Democracy Matters: route map to reform

Annex A- What reform could look like

Below is an illustration of how strengthened community decision-making could support a new approach to the planning and delivery of public services over time. This is intended to be illustrative and will be further developed and tested as the Route Map is progressed.

• The community body that represents people in a local area agrees to oversee the development of a locally led plan. In some local areas this process might be initiated by the community council, or it may be led by local third sector organisations who are supporting community led action. They must establish robust and inclusive governance arrangements – bringing together all of the key anchor organisations and community representatives to oversee the process. If a local plan is already in place such as a Local Place Plan, Community Action Plan or similar this can be used for this process.
• Inclusive processes for participation and engagement are put in place, building on an exploration of local data to better understand who lives in the community and their known needs to ensure that barriers to participation are reduced.
• Outreach and engagement with a wide range of people, including focused efforts to reach people typically excluded from decision-making processes, will help to identify wider community needs and priorities to enable the development of a community-led plan for place.
• The plan is approved by the community, via petition of local residents with a set threshold of households needing to respond positively for the plan to be adopted.
• Communities with approved plans will have the right to ensure all relevant public bodies work with the community to support the process.
• All relevant public bodies will also be required to provide resources and practical support (both financial and in-kind) to assist the process – from helping to build links across the community and enable effective dialogue, to sharing information and building understanding about what might be practical to achieve locally and how it might be delivered – and where the limitations and challenges might be.
• Annual participatory evaluation events to allow the whole community to hold the community body and public sector partners to account on delivery with a joint progress update provided by the community body and relevant public authorities to ensure effective use of budget and allow adjustments to the plan.
• The community body will oversee delivery and work with the public sector to ensure transparent and accessible information is published showing what has been delivered, how it has been delivered, and what impact it is having on local outcomes.