Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 Part 2 Community Planning: near-final guidance and regulation

B: Specific Guidance on Statutory Plans

Local outcomes improvement plans

Purpose

125. Section 6(1) of the 2015 Act requires each CPP to produce and publish a Local Outcomes Improvement Plan ( LOIP). The LOIP is a key element in the delivery of public service reform at local level. It provides a vision and focus, based on agreed local priorities, towards which CPPs and community planning partners ensure pace of change and decisiveness in impact for communities; develop new and different ways of working and behaviour; take a more systematic and collaborative approach to performance improvement; and apply strong governance, accountability and operating arrangements. In all of this, the LOIP provides a shared and explicit plan for local communities in each CPP area, which binds its signatories.

126. The LOIP also provides the focal point for the issues on which the CPP and partners account publicly to local communities for community planning in their area, in accordance with section 8 of the 2015 Act. This includes on their understanding of local needs, circumstances and aspirations; which themes they prioritise and why; how ambitious and realistic their aspirations are; their impact in meeting these aspirations, and how they involve community bodies in their work.

Content

127. Each new LOIP must demonstrate a clear, evidence-based and robust strong understanding of local needs, circumstances and aspirations of its local communities (section 6(2) of the 2015 Act refers). This should demonstrate understanding of how these needs, circumstances and aspirations vary for different places and population groups in its area. As part of this demonstration of understanding, the CPP should set out in the LOIP which communities in its area (geographical communities and/or communities of interest) experience significantly poorer outcomes, relative to other communities either in the CPP area or in Scotland overall. It should also outline how participation with local communities and the business and third sectors has helped to develop and influence this understanding.

128. The LOIP should then translate that understanding of local needs, circumstances and aspirations into a genuine plan which reflects the CPP's priorities for improving outcomes and tackling inequalities in their area. The LOIP should set out clear and agreed priorities for improving local outcomes and on tackling inequalities, and demonstrate a robust link between these and the CPP's understanding of local needs, circumstances and aspirations. It should show how each local outcome relates to one or more of the National Outcomes, in line with section 4(4) of the 2015 Act.

129. The LOIP should state clearly and specifically what will be different for communities as long-term outcomes in 10 years; and the contributory outcomes, indicators and targets by which progress towards these will be demonstrated over the short (1 year) and medium (3 years) terms. These short-, medium- and long-term outcomes and targets should be both ambitious and realistic.

130. In order to provide assurance that these outcomes and targets are both ambitious and realistic, the CPP should set out what steps will be undertaken over the medium term, either in the LOIP or in publicly accessible supporting documentation. This information should show how CPP partners are deploying resources in support of the agreed outcomes, especially in ways which promote prevention, the reduction of inequalities, and the building of community capacity.

Engagement with Community Bodies

131. The LOIP should be clearly based on active participation by communities and community bodies. Section 6(3) of the 2015 Act requires the CPP to consult both such community bodies, and such other persons, as it considers appropriate in preparing its LOIP. Consultation on the draft LOIP is a specific duty for the CPP. It does not replace the broader duty on the CPP regarding securing the participation of community bodies beforehand (section 4(6)(b) refers) (such as in informing and influencing the CPP's understanding of local, needs and aspirations; which outcomes the CPP should prioritise; and how partners should direct resources in support of proposed ambitions in the draft locality plan).

132. The CPP should define as appropriate for consultation any community body which it considers can contribute to community planning. Communities in this context can include residents or businesses located in the area. It should include in particular those community bodies which can represent the interests of persons in the CPP area who experience inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage. These persons may reflect communities of place and/or of interest.

133. The CPP may choose to consult local communities directly. In this case, it should consider what steps might be valuable in helping to secure participation in the consultation from those sections of the local population who experience inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage.

134. The CPP can choose, if it so wishes, to include other bodies in its consultation. These might for instance include other public sector bodies which are not statutory community planning partners. Which bodies the CPP includes, if any, are for it to decide.

135. Having undertaken the consultation, the CPP should analyse the feedback and take account of it, to the extent that the CPP considers appropriate, in finalising its LOIP.

Signing Off

136. Each CPP should have its LOIP in place and signed off for 1 October 2017. This deadline reflects the significant preparatory work involved in developing and testing the plan, including to secure the effective participation of communities.

