Could more power for Community Councils reform local democracy? - New report by Reform Scotland, 15 June 2012, with introduction by Bob Gillespie of Voluntary Action Perthshire 

Dear All,

The following is an article which appeared at the end of last month in Third Force News, the newsletter for the voluntary (or “third”) sector produced by SCVO (the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations), in which local Community Councils may be interested.  The line seems to be, in a nutshell, “more power to your elbows, Community Councils!”.

“Could more power for Community Councils reform local democracy?

LOCAL democracy could be rejuvenated by transferring more powers to community councils.

Independent think tank Reform Scotland said the move would encourage more people to get involved in politics in their area.

The call comes in a wider report by Reform Scotland, titled Renewing Local Government, which also includes controversial plans to reduce the number of local authorities from 32 to 19.

The report argues that the poor turnout at the recent council elections highlighted the need for more decisions to be made at a local level.

The Scottish Government has now set up a working group to look at the issue.

Reform Scotland wants more powers, including fiscal powers, devolved to local authorities and says this in turn would allow them to hand greater responsibilities to community councils.

However, a survey last November found a fifth of community councils in Scotland had been disbanded due to lack of interest.

Of the active community councils operating across the country, nine out of 10 were uncontested and formed without elections, says Reform Scotland.

This has been exacerbated by funding cuts, the latest casualty of which is the Association of Community Councils in Scotland (ACCS) itself.

The body is currently in administration leaving the country’s estimated 1,200 community councils without lobbying support.

But with more responsibility the think tank argues that community councils would be better organised.

Chairman of Reform Scotland, Ben Thomson, said: “The turnout at the 2012 local elections, the low level of contested community elections and the indications from our own survey suggest a very real problem in attracting interest in local government in Scotland.

“People instinctively know where real power resided, and at this point in time there is little power residing at a local or community council level.

“If we want to rejuvenate local democracy, we need to give the electorate a reason to get involved.”

In its survey Reform Scotland carried and received feedback from almost 100 community councils, across 24 local government areas.

About 80 per cent of those who gave feedback said they had experienced problems filling vacancies. Half believed more powers would help improve that situation.

And 44 per cent did not think their views were taken into account by local authorities.

It also asked those involved in community councils about how more volunteers could be attracted and what kind of improvements could be made.

Respondents called for greater responsibilities, better publicity, and more training and resources.

Betty Hall, current chair of Halbeath Community Council said the two previous councils she was involved with disbanded because of lack of volunteers. Council interference and red tape made decisions almost impossible, she said.

“Community councils make decisions affecting the local area but they often need to be ratified by the local authority, even when the issue might be better resolved locally.

“Local authorities could achieve much more by divesting responsibility onto the communities it serves yet there still remains a lot of reluctance to do so.

“Above all else this would make it easier for local authorities to concentrate their time on bigger issues, knowing that, at the local level, communities were being managed by themselves.”

The Scottish Government has established a short-life working group on the future of community councils. It is due to report later this year.”

Bob Gillespie

Development Officer,

PKAVS Community Engagement

(Voluntary Action Perthshire)

 

Tel 01738 452210 (DD)  01738 567076 (reception)

Bob.Gillespie@pkavs.org.uk            www.vaperthshire.org