Tag: participation

Supporting participation: Open Government Action Plan published

Public to participate in decisions on health and climate change

Openness, transparency and citizen participation are at the heart of a new National Action Plan to strengthen co-operation between government and wider society.

Scotland’s Open Government Action Plan 2021-25, has been drawn up with Scotland’s Open Government Network – a coalition of citizens and civil society organisations.

It will focus on involving people in decisions on making data open and accessible across key areas of government and understanding how public finances work.

It will also allow people to participate in decision making on tackling the climate emergency and improving health and social care.

A key first step in this Action Plan is the publication of the Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (IPDD) Working Group report.

It was set up to respond to the need for new infrastructure and processes to make sure people can routinely be involved in government decisions and to set up new Citizens’ Assemblies.

The Working Group recommendations include identifying how participatory processes have impact, independence and accountability; and providing guidance on how to design and run Citizens’ Assemblies.

Minister for Parliamentary Business and Co-Chair of the Open Government Steering Group, George Adam said: “This Action Plan sets out our most ambitious commitments yet to create an open, transparent and accountable government, strengthening public trust in our institutions, producing better public services and a better quality of life for everyone.

“I am confident the commitments in the plan will continue to drive improvement to ensure decision-making is open and accessible to the people of Scotland and that we enable meaningful public scrutiny.

“Tackling the climate emergency and improving health and social care are huge challenges faced by government and I believe that working in partnership with wider society and the people of Scotland will help improve these vital programmes of work.

“I also welcome the publication of the IPDD Working Group report, which will help us deliver on this Action Plan and other commitments we have made to putting people at heart of everything we do. We will now carefully consider its recommendations before publishing our response in due course.”

Civil society Co-Chair of the Open Government Steering Group, and member of OGP International Steering Committee, Lucy McTernan said: “Accountability and trust in our government has never been more important, as we see it undermined around the world.

“I am delighted the Scottish Government and COSLA officials, civil society partners and people across Scotland have contributed to the development of this plan.

“Retaining this spirit of collaboration and partnership working throughout the delivery of the plan will be crucial to its success and we look forward to developing these relationships over the next four years.”

Willie Sullivan, Senior Director of Electoral Reform Society Scotland, said: “Scotland is already pioneering important ways to give people more of a say in the decisions that affect them, such as through citizens’ assemblies.

“We are part of a small group of countries leading the way in exploring how to move beyond the creaking democratic institutions of the 20th century and how to break through into a new era of revitalised and invigorated democracy. 

“This report sets out the plan to lay strong foundations for the future of Scotland’s democracy; for the old to give birth to and nurture the new.”

report-institutionalising-participatory-deliberative-democracy-working-groupDownload

The Scottish Government’s Open Government Action Plan 2021-25.

Spokes announce Election Hustings

Spokes Council Election Hustings, Mon 28 March, 7.30-9.30

Transport Policies, with particular reference to Cycling

Local Council elections take place on 5th May.  The Spokes hustings on March 28 will challenge representatives of the main parties represented on Edinburgh City Council to explain and defend their transport and cycling policies for the next 5 years.  All speakers are candidates in the election.

Each speaker will have 5 minutes to outline their transport and cycling policies for the next 5 years, after which there will be a one-hour QA during which speakers will face searching questions from the online audience.

Website article … www.spokes.org.uk/2022/02/thurs-5-may-2022-council-elections

Tweet … twitter.com/SpokesLothian/status/1506737466547609602  

Hashtag #SpokesMtg

Practicalities

Date/Time : Monday 28 March 7.30-9.30

Registration : Register in advance – the link is in the above website article and tweet

PANDEMIC ERA SEES HUGE RISE IN CYCLING

Campaigners have highlighted new Government figures which show that people will cycle if it feels safe, and if car traffic is low. The new stats also reveal the huge public handouts to the bus industry through the pandemic.

The data was published today in Scottish Transport Statistics, and covers 2020/2021 when there was a huge drop in traffic due to Covid-19 restrictions. 

The figures show a 63.5% increase in cycling in 2020-2021, while all other forms of transport showed marked reductions due to Covid-19 restrictions. 

