Author: LPL

The Scottish Government’s housing policy consultation closed last month. Stewart Maxwell, the minister, has had some publicity for his oddly titled Firm foundations document. He made headlines when it was launched by suggesting the right to buy would be ended for council housing.

There was a further flurry about giving first-time buyers a leg up in ‘pressured’ housing markets. But what else has been squeezed into, or out of, this policy document has not been so readily revealed.

Start loosening the strings and no end of bits and bobs pop out. There is the ambition to increase housing output from 25,000 to 35,000 homes per annum in just over a decade. This target covers all housing tenures, not just social renting, so much use is made of the weasel word ‘affordable’.

What is quite remarkable about this ambition is that not only will there be more houses, but they will be built to a much higher environmental standard and be cheaper. How will this be achieved? Well, it’s not by throwing more public money at housing, as the recent tight spending round revealed.

The first solution is to free up the planning system -release more green belt. In case this does not appear very environmentally conscious, there is an odd reference to developing eco-villages. Perhaps the controversial developments by Donald Trump in Aberdeenshire and Donald Macdonald in Aviemore will be packaged in this way, but it’s a safe bet that any social housing will be omitted

The second approach is to bring local authorities in from the cold, by letting them build new houses. Hence, the ending of right to buy, but only for any new houses built. In the past, councils funded development from their own borrowing. Few could do that now, given the scale of outstanding debt. Extinguishing debt was why councils as diverse as Glasgow and the Borders transferred stock to housing associations. Those that could develop without subsidy are mainly north-east authorities, where the SNP is strong, but overall numbers would not be significant But why give authorities capital subsidies when most have no development experience? Better to leave it to housing associations.

But here’s where matters begin to unravel. Government is concerned that the cost of new rented housing by associations has risen some 20% in recent years. So rather than sticking with a large number of small local suppliers in distinct geographic or community localities, the SNP is proposing a Tescoisation of development, with only one housing association developer operating within one housing market area. Existing suppliers would not be funded, because they don’t cover such large areas and might fail to make the price offered, The gap would be filled by a handful of very large, asset-rich England based housing associations interested in expansion for its own sake. These organisations operate at a UK level, delivering a standard housing product, from Dagenham to Dundee.

Throwing the entire procurement system that is baby, bathwater and bath out the window is bold, but reveals a complete lack of understanding of the development process, and what is driving costs up. A senior civil servant, in addressing a recent angry meeting in Glasgow, put the savings expected at 3%, But the true cost will be the destruction of the world-renowned community- based cornerstone of Scottish housing renewal policy. How ironic would it be for an SNP government to preside over the destruction of the only truly significant innovation in Scottish urban policy, community-based housing associations and their locally focused regeneration activity?

If this was not bad enough, Firm foundations focuses overwhelmingly on the problems of housing supply in ‘pressured areas’, Yet in places such as Glasgow the problem remains one of quality. Previous attempts that focused solely on the procurement of cheap housing failed and in fact quickly became the focus of so much Scottish regeneration activity for the last 20 years. This agenda has been jettisoned, the ‘wider action’ elements of renewal forgotten, and a housing supply only agenda is put on the table.

More houses, and especially more rented housing. are needed but Maxwell does not have the money, nor I suspect the political commitment, to make this a priority. Providing a bung for a homebuyer in Stirling might get you a headline, opening the first newly built council house certainly will, but housing policy should be more than that. It’s about convincing sceptical colleagues that providing good quality housing for the poor, in a locally accountable way, is a priority. Supporting Scotland’s successful community- based housing association movement is a prerequisite. And it should also be about building on the successes of community-based regeneration.

Little wonder there are such homelessness, health and crime problems in certain parts of Glasgow and the west of Scotland given the quite atrocious housing and social conditions that persist. Is tackling this scandal not to be on the agenda of a new Scotland?

Author: LPL

BACKGROUND
Project: Scottish Land Fund (SLF).

Period of evaluation: 2002 to 2006.

Evaluating organisations: SQW and Land Use Consultants (LUC).

Evaluation commissioned by: The Big Lottery Fund.

Aims and outline of the project: The SLF made a total of £15 million available to fund the transfer of land and land assets to community ownership in disadvantaged rural areas of Scotland. The fund aimed to: improve opportunities for local people; encourage community involvement and participation; enhance environmental diversity and quality; and broaden land ownership. Funding was available for acquisition, technical assistance and development. A total of 251 grants were awarded to 188 community groups.

