The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee is seeking the views of health professionals across Scotland as they embark on the second phase of their inquiry into primary care. Continue reading MSPs seek health professionals’ views on the future of primary care
Edinburgh folk have been given an extra week to have their say on major changes proposed for the city centre.
The Edinburgh City Centre Transformation consultation, which began on 20 May, will now finish at midnight on Sunday, 7 July, instead of Friday, 28 June. Continue reading More time to have your say on City Centre plans
Fresh Start Community Picnic
Thursday 11th July from 4 – 7pm
at North Edinburgh Arts
Working with partners across Edinburgh and with volunteer teams, Fresh Start support people previously homeless to ‘make a home’ for themselves in new tenancies. We enable them to resettle in their community, providing volunteering opportunities that offer practical and emotional support, helping them develop life skills, and involving church members and the wider community in our work to end homelessness.
We achieve this by providing essential household goods and decorating services to help people set up home. We also help those who are unemployed gain skills, experience and qualifications that will increase their employability – including gardening, cooking and employability training.
In addition to the practical support we provide, Fresh Start service-users have identified the need for support to help them feel at home in their new community as well as in their new tenancy. They highlighted the advantages that would come from being able to get to know local people, to develop skills and be able to access services and opportunities in a neighbourhood location and be able to get involved in community activities including in evenings and at weekends.
Fresh Start has been based in North Edinburgh for 20 years and we now have the opportunity to take over some currently unused adjacent premises to create a community hub.
Working with other community organisations, we have been looking at ways in which we can bring this space back into community use. We want to create a hub that will work for the whole community ensuring that people new to the area have access to a space where they can meet with local people, develop skills and make a contribution to the community.
To make sure that this becomes a place where people can feel part of, and connected to, their local community we want to know what you would like to see happening in the Hub.
Underbelly gets two year contract extension
Edinburgh residents will have the opportunity to have their say on how the city celebrates Christmas and New Year, the council announced yesterday. Continue reading Citizens to get their say on Edinburgh’s Winter Festivals
Candlemaker Row will be transformed this Sunday as part of a consultation on major proposals to reshape the surrounding area.
Continue reading Roll up, roll up to see Candlemaker Row in a new light
Views are being sought on proposals to transform walking, cycling and public spaces along some of Edinburgh’s busiest streets.
The Meadows to George Street project aims to significantly enhance the experience of those travelling on foot or by bike on streets connecting the two destinations, improving public realm and increasing accessibility. Continue reading Have your say on city council’s Meadows to George Street proposals
People living and working in Gracemount are being asked to take part in a new approach to designing local services. Continue reading My Gracemount: residents asked to shape services
New powers across areas of health, environment and leisure services could be given to local communities. Initial findings from the Local Governance Review published today, show that people overwhelmingly want more say about how public services are run in their area.
The review received more than 4,000 responses from across Scotland.
Publication today is the start of a process that could mean communities are given direct control of specific public services.
The Scottish Government is working with COSLA on the next stage of the review, which will look further into the type of powers communities would like to control. The results of the review will be published in 2021.
Communities and Local Government Secretary, Aileen Campbell, said: “A wide range of people with very different backgrounds, experiences and interests overwhelmingly responded that they want to have more say about how local public services are run in their area.
“We want to see a step-change in democracy in Scotland where decisions on public services are made in communities – where they have the biggest impact.
“Options are open as to what services are devolved, and there is still a lot of detailed work to do but we have the opportunity to shape the future of democracy so local communities can really flourish.”
COSLA President Councillor Alison Evison said: “The initial stages of this review have made clear that local, democratic choice and control matters to people’s lives.
“There is now a need across the country to achieve improved outcomes for our communities, particularly those communities suffering persistent inequality.
“With leadership from Local Government and the Scottish Government, we will continue the conversation to get it right and give communities more say in decisions that impact on them.”
Director for Electoral Reform Society Scotland, Willie Sullivan, said: “The biggest threat to democracy is that it does not grow and adapt quickly enough to meet the expectations of citizens.
“It’s clear that we have to remake democracy and governance for a time of rapid social and technological change and authoritarian threats. The only way to do this is from the local up and along with as many people as possible. The Scottish Government and COSLA seem to be embracing these ideas.
“Doing this well and getting it right will take time and attention. We welcome the progress made and will keep ensuring that democracy is at the centre of the hope for future transformation so that Scots can know the power and pride of running their own towns and villages”
Director of National Development for BEMIS Scotland, Mrs. Tanveer Parnez, said: “Utilising a human rights-based approach, in addition to facilitating participative democracy, within the Local Governance Review and associated Democracy Matters conversations, present an attentive and much needed approach to advancing democratic participation, active citizenship and empowerment for diverse communities at several levels.
“We have seen the impact of this approach through the positive and dynamic participation from diverse local communities in the first consultation phase, and we are fully committed to enhancing and progressing the equal partaking and participation of diverse communities in the next round of engagement and any new decision-making arrangements.”
Read the full joint statement.
The Local Governance Review has been delivered in partnership with COSLA and was launched to give local communities more say about how public services in their area are run.
We are encouraging everyone to get involved and help strengthen democracy in a way that makes Scotland a better place for all. If you want to stay in touch, you can sign up to our newsletter, email us at democracymatters@gov.scot and follow us on Twitter @CommEmpower.
Following its inception in November last year, the first evidence collected by the Edinburgh Poverty Commission (above) has been published. Continue reading Edinburgh Poverty Commission: initial findings published
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is seeking your views on their plans to help keep communities even safer. Continue reading Have your say on Fire and Rescue service strategic plan
