaches. The problem is that most don’t yet. We’re going to need a bit of support for a while until the approach is better understood”

In the meantime, the company is struggling to find support for its work from any quarter. In terms of community empowerment, Fablevision and cultural planning approaches are the “real deal” (Nicola Sturgeon speaking at the launch of SPARR). LPL will be monitoring the unfolding situation with Fablevision as a barometer of whether there is genuine commitment from our Scottish Government to local regeneration being led by local people. Our Deputy First Minister seems to have got the message. It’s a start.

Author: Naomi Alexander

Letter from Naomi Alexander
CREATE Consortium

I am writing to you as a supporter of the Community Allowance to let you know that we are writing an application for permission to pilot the Community Allowance through the DWP’s exciting new Right to Bid scheme. The Right to Bid was announced recently by James Purnell MP as a unique opportunity for the DWP to “explore innovative ideas from external organisations”; there are “are no constraints on ideas which can be proposed under Right to Bid”.

We want to hear from community organisations from across the UK that are interested in being part of the Community Allowance pilot programme.

We have developed a simple online form for organisations to complete by 12th December. This will enable them to shape our bid to DWP and they will automatically be added to the list of organisations interested in piloting the Community Allowance. We will get back in touch with all potential pilot partners in early 2009.

Please help us to spread the word by forwarding this email or including a version of it in your next email out to your members/community organisations you work with.

See website here

Author: BBC News

Several projects are being set up in Comrie, such as the development of allotments and tree planting at the old Cultybraggan prisoner of war camp.

A street-by-street home insulation project is planned and a local transport scheme is being developed.

Villagers are also urged to think about their energy use and shopping habits.

It is estimated that £300,000 of savings could be made by the village in one year by becoming more energy efficient and it will reduce CO2 emissions by 1,350 tonnes.

The Comrie Development Trust has received almost £300,000 from the Climate Challenge Fund, which is backed by the Scottish Government and the Green Party.

Alan Caldwell, from the Comrie Development Trust, is sure local people will get behind the projects.

He said: “The various ideas – from community composting, and wormeries, and car sharing, and shopping locally, have all come from within our community, either individuals, or businesses, or through the community meetings and now our job is to see how much people will actually commit to making these things happen.

“The particularly exciting bit of the Comrie Carbon Challenge is this house-by-house energy insulation programme. So we’re, over the next however many months, going to organise audits in every single house that wants one in Comrie and then organise a village-wide insulation and energy efficiency programme.

“So hopefully that will dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the village as a whole.”

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has been visiting the village.

“This project is enormously wide-ranging and there is much for the people of Comrie to be proud of,” he said. “Such a radical move represents commendable action and there is much to be learned from their innovation. The street-by-street home insulation plan is particularly striking, cutting carbon emissions and helping residents make significant savings on their heating bills.”

Author: Dr Madhu Satsangi, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling

Can I offer a comment on the apparent contradiction you note in Nicola Sturgeon’s speech and the direction of HA funding?

Thanks to the Brown/Darling ‘settlement’ of the Scottish budget 2008-11, the name of the game in HA funding is efficiency, hang community development. And funding decisions have been based on acceptance of ‘research’ from south of the border which purports to show that bigger organisations are necessarily more efficient than smaller ones.

In fact, despite the English Government and its agencies’ numerous attempts to prove this, there is no convincing relationship. Work that Ken Gibb and Tony O’Sullivan did for SFHA shows, as does work that I and colleagues did for the previous Executive, that much more depends on circumstance. You quite rightly say that views need to be challenged: so does the ‘evidence’ behind those views.

I hang on to the hope that SNP ministers don’t want to sacrifice one of the most effective approaches to community development Europe has seen in the past 30 years, rather that they have been misled and their hands tied.

If you’ve got the time, have a look at this document and this one

Author: Hazel Blears

Hazel Blears` Speech to Hansard Society
November 2008

My white paper ‘Communities in Control’ contains the central argument for a redistribution of power, and for a flowering of new ways of political participation, including on-line, but also through a revived local government and greater control over local services.

If you’ve read the white paper you’ll know I make it clear that it is merely the staging post on a longer, further-reaching journey of democratisation of the British state.

I agree with the Prime Minister when he told the NCVO last year:

‘I want to see a vibrant reformed local democracy, from neighbourhood level engagement, community calls to action, a renewed focus on the devolution of powers and responsibilities to local government, the accountability of our police, our healthcare services to their communities. In this way people can connect neighbourhood meetings, local ballots and elections and new forms of community action for decision making and the exercise of power over issues they care about in their daily lives.’

We need a devolved state, with democracy a daily activity, not a once every five years cross in a box.

