“Absence of empowerment” in Bill – SCVO

The Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment Bill is watered down and lacks any real empowerment, according to the umbrella body for voluntary organisations in Scotland.

Consultation on the new law has officially been launched, with the Government claiming it will strengthen and nurture participation; and encourage enterprising community development.

However, writing in a blog for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO) website, policy officer Felix Spittal said reading through the consultation was a dispiriting experience.

He said: “Whilst recognising that legislation is not the best route to empowerment, I’ve always felt there were legislative routes worth pursuing.

“Sadly, even the most cynical person couldn’t have predicted the absence of empowerment in the Community Empowerment Bill.

“What we have been presented with is a document stripped of many of the interesting ideas put forward in initial consultations, while those that remain are watered down and compromised.”

He added that the section devoted to proposals for strengthening community planning was “uninspiring” and has “little to do with empowering communities”.

He said: “The proposals outlined are public sector priorities that are concerned with tightening up procedures and imposing duties – not what we wanted to see from this Bill.

“On the positive side, the land reform element offers a tangible link to empowerment. These proposals could work well because it links to financial backing from the Scottish Land Fund and political commitment provided by the target of one million acres in community ownership by 2020 – so, with any luck, we might see increases in community ownership of land as a result of this Bill.

“However, even with the positive element of land reform, it is clear that the general direction of this Bill has shifted. Local authorities and other public bodies have exerted their influence and successfully opposed any real transfer of power. This has resulted in the offer to communities becoming little more than a few patronising ‘rights to request’. This isn’t good enough and won’t be accepted by many in the third sector.”

Launching the consultation, Local Government Minister Derek Mackay said the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill is about people and communities taking their own decisions about their future.

He added: “This will build on the support of the Scottish Government, set out by the First Minister in the Lerwick Declaration, for subsidiarity and local decision making.

“The Bill will help community groups to take over public land and buildings where they think they can make better use of them than their current public sector owners. This Bill will also reform the community right to buy, giving urban communities in Scotland same rights as rural communities, where it is in the public interest.”