On Board: a guide for members of management advisory boards

Community Empowerment

Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) provides a legal framework that will promote and encourage community empowerment and participation, by creating new rights for community bodies and placing new duties on public authorities. Part 2 of the 2015 Act includes duties which further strengthen community planning, replacing provisions in the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.

The 2015 Act gives Community Planning Partnerships ( CPPs) a statutory footing for the first time. It places specific duties on CPPs, and statutory partner bodies, in relation to improving local priority outcomes and tackling inequalities of outcome across communities within their area. The Act does a number of other things including: extending the community right to buy, making it simpler for communities to take over public sector land and buildings, and strengthening the statutory base for community planning. It also includes a new regulation-making power that will in future require that Scottish public authorities promote and facilitate the participation of members of the public in their decisions and activities, including in the allocation of their budget.