Figures show that the bus industry in Scotland received £340m in funding from local or central government in 2020-21. Passenger revenue for the same period was £131m. Effectively, the taxpayer subsidised 72% of the industry. 

Meanwhile, bus fares in Scotland have increased by 6% (adjusting for inflation) over the past five years, while the increase for Great Britain as a whole was 3%. 

The statistics also show:

 • Public transport journeys fell by 70%, with 153m public transport journeys made in 2020-21. For comparison, in 2019-2020, there were 502m public transport journeys recorded.


 • 83% of public transport journeys were made by bus, 9% by rail, 5% by air and 3% by ferry.


 • The number of bus journeys fell by 65% in 2020-21. While this was the result of the pandemic, it also follows the trend of long term decline in bus passenger numbers. There were 458million bus journeys in 2009-10 but this had fallen to 363 million by 2019-20



Transport is Scotland’s largest source of climate emissions and levels have barely changed since 1990. 

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Air Pollution Campaigner Gavin Thomson commented: “These statistics confirm the huge increase in cycling we witnessed over the first year of the pandemic.

“People will cycle if they feel safe, whether that means fewer cars on the road or segregated cycle lanes. As we head into the elections, all local council candidates need to recognise there are huge benefits to their area of making it safe and easy to cycle.

“These figures show just how much the public purse is subsidising the bus industry. But politicians have failed to get value for money. Fare rises far above the UK average, constant route cuts, and a complete lack of control or accountability. Councils need to use the new bus powers to take control of our bus network; if we’re paying for it, we should control it.

“This data is a snapshot from the first year we faced huge societal changes due to Covid-19. We still don’t know what the world will look like on the other side of this pandemic, but there are opportunities to deliver on those early promises to build back better and greener. Councils have a range of powers at their disposal to make it safe, easy, and cheap to travel sustainably.”

Zoom no more as Drylaw Telford Community Council meets face-to-face

Two years to the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK’s first lockdown, Drylaw Telford Community Council meets in person again tonight.

February’s community council trialled face-to-face meetings and, with restrictions being lifted, it was agreed that Drylaw Telford will continue to meet in public.

Tonight’s meeting, at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, starts at 7pm.

While much has changed in the last two years – whoever heard of Zoom pre-Covid? – some issues remain the same:

Can You Dig It? Weekly gardening sessions at Lauriston Farm

Our weekly drop-in community gardening sessions, on Thursdays from 1 – 3pm, are open to everyone.

The community garden is inside the allotment, go through the gate from the back of Toby Carvery car park, past the containers, and its the gate on your right.

Last week we prepped beds, planted strawberries, beans and peas. More bed prep and making paths and areas for fruit bushes for this week.

Dress for the weather, wellies for the mud are best”

Corstorphine Community Centre update

Statement from the CCC Management Committee (25/2/22):

We can now confirm that as of 23rd June 2022, CCC will be vacating their current premises at 191 St John’s Road after being served formal notice by the site’s owners. This is in line with neighbouring units.

We are currently in the process of assessing alternative sites for the continuation of  activities currently undertaken by the various groups who use the Hub and are consulting with the group leaders.

In respect of the charity shop, this will continue to operate as usual up until the end of the lease and in the meantime we are also looking at alternatives as to where the shop may be based in the future. We are also communicating with the shop supervisors.

We will continue to update the local community, our members, volunteers and staff as we make progress to identify and hopefully secure other premises.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for alternative premises for the shop or activities please let us know via admin@ccchub.online’

A Parliament for All

Holyrood’s Presiding Officer has launched an audit that will review the representation and participation of women in the Scottish Parliament.

Based on work developed by both the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, all of Holyrood’s parties will be represented on a board that will oversee this work, consider the audit’s findings and make recommendations for change.

Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone MSP, said: “Last May’s election returned our most representative and diverse Parliament to date. We know, though, from viewing the Parliament’s make up from 1999 until now, that this welcome progress can’t be taken for granted.

“This is an important opportunity to have a broad look at how the Parliament takes account of barriers to equal representation in its work.”