The modern state must therefore be devolved, decentralised, and dedicated to giving people the power to take on an increasing share of the responsibility for their own lives, and authorship of their own destinies.

This creates challenges because people, groups and institutions with power are seldom pleased to relinquish it. You can hear echoes of the men who opposed the extension of the franchise, or votes for women, in those voices who today argue that people cannot be trusted to use power wisely.

But we have our own echoes. We have Tom Paine, Robert Owen, William Morris and GDH Cole. Within the British socialist tradition is a rich vein of advocacy of self-government, bottom-up campaigning, workers’ control and co-operation which stands in relief to the tendency of mid-twentieth century socialists who placed their faith in monolithic national institutions, administered by benign bureaucracies.

Increasingly, modern society, in all its variegation, granularity and complexity, is best served by a decentralised, democratic state, and public services best run from the bottom up. The days of the centralised state, even in this unlikely age of nationalised banks, are numbered!

We are experiencing an explosion of information, technology and communications. When Labour was first elected no-one had seen facebook, heard an i-pod, or used Google. A computer sat in an office, a phone on a desk.

Today, people expect to be in control. They expect choice as standard. They expect personalisation in every aspect of their lives, from the music they listen to, to the healthcare they receive.

So a state which can only supply one-size-fits-all products and services, which has no entry-points for the citizen is doomed to fail to meet the rising expectation of its population.

So to conclude, for all the problems our politics faces, we have the solutions if we address the three-Ps of political culture, people and power.

It will take some tough choices and strong leadership, especially when it comes to giving power away. But I remain confident in the capacity of the British people for self-determination and self-government, in our political culture to be rescued from cynicism, and therefore in the prospect of Britain to continue its journey towards popular democracy.

Thank you for listening.”

Response from Alasdair McKinlay

Dear Laurence,

In last week’s bulletin you said that the Scottish Government had charged COSLA to come up with proposals on how citizens should be empowered. A similar statement appeared in a recent edition of Newstart magazine. This is a misconception that I’m keen to clear up for your readers.

In the spirit of the concordat, the Government is working closely with COSLA as part of the development of the community empowerment action plan that will be launched early next year. We were very encouraged that as part of that joint working COSLA themselves took the decision to set up a Community Empowerment working group of senior elected members. This signals for us how seriously Local Government are taking the agenda.

As you also know, we have been very keen to solicit ideas and suggestions on community empowerment from the third sector and we were very pleased that Local People Leading took the time to offer a range of suggestions. It was very encouraging that the last meeting of the COSLA working group considered and were supportive of a range of ideas from LPL on how to support communities to own assets. I am also very encouraged that LPL are represented on COSLA’s working group and have the opportunity to feed in their views to the debate direct to elected members.

This kind of close joint working between Government in Scotland – national and local – and our colleagues from the community and voluntary sectors is new and challenging. There may be times when we don’t get everything right. But the Scottish Government is clear that it is the only way forward to develop this complex and exciting agenda, and we look forward to continuing to work with the representatives of community groups as we take the debate forward.

Alasdair McKinlay
Scottish Government

Scottish Government accused of ‘lethargy’ over empowerment, new start, 15.10.08

Third sector leaders have accused the Scottish Government of being lethargic about community empowerment, claiming ministers would rather people were ‘passive and compliant’.

In April ministers and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities pledged to work together on a community empowerment action plan to provide capacity-building programmes and help residents acquire assets.

Although the plan is not expected until early next year, community leaders say progress has become ‘invisible’ and they fear it will be forgotten unless more pressure is put on ministers.

Local People Leading (LPL), a community sector coalition comprising the Development Trusts Association Scotland and social enterprise network Senscot, this week said the action plan’s announcement ‘was light on detail and didn’t commit any party to do anything they couldn’t reasonably argue they were doing already’.

‘It’s a starting point but there’s still a big question mark over just how much genuine commitment there is towards community empowerment.

We need to get some indication, both from local government and national government, that there is real enthusiasm and commitment for this agenda.’

LPL spokesperson, Angus Hardie, said the situation contrasted with England where there have been recent announcements, including details of a new asset transfer unit last month and July’s empowerment white paper.

LPL said Scotland’s action plan should include a new asset transfer fund for councils to help them refurbish properties for transfer to community ownership.

It also called for a national capacity-building programme, investment in community-led organisations in the poorest areas, and extra training for community development workers.

Laurence Demarco, founder director of Senscot, said the Scottish National Party (SNP) did not understand community empowerment.

‘The SNP is no less “municipalist” than the previous administration. They think the council should do everything and control everything and the community should be grateful recipients. They want a passive, compliant and grateful population,’ he said.

Details of the plan will be announced ‘in due course’, according to the Scottish Government.