KEY LESSONS
Annette Pearson writes: This report’s key finding is straightforward: handing real powers to local communities can rapidly improve an area’s social and economic performance.

When assets were transferred into community control, disadvantaged rural communities felt empowered and motivated, the evaluation finds. This enabled the development of social capital, boosted cohesion, and helped strengthen communities through improved communication and a shared sense of purpose. Of all of the projects funded, the evaluation notes that only one “failed”: a very high success rate.

The evaluation makes it clear that development funding is critical if assets are to be utilised with any haste. Relying on voluntary effort will often result in a project making very slow progress, and thus any impact will generally only be achieved over a considerable period of time. Development funding is also crucial in providing a reliable source of income in the period before communities can begin to yield dependable revenue from their newly-acquired assets. The transition from grant funding to self-sufficiency needs to be carefully planned for, the evaluation found.

The evaluation also concludes that engaging schools in projects can be beneficial to both children and the project itself; and that the transfer of assets to a community tends to provoke a growth in membership of community groups. Where there was a major transfer of land – such as in North Harris and Gigha – there was equivalent, major growth in community spirit and social cohesion.

– Annette Pearson is a senior regeneration manager at the Black Country Consortium.
– Evaluation of the Scottish Land Fund is available via www.regen.net/doc

Author: LPL

BACKGROUND
In the context of the recent Spending Review, the Scottish Government announced the creation of a new fund aimed at tackling poverty and deprivation across Scotland. The Fairer Scotland Fund replaces a number of current programmes and funding streams. On an all Scotland basis the Fund totals £145m nationally per year for the next three years and will be part of the Local Government settlement. An allocation from the fund is to be made to each local authority area to enable community planning partnerships to work together to tackle area based and individual poverty; and to help more people access and sustain employment opportunities.

KEY PRINCIPLES FOR THE FAIRER SCOTLAND FUND
The Scottish Government considers the following principles crucial for investment of the Fairer Scotland Fund by community planning partnerships:-
• A clear focus on investment to address the causes of poverty, not its symptoms
• A strong emphasis placed on making early interventions for vulnerable individuals, families and disadvantaged communities
• Promotion of joint working between local partners
• Focused action on improving employability as a key means of tackling poverty
• Empowering communities and individuals to influence and inform the decisions made by community planning partnerships

The Scottish Government is very clear that not all deprived people in Scotland live in the most deprived areas. So, in recognition of the importance of individual deprivation, community planning partnerships will have increased freedom to invest in particular disadvantaged groups or individuals wherever they may live in order to tackle the root causes of poverty across the entire area. There will be no requirement to target a set proportion of their fund allocation for investment only in 15% datazone areas, as under current arrangements.

*the allocation is ringfenced for the first two years of the spending review period, in order to provide transparency and ensure that all community planning partners can play a part in driving strategic investment of these resources. However, it is envisaged that the ringfencing will be removed in 2010/11 as single outcome agreements are concluded with community planning partnerships.

Author: LPL

The announcement this week of a new initiative, to march under the slogan Inspiring Scotland, to invest between £70-100m in Scottish charities should help lift the spirits of a voluntary sector unsettled by the combination of a more restrictive public spending round and a new government with its own ideas about how to allocate public funds.

The fact that the initiative comes from the biggest single independent funder of the Scottish voluntary sector is an added bonus. Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland has earned a reputation as a sym- pathetic funder consistently responsive to the sector’s evolving needs and ambitions.

The publicity for the launch brands the initiative as an exercise in venture philanthropy. Charitable funding has its own fashions and venture philanthropy already has a slightly dated feel. It is often described as a product of the dotcom boom, as a wave of new American billionaires looked to reconnect with the social causes of their generation, and the collapse of that boom robbed it of some of its bloom. Whether the branding can with- stand the shock waves of the collapse of the dotcom boom’s successor in financial services is a moot point.

The well prepared supporting material which accompanies the launch provides an insight into Inspiring Scotland’s particular understanding of venture philanthropy. It is based on a strategic understanding of need -in this case the needs of Scotland’s 32,000 young people who are in neither work, training or education -and of the root causes of the problem. It involves a long term commitment of resources from a range of sources, from the charitable sector itself, the private sector and the public sector. The importance of government involvement is particularly emphasised ”as we’ll be able to deliver more for everyone by linking our work to local and national strategy”.

