Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, Part 2 Community Planning, Consultation on draft guidance and regulation, Analysis of responses

Background and Context

This report presents the findings of an analysis of response to the Scottish Government's consultation on draft guidance and regulation for community planning under Part 2 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

The 2015 Act makes significant changes to community planning legislation, previously contained in Part 2 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.

The 2015 Act received Royal Assent in July 2015. Shortly thereafter Scottish Government established a steering group to shape the development of supporting statutory guidance on community planning. This group brought together representatives from a wide range of disciplines and organisations involved in community planning, covering public and third sectors. They worked together through a series of meetings and exchanges to shape both the principles and specific guidance on statutory plans (Local Outcome Improvement Plans and Locality Plans).

The draft statutory guidance seeks to provide a renewed vision for community planning, which builds on the provisions in the 2015 Act and the shared ambitions of COSLA and the Scottish Government. It supersedes the Statement of Ambition which COSLA and the Scottish Government agreed in 2012; and also policy statements which the National Community Planning Group, Scottish Ministers and COSLA leaders have issued since then.

Scottish Government consulted on the terms of the draft statutory guidance and a related draft regulation (this covered the definition of "locality" for the purposes of locality planning. The consultation ran from 17 March 2016 until 19 June 2016 and explored respondent's views on: the principles of effective community planning; common performance expectations; the review and reporting of plans; the criterion and population basis for locality planning; equality issues in respect of these plans.

The consultation was composed of 9 separate questions, 1 of which sought a yes/no response and 1 sought a timescale and proposed 3 options. All of the questions invited additional response and provided an opportunity for respondents to contribute detailed replies.

Submissions and respondents

Table of respondents by category

For the purposes of this consultation analysis the respondents were subdivided into individual and organisation and the organisation type further subdivided into Third Sector, Community Council, Local Authority, NHS, Public Body, Other and Community Planning Partnership. Where quotes have been inserted into the analysis they have been attributed in accordance with these subdivisions.

Full details of those respondents who provided their permission via the Respondent Information Form to publish their consultation response with their name are listed in these subdivisions in Annex 2.

Most respondents addressed the questions and followed the format of the response form, although not all answered all questions. A small number of respondents provided a single reply to multiple questions. These responses have been assigned to the relevant questions and all information provided has been inserted for consistency of analysis. 10 respondents requested that their response be treated as anonymous, 2 of which requested that there response not be published.

There was found to be some overlap in themes raised in response to questions and some additional relevant points were made at other questions. Where this was the case, these have been presented together at an appropriate point in an attempt to avoid repetition. This approach has been adopted throughout the analysis.

Analysis of the data and presentation of the information

The analysis of the data and presentation of the information involved a number of stages, as follows:

• Setting and application of tags to identify respondents by category
• Quantitative analysis (where appropriate) particularly for those questions seeking a definitive response
• Identification of key themes and sub themes arising from responses to questions
• Setting and application of tags for responses regarding themes
• Export of all responses to each question and those responses which contained one singular response to all questions, including qualitative responses into an excel spread-sheet
• Summary of findings and preparation of report

Full details of the categories to which respondents have been assigned by the analyst for the purposes of this consultation are in Annex 2.

The analysis has identified some key themes in the comments received which have been used to highlight the range and nature of views.

The quantitative information includes:

• The number of respondents overall and the number/percentages of different respondent by category.
• Proportion of respondents who answered questions
• Views expressed in response to either yes/no or proposed option questions.

The questions asked predominantly sought responses which were qualitative ( e.g. by asking respondents to provide reasons for their answers or to explain why they held a particular view.)

Each of the questions included an opportunity for respondents to offer additional commentary by, for example, asking respondents to explain why or provide reasons for their answers.

Qualitative responses by their nature do not lend themselves as easily to simple analysis. It would be inappropriate to attempt to quantify these views for a number of reasons including that:

• Some of the responses represented the views of a number of individuals or organisations
• Many of the detailed responses related to other or multiple questions
• The focus of qualitative analysis has been on range and nature of views and emerging themes rather than a "weighing" of responses

This report attempts to present the overall themes and range and depth of views described. It does not attempt to provide a detailed collection of all the responses received, nor present every individual point made, nor seek to provide a weighting against each response. There is a large volume of detailed information provided in the responses. This analysis has sought to summarise the themes and issues conveyed. There are a large number of quotes used in an attempt to accurately convey the messages contained in the responses. This does not imply that the views of one respondent carry more weight than that of another. Nor does the use of such quotes imply that analysis attaches more weight to these responses but rather that the quotes help to illustrate the theme identified.

The term respondent refers to one response even if it represents the views of more than one respondent or contributor. This is particularly true for partnerships which will represent views of multiple partners.

All responses which have indicated that they are content to be published are available in full on the Scottish Government website at - https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/community-empowerment-unit/community-planning-guidance

The website above includes access to a copy of the consultation document and published responses where consent has been provided.