A spokesperson said: ‘Scotland is in many respects ahead of England on this agenda, for example, in the fact that we have developed national minimum standards for community engagement, which have just been the subject of a very positive external evaluation.’

Author: David Stewart (SFHA) Scotregen

Like many of the members we represent, the SFHA recognises the importance of regeneration and social enterprise in building sustainable, balanced and successful communities. Earlier this year we published Making Places Work, a piece of research that reviewed successes in the Housing Association sector to date while looking at opportunities for the sector to develop its role in community development and social enterprise. There are many excellent examples of social enterprise in the Housing Association sector, for example -Ore Valley are developing a community energy project in Cardenden, Cordale have developed amenities for their community in Renton and Cunninghame provide training and employment opportunities in North Ayrshire .At the same time the SFHA are involved in discussions with the Scottish Government with the aim of introducing flexibility in phasing and in funding on large scale regeneration projects -we are aware that the credit crunch could have a major impact on mark led regeneration and are seeking in the longer term to develop a solution to prevent the affected communities from suffering.

Firm Foundations

While the SFHA believes that social enterprise and community regeneration is a major role for associations both now and in the future, a key theme of the present Scottish Government has been to promote an Efficiencies Agenda. Through ‘Firm Foundations’, the revision of Housing Association Grant assumptions and now the Housing Investment Reform Project the message has been clear – the government wants to see more houses built to meet need and promote sustainable economic growth, but the current economic climate means that any increase will have to be delivered through the same amount of grant funding. While the SFHA has expressed concern regarding possible impacts of the revised grant assumptions and the efficiencies agenda promoted in Firm Foundations, it is clear that the Scottish Government is determined to move forward on this basis, with regional competition where consortia can bid for housing association grant over a 3 year programme.

Significant concerns

This begs the question, what effect might the efficiencies agenda have on Housing Associations involvement in social enterprise, and what can the SFHA and its members do to positively influence the direction of Investment Reform? An initial analysis of the likely impact of an efficiencies agenda seeking better value for the public purse suggests that there could be several significant concerns for the sector:
* Danger of rents rising to fund higher private loans, leading to tenants being caught in a benefits poverty trap
* Reductions in quality and energy efficiency to lower capital costs
* Housing Associations, with their resources squeezed to fund higher loans, focus on their “core business” of developing, managing and maintaining houses and partially withdraw from social inclusion and social enterprise agenda.

Positive signs

Were any of the above to come to pass it would be a huge set back, and that is why it is crucial that Housing Associations and other bodies involved in social enterprise and community regeneration work to influence the Scottish Government to ensure that the importance of sustainable communities is at the heart of the investment reform process. While it is early days, with a consultation paper on Investment Reform not expected until the end of November, the signs so far have been relatively positive. Having been criticised for its consultation on the new grant assumptions, where many responses registering concerns failed to change a single aspect of the proposals, the Government has been very willing to engage with associations, hear their views and listen to their concerns. Officials have also emphasised that they wish to avoid sharply increasing rents or drops in building standards.

The government agreed to the SFHA:s suggestion to run 6 regional seminars seeking association’s views on investment reform ahead of November’s consultation paper. The impression given at the seminars was that the government has an open mind on exactly how investment reform should take shape. Some of the key points made at the seminars were relevant to the social enterprise agenda, with a couple of associations suggesting that if the competitions contained the right criteria, there could be an opportunity to expand social enterprise by the sector -for example, points could be awarded for social enterprise proposals in bids or community benefits clauses could be included in construction contracts, in line with the pilot Community Benefits in Procurement schemes.

Clearly, the Investment Reform project represents a radical change in the way that housing association new builds are funded. It is vital that the Housing Association sector, and its colleagues involved in social enterprise and community regeneration, influence the shape of the reform to ensure that it furthers, rather than reduces, social enterprise in Scotland. To this end it is key that we become involved in, and help to shape, the debate.

Author: LPL

List of LPL Supporters
http://localpeopleleading.co.uk/supporters.php

Ian Cooke
As a community development worker, Ian Cooke has worked with communities within regeneration / partnership contexts for over 25 years (both in the West and East of Scotland) and has practised community development from both the statutory and voluntary sectors.

Since 1994, Ian has been the Manager of the Pilton Partnership, the strategic community capacity building organisation within successive regeneration / social inclusion initiatives in North Edinburgh. In addition to supporting community engagement, the Pilton Partnership was responsible for initiating, and developing a range of community based services which reflected community identified needs and priorities. In 2007, the Pilton Partnership became a community development trust.

Previously posts have included Senior Community Education Manager in Craigroyston Community High School, Community Development Worker in Muirhouse (Edinburgh) and Community Development Worker in Howwood Road, (Johnstone).