It will require the charities which it sup- ports to develop their structures and management processes to achieve long term sustainability. The development of sophisticated measures of success will be particularly crucial not least because it will “enable Inspiring Scotland to demonstrate its value to investors”.

Where will the annual £10m come from? There will be a modest contribution from TSB Lloyds Foundation itself. The Scottish Government has committed £3m annually for three years from its Enterprise and Learning budget. The balance of £6.5m is to come from other charitable foundations and individuals including presumably venture philanthropists. Without knowing how solid such commitments are it is impossible to ignore the precedent of another well publicised recent initiative, Project Scotland, which promised -and failed -to supplement a generous government commitment with equally generous backing from the private sector.

It is debatable how far Inspiring Scotland’s prospectus justifies the initiative’s promotion as an innovation in venture philanthropy. Its claim that it is the first initiative venture philanthropy to come from within the voluntary sector itself rather gives the game away. In fact the practical content of the prospectus reads more like a case for a strategic voluntary sector/government partnership led from within the sector but with private sector financial support and focused on maximising the long-term contribution of those voluntary organisations which can demonstrate most clearly the effectiveness of their approach. Anyone concerned for those missing 32,000 young Scots will wish the new venture success, whatever their scepticism about aspects of the promotion.

Author: LPL

Aline Community Woodland is the largest community woodland of its type in community ownership within Scotland. The land was acquired by the Erisort Trust from Forestry Commission Scotland in 2005 with support from the Scottish Land Fund. In the 1990s many of the trees had been destroyed as a result of an invasion of pine beauty moths. This created substancial areas of deadwood which tourists viewed as an eyesore.

The Trust however spotted a commercial opportunity as they began to clear the deadwood. A market has been developed for the logs as firewood and kindling. Demand for their product now outstrips supply.

However much of 625 hectares woodland was unaffected by the pine beauty moths and remains an area of remarkable beauty and rich in wildlife, fauna and flora. A detailed forest management plan has been developed which sets out the proposals for planting, improving access, wildlife interpretation, and education and recreational development. Five local people, who have been trained in all aspects of forestry required for the project, have been employed to manage the development work. Training and environmental education will continue to be key aspects of the Trusts work.

A combination of webcams and underwater cameras will beam live pictures of the areas of wildlife to visitors at specially designed shelters and hides. Traditional paths and bridal ways are being upgraded to allow pony trekking and mountain biking to develop. Safe water access is being provided to encourage water based sport. Plans are underway to build five star lodge accommodation for visitors.

The Erisort Trust has been able to develop their plans because of the strong partnerships it has built up with its funders :
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Western Isles Enterprise, Iomairt aig an Oir, Scottish Land Fund, Forestry Commission, Forestry and Rural Development Scheme, Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB

Author: LPL

Despite the planning officer stating his support for the application, the Tweeddale councillors were unanimous in their dismissal of the application. The only difference of opinion was the best way to reject it. Some wanted just to turn it down flat, the rest wanted to force the owners, Inverwest Ltd,. into remarketing at a realistic price. In the end, the latter option was selected, which is extremely positive news for the community. As even if we were to fail in our attempt to secure the Community Right to Buy through the Land Reform Act, when marketed at a realistic price, we know there are people out there who recognise the excellent business opportunity the Crook Inn represents.

It might be worth just putting the loss of the Crook into context, as not everyone lives in a small rural community, and might be wondering why such a fuss is being made over a pub.

Tweedsmuir is one of those rare places that still has a thriving and vibrant community. It’s usually a shock for new residents to move here and discover we do actually all know each other, and we do things as a community from Burn’s suppers to Curry nights, from Film shows to Tug ‘o’ war competitions. It has it’s disadvantages of course, everyone is interested in your business, and they say the Tweedsmuir gossip network makes the internet seem pedestrian in comparison. But the advantages of having a group of people who genuinely care about you and your family, and who you know you can rely on when things go wrong is something that is nowadays rare and valuable.
The community and the rural lifestyle it stems from is however under intense pressure. In recent years Tweedsmuir has seen the loss of it’s school, it’s shop, it’s post office, it’s public transport. As one of Tweedsmuir’s last remaining assets, the Crook Inn plays a pivotal role within the community as a meeting place, a place to have fun, a place to do business, a place of employment and training, a place to reinforce the ties of friendship that underpin our community.

