New powers for Scotland’s communities

Consultation on a new law to give communities more power was officially launched by Local Government Minister Derek Mackay today.

The Scottish Government said the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill was designed to strengthen and nurture participation and encourage enterprising community development.

Communities will be able to identify and ask for any public sector land or buildings that they feel they could make better use of than its current owner.

Local authorities will also have a duty to provide allotments linked to and triggered by actual demand and to protect permanent allotment sites from closure. Where current allotment provision is not sufficient to satisfy demand, the local authority will be under a duty to keep waiting lists below a specified target whether by acquiring land or otherwise.

The Bill will contain new duties to strengthen community planning, so public sector agencies work as one to deliver better outcomes.

Views will also be invited on how local areas might benefit from legislation to improve the national and local focus on improving outcomes.

Mackay said: “Scotland’s people are its greatest asset and it is only with the confidence that comes with independence that people will be able to fully determine their own futures. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill is about people and communities taking their own decisions about their future.

“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.

“Rules on Scotland’s allotments will also be simplified. Allotments foster a community spirit and provide a range of benefits such as a cheap source of fresh fruit and vegetables, and therefore a healthy diet.”

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) president, David O’Neill, welcomed the consultation.

He added: “COSLA welcomes the extension of the duty of Community Planning to encompass the whole of the public sector, which we believe will improve how partners work together locally and deliver better outcomes for our communities.We are also delighted to see the Scottish Government being explicit in its commitment to local democracy.

“To this end, COSLA will be arguing that the European Charter for Local Self-Government, mentioned in the consultation, should be enacted as part of the Bill, thus guaranteeing the political, administrative and financial independence of local authorities.”
Green MSP Alison Johnstone welcomed the Bill but urged ministers to look at extending community right-to-buy proposals to give sports fans first right of refusal when their local club comes up for sale.

The Greens will be consulting with fan trusts and other users of sports facilities to see how this Bill could enable more support for clubs at the heart of Scottish communities.

Johnstone said: “At the heart of this Bill is a recognition that the right to buy principle is a positive one that has enabled communities to take over land in rural areas. The Government is right to extend this to urban land, but we can go further and look at key community assets such as those local sports clubs that bring people together.”