Working with Holyrood’s political parties, parliamentary staff, pre-eminent academics and Engender, the audit will cover a wide range of issues. These will include the number and position of women parliamentarians, participation and intervention levels in Chamber business and the impact of parliamentary procedures and policies.

Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh and one of the academic advisers to the board, said: “When the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999, it was internationally praised for its world-leading levels of women’s representation, and its attention to equal opportunities and participation.

“Now is a good time to take stock. This audit, based on a well-tested comparative framework, will let us know how well Scotland has done over the long haul. And, crucially, what work still needs to be done to make it an inclusive parliament for the 21st Century.”

Eilidh Dickson, Policy and Parliamentary Manager, Engender, said: “Women are underrepresented in almost all areas of our democracy, resulting in policy decisions which not only ignore women, but actively deepen inequality.

“By examining the make-up of committees, gathering data on who is being invited to give evidence, and understanding where gender mainstreaming is being ignored, we can work towards a Scottish Parliament which can act as an exemplar for women’s equality. We are delighted to be involved in the project.”

Work on the audit will begin immediately with a report detailing recommendations for improvement due by the end of 2022.

Audit Board Membership

Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone MSP

Alex Cole Hamilton MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Eilidh Dickson, Policy and Parliamentary Manager, Engender

Fiona Mackay, Professor of Politics, University of Edinburgh

Jeremy Balfour MSP, Scottish Conservative Party

Karen Adam MSP, Scottish National Party

Maggie Chapman MSP, Scottish Green Party

Dr Meryl Kenny, Senior Lecturer in Gender & Politics, University of Edinburgh

Monica Lennon MSP, Scottish Labour Party

Sarah Childs, Professor of Politics & Gender at Royal Holloway

Susan Duffy, Head of Engagement & Communications, Scottish Parliament

Tracey White, Group Head of Legislation & Parliamentary Business, Scottish Parliament

Academic Advisory Group to the Board –

Sarah Childs is currently Professor of Politics & Gender at Royal Holloway, University of London, and will move to the University of Edinburgh in May 2022. Her research centres on the theory and practice of women’s representation, gender and political parties, parliaments and institutional change.

An eminent author, her latest book is Feminist Democratic Representation. She also authored The Good Parliament Report in 2016, advised the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion that met between 2016-18 and worked on the pilot (2018) which instigated permanent change to Standing Orders to allow proxy voting for babyleave (2020).

Dr.Meryl Kenny is Senior Lecturer in Gender and Politics at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change (2021-22). She has published widely in the areas of gender and political institutions, political representation and recruitment, and Scottish politics.

Meryl convenes the University of Edinburgh’s Gender Politics Research Group (which hosts the genderpol blog);  sits on the steering group of the University’s genderED initiative; and is a member of the steering group of the cross-party Women5050 campaign for legal gender quotas in Scotland.

Fiona Mackay is a Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh, and currently Dean and Head of the School of Social and Political Science. Mackay is founding director of genderED, the University of Edinburgh’s interdisciplinary hub for gender and sexuality studies. She researches gender, politics and policy at Scottish, UK and international levels. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Engender is a feminist policy and advocacy organisation, working to increase women’s social, political and economic equality, enable women’s rights, and make visible the impact of sexism on women and wider society.

More information at engender.scot

SYP by-election Northern and Leith

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) represents Scotland’s young people.

Democratically elected members listen to and recognise the issues that are most important to young people, ensuring that their voices are heard by decision-makers.  All young people aged between 14 and 25 years old can stand for election to the SYP. 

Following on from last year’s successful SYP elections in Edinburgh, one seat remains unfilled in Northern and Leith.  SYP rules state that the vacancy should be filled.

Where a seat is vacant, it can be filled through existing youth structures.  

We are therefore asking young people involved in pupil/student councils or other youth structures such as participation groups in youth work agencies if they are interested in becoming a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Northern and Leith.

Interested young people must live, study (i.e. go to school or college) or work in the constituency.

More information on becoming an MSYP is available at https://syp.org.uk/get-involved/have-your-voice-heard/

Any interested young people can contact Andy Welsh (andrew.welsh@ea.edin.sch.uk) if they are interested by Friday 11 February. 

Full training and support is provided.