Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 - part 3 participation requests: findings report review
This review of Part 3 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 presents and synthesises findings on the use and impact of participation requests since their introduction in 2017. It additionally considered whether an appeals or review mechanism for participation requests was required.
Annex D
SCDC Report Recommendations: Strengthening Participation Requests: Evidence-Based Improvements
1. That the proposals for improved principles for the Act as a whole and participation requests in particular should be endorsed by ministers, quickly refined, and finalised by the Participation Request Working Group and implemented.
2. That the recommendations in relation to refreshing and further developing statutory guidance should be endorsed by Ministers and used as the basis for a relaunched guidance for the Act and expectations on public agencies to comply with these reinforced.
3. That the systems of local reviews suggested in the reports should be endorsed in principle by Ministers, finalised by the Participation Request Working Group for testing in the coming year in up to three sites with full implementation in 2025/2026.
4. That a commitment in principle to national level appeals suggested in the report should be endorsed by Ministers, and that work continues in 2024/2025 to further consult and engage with stakeholders to develop a workable approach to implementing this in 2025/2026.
5. That discussion with Scrutiny bodies e.g. Audit Scotland or His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education should take place to explore the role they could play in supporting compliance with duties to implement the system of participation requests.
6. A new duty on all Public Service Authorities should be introduced to compel Public Service Authorities to respond to Scottish Government requests to complete the annual reporting template. This should be annually analysed, published by the Scottish Government, and used as a framework for monitoring compliance and learning from implementation on an ongoing basis This duty should be included in refreshed regulations and guidance system.
7. Scottish Government, and its wider partners in Scottish public service scrutiny bodies must lead enhanced promotion, advocacy for the use of participation requests and scrutiny of how Public Service Authorities are implementing the duties to support them.
8. As regulations and guidance are reviewed, clarification should be provided on how Community Participation Bodies can use participation requests to initiate discussion about services provided by joint service structures not currently identified as being subject to participation requests. These include Community Planning Partnerships, Integrated Joint Boards for Health and Social Care Partnerships and arm’s length organisations providing public services such as libraries.