So, when we say we want to save the Crook Inn, please realise that for us it’s much more than a pub, it’s an opportunity to turn around the fortunes of Tweedsmuir and start to rebuild what we have lost and what has been taken from us.

We have shown that Inverwest Ltd. have presented flawed and erroneous information in support of their application
We have shown that the so called marketing of the Inn was a complete farce.

We’ve shown that the Inn has and can be run profitably, and there are buyers willing to pay a fair price for it.
All of this has been ignored and the word of the owner taken without question by the Planning Department. Even the evidence they requested themselves has not been considered.

We are confused at how the Scottish Borders Planning department can come to a decision that seems to go so strongly against opinion and evidence. In the light of this and whatever the outcome of this application, we will be calling for an independent investigation of the way this application has been handled.

Author: LPL

The organisation came to be after a 2004 Scottish Enterprise project aimed at supporting Scotland to become a ‘leading digital nation’ revealed Howe of Fife communities were interested in embracing broadband technology and forming a ‘Smart Community’ within Fife.

Big Lottery Fund stepped in to support the project in 2007 and we are funded largely by them until 2009. It is our aim that the portal become financially self-sufficient in three years and we intend to sell advertising space to local businesses, as well as seeking funding from other sources to keep the site fully functioning.

What is a ‘Smart Community?’
A Smart Community is one that provides advanced communication and information infrastructure to enable residents and organisations make good and independent use of, and gain benefit from, advanced telecommunications networks (in this case broadband.)

Our Vision
To develop a community-sustained portal that will ‘knock your socks off’.

Our Mission
To create and develop a web portal that is a community-driven information source (i.e. information will be provided by the community for the community). The portal will be be relevant, responsive, accessible and meet the developing needs of our communities. It will also promote our communities to a global audience.

We will do this by working in partnership with key stakeholders, partners and providers. We will do this openly, honestly, responsibly and in the spirit of community.

Amongst other things, we hope the site will evolve to support and enable:
– easier access to information for local people
– business and economic development
– tourism development
– simpler delivery of public services
– learning, education and training
– preservation of cultural heritage and development of the arts
– a healthier community
– the administration of local government
Who are Smart Community Fife?
The organisation’s Steering Group is made up of committed Howe residents who believe the project will benefit the lives of all those living, working and playing in the Howe of Fife. The hard-working Steering Group are all volunteers who have committed much time and energy to the development of the portal.

http://www.smartcommunityfife.org.uk

Author: LPL

LPL believes that Scotland’s community sector should articulate its own independent position on community empowerment, but as yet our sector has no representative body. This position statement is offered as a contribution – as the basis for dialogue between the community sector and Scottish Government.

Download Position Statement here

Author: LPL

A long-awaited report into the capital’s Common Good assets fund found that the city council pocketed thousands of pounds meant for the people.

The report by officials to go before councillors at the end of the month came after an expert in common good assets – properties historically owned by the taxpayer and managed by local authority custodians – claimed around £20m worth of such land had been mishandled.

The investigation fund that £70,000 from the sale of such property at Granton Road, between 1996 and 2003, was paid into the housing revenue account rather that the common good fund.

The Council was told that the money should be repaid to the common good fund and it has also called for changes in the “management and accounting principles governing the common good fund”.

The investigation also found that the Council’s city chambers, The Meadows parkland and some roads, but not property across the Old Town, New Town, Leith and Portobello, are assets of the common good fund.

Andy Wightman, a recognised Scottish land reform expert, claimed that the former Waverley Market on the south side of Princes Street was transferred out of the common good fund by councillors in 1982 before it was replaced by Princes Mall shopping centre.

The centre has since been sold on, but it was estimated that if it had remained in the common good fund it could have earned millions in rent and still be worth around £20m as a capital asset.

However, the new report by the director of finance, Donald McGougan, said that the council of 1937-8 transferred the fruit and vegetable market from Waverley to East Market Street.

He said: “Accordingly Waverley Market ceased to be part of the common good at the time of the transfer of the fruit and vegetable market to East Market Street.”

The balance of the fund as at March 31, 2007, was £1.67m, which has increased from a balance of £0.88m inherited from Edinburgh District Council on April 1 1996.

Author: LPL

If this position statement is to provide the basis for consensus across our community sector, it will need to be improved and filled out by our supporters. In particular, the achievement of a comprehensive menu of Action Points is only possible with extensive input from front line activists.

Download Position Statement here