Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 - part 3 participation requests: findings report review

1. Introduction

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (the Act) came into force on 24 July 2015 providing a legal framework to promote and encourage community empowerment and participation by creating new rights for community bodies and placing new duties on public authorities. The Act has 12 parts, 11 of which include a mix of legislative drivers at various stages of implementation and delivery. Part 12 makes general provisions in relation to the Act and guidance developed for each Part of the Act has been published in accordance with Part 12.

On 7 September 2021, the Scottish Government committed to reviewing the Act in the Fairer, Greener Scotland Programme for Government 2021-2022 which stated:

“We will review the Community Empowerment Act, to consider how local communities can have more of a say over how local public assets are used – whether that is taking on the ownership or management of land or buildings, delivery of services to members of their community, or more say in how services are delivered, assets are used and resources are allocated.”

The review was launched by then Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth on 21 July 2022 and work on the review was undertaken between August 2022 and October 2024. Two parts of the Act were extensively reviewed: Part 3 Participation Requests (this report), and Part 5 Asset Transfer (separate report available). A Findings and Update Report for the Act as a whole is also available which provides a summary of parts 3 and 5, an assessment of Part 2 Community Planning, and an update on the other eight parts of the Act.

This report provides findings from a review of the use and impact of participation requests by public authorities and community organisations. The report also assesses whether an appeals or review mechanism for participation requests is required. Findings will help inform what practical or statutory updates might be required for participation requests to further empower communities.

1.1 Policy Context

Part 3 Participation Requests came into force on 1 April 2017 and provided a legislative route to enable community groups request to have greater involvement in, and influence over, decisions and services that affect their lives. Participation requests were designed as a way for communities to proactively initiate dialogue with public authorities around improving public services. They do not replace existing participation mechanisms but provide a potential route for community groups to strengthen their involvement in other processes. The legislation is a useful framework to inform all engagement, in that it promotes dialogue, has a focus on improving outcomes, improves collaboration and transparency and is co-produced with a focus on addressing inequality.

Participation requests can be made by community organisations to public authorities which are highlighted in Schedule 2 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. As defined by the Act, the term used for community organisations is Community Participation Bodies and the term for public authorities is Public Service Authorities. There are currently 77 Public Service Authorities in Scotland on the list and this is available at Annex A. Both the Community Participation Body and the Public Service Authority must complete an Outcome Improvement Process that will help improve the outcome set by the Community Participation Body and achieve the aims of the participation request. Participation requests have been used for a variety of purposes including community participation for pier safety issues, local road improvements, local service delivery, and improvements to community halls.

In 2018, the Scottish Government commissioned a three year independent evaluation of participation requests which was undertaken by Glasgow Caledonian University. This was required by Section 33 of the Act which stated that Scottish Ministers present a report to the Scottish Parliament on the operation of participation requests within three years of Section 22 of the Act coming into force. The report had a particular focus on the need for an appeals or a review process, as Section 30 of the Act includes the ability to introduce an appeals or review process for participation requests decisions by Public Service Authorities, in the future, should this be required. To meet this legislative requirement outlined in Section 33, a Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 – participation requests: evaluation report was prepared and finalised by 31 March 2020 and subsequently published in April 2020.

This evaluation found that in the first three years of implementation, participation requests had helped to build improved communication between Public Service Authorities and communities and provided a means for communities to have more influence in decision-making. The report made a number of recommendations including a focus on better promotion and engagement, in particular with less advantaged communities, and an improvement in monitoring and tracking of the results of the Outcome Improvement Process. The evaluation found that the possibility of introducing an appeals process should be explored and aspects of how this could work investigated. It noted that the need for a potential appeals process should be kept under review.

Part 3 of the Act was also considered by the previous session of the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee in 2021 as part of their post legislative scrutiny of the Act. The Committee noted in their Community Empowerment: Taking Stock of Participation Requests and Asset Transfers Four Years On report which was published on 26 February 2021 that there were low number of requests being made to Public Service Authorities and recommended that work was needed to make the process feel more real for communities and raise awareness of the participation request process. The committee recommended the Scottish Government worked with Public Service Authorities and COSLA to ensure communities are aware of their rights to challenge and influence decisions and services, and to remind Public Service Authorities of their annual reporting responsibilities.

1.2 Participation Requests Support

To help Community Participation Bodies and Public Service Authorities undertake participation requests, the Scottish Government published Participation Requests statutory guidance in 2017 which is designed to support effective and consistent implementation of the legislation. It sets out the whole participation request process and focuses on the points each party has to take, including guidance for Community Participation Bodies on completing requests and for Public Service Authorities on receiving requests. Public Service Authorities are required under Section 34 of the Act to have regard to this guidance in carrying out their functions regarding participation requests. In addition to Statutory Guidance, the Scottish Government commissioned SCDC^[1] to support the participation requests process.

Since 2015-2016 the Scottish Government has funded SCDC to work with Community Participation Bodies and Public Service Authorities to increase awareness, understanding, and implementation of participation requests including responding to a number of recommendations in the Glasgow Caledonian University and Parliamentary Committee reports to improve the participation requests process. This funding has enabled SCDC to create a Participation Requets resource pack guide, ‘One Piece of the Puzzle: Participation Requests’ and a Participation Requets frequently asked questions resource.

Glasgow School of Art School of Innovation and Technology (SIT) produced a Participation Requests Toolbox which includes online resources to make participation requests more accessible for Community Participation Bodies.