Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, part 2 Community Planning: guidance

Purpose of community planning and summary of expectations

Under the 2015 Act, community planning is about how public bodies work together and with the local community to plan for, resource and provide or secure the provision of services which improve local outcomes in a local authority area, with a view to reducing inequalities.

Our vision for effective community planning is built upon a series of principles, which are summarised in the box below and described in further detail in Part 2 of this guidance. These principles reflect the following qualities about what community planning should encompass and achieve.

Effective community planning brings together the collective talents and resources of local public services and communities to drive positive change locally. Community planning partners both statutory and non- statutory provide strong shared leadership for community planning, so that the CPP sets an ambitious vision with and for local communities and ensures that is delivered. The voices of communities themselves, especially those experiencing socio-economic disadvantage, are integral to successful community planning. Their needs and aspirations, and their own capacity to make change happen (with support where needed), are reflected in the local priorities the CPP sets, in how community planning partners shape services and direct resources, and in how the CPP reviews progress made.

Effective community planning focuses on where partners' collective efforts, can add most value for their local communities, with particular emphasis on reducing inequalities. The CPP has a clear and ambitious vision for its local area. This focuses community planning on a small number of local priorities where the CPP will add most value as a partnership - in particular by improving outcomes for its most vulnerable communities and moderating future demand for crisis services. The CPP is clear about the improvements it wishes to make locally on these priorities, and is committed to prevention and early intervention as a way to contribute to these improvements.

Effective community planning makes the most of collective resources to deliver change where it matters most for local communities. The CPP and its partners understand how their collective resources support their ambitions. They deploy the right resources to meet the CPP's improvement targets and offer better prospects for vulnerable people in future. Partners look for opportunities to work together to use collective resources in more effective and efficient ways to improve outcomes. They align their collective resources to better support the CPP's ambitions. The CPP and its partners keep under review whether partners are deploying the right resources to meet their ambitions, take corrective action where necessary and report progress annually to their communities.

Effective community planning is committed to achieving its ambitions and strives for continuous improvement. The CPP and its partners are committed to delivering on their ambitions for communities in their area. They understand how well they're performing, and act nimbly wherever appropriate to improve performance. There is genuine challenge and scrutiny in community planning, built on mutual trust, a shared and ambitious commitment to continuous improvement, and a culture that promotes and accepts challenge among partners. The CPP is organised to provide a strong platform which supports and encourages vibrant strategic decision-making and action locally. And the CPP is transparent in demonstrating to its communities the progress it is making to improve outcomes.

Summary of Expectations - Principles of Effective Community Planning

Community participation and co-production

• The CPP and community planning partners work with community bodies to ensure that all bodies which can contribute to community planning are able to do so in an effective way and to the extent that they wish to do so.
• The CPP and community planning partners have a clear understanding of distinctive needs and aspirations of communities of place and interest within its area, as a result of effective participation with community bodies.
• Effective community participation informs decisions about the CPP's priorities, how services are shaped and resources deployed; this includes working with community bodies on co-production where these bodies wish to do so.
• Effective community participation informs how the CPP manages and scrutinises performance and progress, and how it revises its actions to meet its ambitions as a result of its performance management.
• The CPP embraces the principles of effective co-production which is aimed at combining the mutual strengths and capacities of all partners (including community bodies) to achieve positive change.

Tackling inequalities

• The CPP has a strong understanding of which households and communities, both of place and of interest, in its area experience inequalities of outcome which impact on their quality of life.
• The CPP focuses its collective energy on where its partners' efforts can add most value for its communities, with particular emphasis on reducing inequalities.
• The CPP develops locality and thematic approaches as appropriate to address these, with participation from community bodies representing the interests of persons experiencing inequalities.
• The CPP should build the capacity of communities, particularly those experiencing inequality, to enable those communities, both geographic and of interest, to identify their own needs and opportunities; and support their efforts to participate effectively in community planning, including in the co-production of services.

Shared leadership

• Partners demonstrate collective ownership, leadership and strategic direction of community planning.
• Partners use their shared leadership role to ensure the CPP sets an ambitious vision with and for local communities; the CPP involves all partners and resources that can contribute towards delivering on that vision; and that partners deliver on it.
• The CPP is clear about how they work with public service reform programmes (including health and social care integration and community justice reforms).

Governance and accountability

• The CPP understands what effective community planning requires, and the improvement needs for it and its partners.
• The CPP and its partners apply effective challenge and scrutiny in community planning, built on mutual trust, a shared and ambitious commitment to continuous improvement, and a culture that promotes and accepts challenge among partners.
• The CPP organises itself in an effective way, which provides platforms for strong strategic decision-making and action, and effective scrutiny and challenge.
• The CPPs and partners can demonstrate, including to local communities through annual progress reports, how they are working effectively in partnership to improve outcomes as part of how they are held to account.

Understanding of local communities' needs, circumstances and opportunities

• The CPP has a strong understanding of its local areas, including differing needs, circumstances and opportunities for communities (geographical and communities of interest) within its area.
• This understanding is built on appropriate data and evidence from partners and community perspectives flowing from effective community engagement.

Focus on key priorities

• The CPP uses its understanding of local needs, circumstances and opportunities to establish a clear and ambitious vision for its area and identify local priorities for improvement.
• The CPP is clear about the improvement it wishes to make locally in terms of better outcomes for specific communities, reducing the gap in outcomes between the most and least deprived groups and improving long term sustainability of public service provision.
• The LOIP places a clear emphasis on identifying local priorities which focus on how the CPP will add most value as a partnership to improve outcomes and tackle inequalities, and the CPP targets activities around these priorities.

Focus on prevention

• The CPP and partners plan prevention and early intervention approaches as core activities which help people and communities to thrive and contribute to addressing poor outcomes and improving long term sustainability of public service provision..
• The CPP places strong emphasis on preventative measures to achieve ambitious long term improvement goals on the local outcomes it prioritises.
• CPP partners provide resources required to support preventative measures to the scale required to fulfil these ambitions.
• The CPP works with local communities and uses a close understanding of local needs, circumstances and opportunities to design services and focus resources to where it has greatest preventative benefit.

Resourcing improvement

• The CPP and its partners understand how their collective resources are supporting shared local priorities, and whether together these are sufficient and the right resources to enable the CPP to meet its improvement targets.
• Partners demonstrate strong shared leadership by working with other bodies to use collective resources in more effective and efficient ways to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.
• Partners deploy sufficient resource to meet agreed ambitions for the CPP's local priorities.
• Partners align their collective resources in ways which support its local priorities effectively and efficiently.
• The CPP and its partners keep under review whether partners' deployment of resources remains appropriate for meeting its ambitions, and take corrective action where necessary.

Effective performance management

• The CPP has a deep-rooted commitment to continuous improvement.
• The CPP has effective processes and skills to understand and scrutinise performance.
• The CPP acts wherever appropriate to improve performance in light of this understanding and scrutiny.