Open Government - public participation strategy: advice

Background

In Scotland, there is an impressive narrative surrounding community empowerment, community engagement and public participation. The Covid pandemic has highlighted the value of a community response, and the need for a joined up and networked approach to tackling the crisis (South et al. 2020). In order to build resilience and wellbeing, community engagement and participation needs to be ‘built into the bones’ of how we do politics in Scotland. Covid has refocused attention on equalities issues and brought the issue of fairness and inclusion to the fore. The community response has been extraordinary but has been overburdened by demand.

The Scottish Government has done much to offset inequalities. They have apportioned funds (for instance, the Third Sector Resilience Fund, Scottish Welfare Fund) and set up expert groups drawing evidence and expertise from science, social science, business, economics, and many more. Bold visions have been set out, which are commendable. Yet, now is the time for action. We cannot take community responses for granted and instead, need to invest and embolden local authorities and the third sector to work alongside government to provide a more robust response to pressing social and economic issues.

Implementing and integrating a joined-up participation strategy in Scotland requires further investment into the lives of communities and people. If citizens are struggling to live, political participation will not be a priority for them. Innovative practices, such as Citizens’ Assemblies (CA), Citizens’ Panels and Participatory Budgeting (PB), need to be linked with local initiatives and representative processes. The media also has a role to play in publicising participatory processes and reporting what comes out of these processes.

The public needs to see that the government is not just listening but responding to calls for funding and for greater investment in community development schemes. This must be linked in the long-term to urban regeneration, social renewal and a real commitment to include citizens in the decision-making process. Citizens should be supported to shape policy, scrutinise the work of the Scottish Parliament and policy-making process, and also be involved in reviewing policy and feeding back on decisions that affect them. Further signposting must be done around action that has been taken in response to prior participation to demonstrate that public input is valued and in order to develop trust in the process. Without trust, the public is unlikely to comply with government guidelines on Covid-19 or in the event of another crisis, on matters of public health or in many other areas.

People have felt the loss of community more acutely than ever before and that the Coronavirus pandemic has highlighted how alienated people are. Limited access to green spaces and amenities, and isolation of single parents, people shielding and vulnerable people has driven home problems of infrastructure, urban planning and underlined the need to reinvigorate communities and public ownership of goods.

Public participation, community empowerment and the development of trusting relations between the main actors is a good investment and will stand Scotland in good stead to establish a resilient foundation for coping with the pandemic. Long-term security and investment in communities will strengthen our response to future crisis.

The following report discusses public engagement in the form of information receiving, compliance with guidelines, and political and community engagement. The strategy set out is based on the findings of the Open Government’s advisory working group and has been supplemented by a series of interviews with leading experts. The first section of the report discusses the main challenges to facing an improved public engagement strategy – the tensions between main governing bodies, challenges for public compliance, messaging and misinformation, digital exclusion and how certain voices are being prioritised. In the second section, nine key recommendations are introduced, with action points. Finally, short, medium and long terms goals are identified in order to achieve this action plan.