Community Planning under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015: Consultation on Draft Guidance and Regulation
June 2016
SCLD is an independent charitable organisation and strategic partner to the Scottish Government in the delivery of Scotland’s learning disability strategy, the Keys to Life. We are committed to finding new and better ways to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities and engage with a wide range of stakeholders including people who commission and provide services for people with learning disabilities, those who act as advocates or are working in research, as well as people with learning disabilities and carers. We are focussed on sharing innovation and good practice so that those providing services and interventions can learn from each other. We also aim to be a knowledge hub and to build an evidence base, sharing how policy is being implemented and building on an understanding of what really works. SCLD welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation on the Community Empowerment Act draft guidance and regulation.
Consultation Response
Q1: The guidance identifies a series of principles for effective community planning. Do you agree with them? Should there be any others?
Shared Leadership
Yes we agree that shared leadership is needed to enable effective community planning. It is important that this is not tokenistic and that every community planning partner is to make a strong contribution to genuine shared leadership. We believe it is crucial that CPPs understand the shift in culture required to take advantage of the huge contribution that non-statutory partners who have not previously been closely involved in community planning can make in helping to deliver on local outcomes.
Governance and accountability
Yes proper governance and accountability is key. It is crucial that the CPP is accountable to communities for the progress it makes towards community planning and demonstrates clearly the ways it has improved local people’s lives. There should also be effective scrutiny to ensure that those partners which do not have a statutory community planning duties under the 2015 Act (e.g. Third Sector representatives, community representatives and housing associations) are getting opportunities to undertake strong leadership roles within the new community planning structures.
Community participation and co-production
We believe strongly that effective community participation and co-production is essential to engage populations who have poorer outcomes and who may be harder to reach than other sections of the community. Many of the individuals and groups that SCLD works with experience inequalities of opportunities resulting from learning disability and other related socio-economic disadvantage. SCLD believe strongly that support should be available to ensure that people with learning disabilities have their voices heard in community planning processes. In this regard it is vital that CPPs actively engage with third sector organisations to support increased participation from learning disability groups to contribute to more effective community planning. These opportunities for increased participation must be accessible, appropriate and sensitive to the needs and skills of people with learning disabilities. It is vital that CPPs work readily with community groups and the wider third sector in the pursuit of better outcomes.
Understanding of local communities’ needs, circumstances and opportunities
People with learning disabilities frequently face multi-faceted and deep rooted challenges which result in poorer outcomes. We agree that it is important that interventions are shaped around the needs, circumstances and aspirations of targeted groups and believe there should be a responsibility for CPPs to actively consider outcomes for people with learning disabilities at a locality level. This requires a strong understanding of a local area including differing needs, circumstances and opportunities for communities (either geographical or communities of interest) built on local data and evidence from partners and effective community engagement mechanisms. SCLD has Nationals Statistics designation and publishes statistics about adults with learning disabilities who are known to local authorities in Scotland. These are a useful resource which should be mobilised by CPPs to support their understanding of people with learning disabilities local needs, circumstances and opportunities.
Focus on key priorities
We agree that CPPs must have an ambitious vision and be clear about the improvements required in terms of better outcomes for specific communities, reducing the gap in outcomes between the most and least deprived groups and moderating future demand for crisis services.
Focus on Prevention
We agree that effective preventative and early intervention approaches should be essential and integral to community planning together with a knowledge of the nature and cost of crisis intervention services for which CPPs have a responsibility, and an understanding of factors which can moderate these.
Tackling inequalities
Effective community planning must recognise and tackle the inequalities that lead to poorer outcomes and disproportionately affect people with a learning disability e.g. being more likely to live in the most deprived areas, experience ill-health, to have no educational qualifications and poorer employment outcomes. To this end we actively encourage the focus on building capacity of communities facing socio-economic inequalities – both geographic and of interest – to identify their own needs, opportunities and assets; and support them to participate effectively in community planning, including in the co-production of services.
Resourcing Improvement
We agree that CPPs and partners must deploy sufficient resources to meet agreed ambitions and that collective resources should be aligned in ways which support its local priorities effectively and efficiently. We agree that this should include investment in prevention wherever this is appropriate.
Effective performance management
We agree that effective processes and skills to understand and scrutinise performance and a commitment to continuous improvement are required. It is crucial that CPPs act to improve performance wherever appropriate.
Q2: The draft guidance sets out common long-term performance expectations for all CPPs and community planning partners. Each CPP will adopt its own approach towards meeting these expectations, reflecting local conditions and priorities. Even so, do you think there are common short- or medium-term performance expectations which every CPP and partner should be expected to meet? If so, what are they?
No, we feel that the common long-term performance expectations for all CPPs provide good overarching objectives but that more nuanced short and medium term objectives necessary towards achieving these longer term goals are best reflected within plans specific to a local area.
Q3: The 2015 Act requires CPPs to keep under review the question of whether it is making progress in the achievement of each local outcome in their LOIP and locality plan(s). CPPs must from time to time review their LOIP and locality plan(s) under review, and to revise them where appropriate. Even with this, do you think the statutory guidance should require CPPs to review and if necessary revise their plans after a specific period of time in every case? If so, what should that specific period be?
Given that LOIPs will include plans for outcomes over a 10 year period, we think it would be prudent for there to be a specific period of time within which a CPP is obliged to review and revise their plans if necessary.
Q4: What should the statutory guidance state as the latest date by which CPPs must publish progress reports on their local outcomes improvement plans and locality plans?
We do not wish to specify a timescale for publishing progress reports but believe it is essential that these reports are published in an accessible format. They should easily understood and widely obtainable.
Q5. Do you have any other comments about the draft Guidance?
No.
Q6. We propose that the draft regulation for locality planning should set one criterion only, which is a maximum population permissible for a locality. Do you agree? What are your reasons?
No answer.
Q7: The draft regulation sets a maximum population size for localities subject to locality planning of 30,000 residents. It also proposes an exception which allows a CPP to designate a local authority electoral ward as a locality even where its population exceeds 30,000 residents. Are there circumstances in which these criteria would prevent a CPP from applying a reasonable approach to locality planning? What difference would it make to how localities were identified for the purposes of locality planning in the CPP area(s) in which you have an interest, if the maximum population size were set at (a) 25,000 residents or (b) 20,000 residents?
No answer.
Q8: Do you have any other comments about the draft Regulation?
No.
Q9: Are there any equality issues we should be aware of in respect of local outcomes improvement plans and locality plans?
There is an issue of equality of participation and it is important that CPPs recognise that people with learning disabilities may require additional support to engage in the process. At the same time, the diversity of people with learning disabilities should be recognised and they must not be viewed as a homogenous group with the same needs or interests. There may be some community groups either geographical or interest groups which exist to promote the interests of people with learning disabilities. Equally, it is crucial that people with learning disabilities feel able and are supported to engage in communities groups across the board on issues not specifically related to learning disabilities. It is therefore essential that the needs of people with learning disabilities should be considered when producing all communication materials and application forms. Alternative means of communication such as verbal and face-to-face communication can be easier for some people with learning disabilities and should be made available to people where necessary.
For more information contact:
Lorne Berkley
Policy Development Officer
0141 222 9886
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