137. The LOIP is a shared expression of ambitions and related commitments for communities in the CPP area. So every community planning partner listed in Schedule 1 and the relevant local authority whose responsibilities include the CPP area should agree its content. The CPP may choose to include other bodies as signatories, for instance the local TSI, community or representative groups or public sector bodies which are not already statutory partners. Since the LOIP is an expression of commitments on local priorities, the separate signature of Scottish Ministers is not required.

138. By agreeing the LOIP, statutory partners are jointly responsible for ensuring the CPP delivers on commitments in the plan. They are also individually responsible for how they act as partners to help ensure that these commitments are fulfilled. The CPP can agree that other signatories can also be jointly and individually responsible for its delivery, if the plan makes this clear.

Reviewing and Updating Plan

139. The CPP must ensure that its LOIP remains up-to-date and appropriate for delivering improvement on themes which reflect local needs, circumstances and aspirations. Section 7(2) of the 2015 Act requires the CPP to review the LOIP from time to time. The CPP may then revise the LOIP, where it considers this appropriate.

140. Each CPP should interpret this section as if it also applies to their Single Outcome Agreement ( SOA) ahead of the commencement of Part 2 of the 2015 Act. As a result, the CPP should consider whether their existing SOA meets the statutory requirements and expectations in guidance for LOIPs. If the CPP is satisfied that the content of the SOA and the way in which it has been developed fully meet these requirements and expectations, then it may adopt the current SOA as its new LOIP. In this case, the CPP's statutory partners should sign off the current SOA as the new LOIP.

141. In other cases, however, the CPP should replace or revise the SOA. In doing so, the CPP should take such steps as it considers appropriate to ensure it has an up-to-date LOIP which fulfils the requirements of the 2015 Act and expectations for LOIPs in this guidance.

Locality plans

Purpose

142. The 2015 Act places specific duties on CPPs, the relevant local authority and community planning partners listed in Schedule 1 around locality planning. There are two main reasons for these provisions. The first is that working within a locality or neighbourhood enables CPPs and their partners to tackle inequalities for communities facing disadvantage in particularly well targeted and effective ways. The second is that it is often easiest for community bodies to participate in community planning at locality or neighbourhood level, where it can have most relevance to their lives and circumstances.

143. Locality planning alone is unlikely to be enough to fulfil the duty on CPPs under section 5 of the 2015 Act, to act with a view to reducing inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage. The CPP may want to target support for disadvantaged neighbourhoods in other ways too. The CPP should also fulfil this duty for those communities which are not neighbourhoods, where they experience disadvantage on outcomes. This includes communities of interest, ( e.g. young people leaving care; vulnerable adults; those with protected characteristics such as disabled people; or people from black and minority ethnic communities.) and specific households facing particular disadvantage.

144. The CPP may also choose to apply locality planning approaches to other or all neighbourhoods in their area (section 10(2) refers). This can for instance be an effective ways of involving local communities in identifying local priorities, and in shaping and delivering responses to these. Lessons learned from asset based approaches involving the local community in one locality area may provide useful insights for other localities.

Identifying Localities

145. The CPP should use its understanding of local needs, circumstances and opportunities to identify those localities for which it should undertake locality planning (section 9(3) and (4) refer). While the nature of inequality may vary from one CPP area to another, there is in every area some variation in the outcomes experienced by different communities.

146. It is for the CPP to decide which neighbourhoods should be subject to locality planning. However, each CPP should undertake some. And where a CPP has several localities in which communities experience significantly poorer outcomes than either the rest of the CPP area or Scotland as a whole, then it must undertake locality planning for each of these.

147. It is for the CPP to map localities for the purpose of locality planning. Each locality area must conform with criteria set in regulations.

148. Beyond that, the CPP can determine locality boundaries for itself, provided it does so in a way which ensures a that the locality area constitutes a natural community. For these purposes a natural community will reflect a sense of local community identity and promote community cohesion, as these can be important factors for encouraging communities to participate in locality planning

149. While it is for the CPP to put in place suitable administrative structures, these structures need not mirror the boundaries of the locality planning areas identified, provided the CPP direct their actions to improve outcomes and address inequalities more locally at a level consistent with the criteria in the regulation.

150. The CPP may choose to do this through use of formal boundaries ( e.g. electoral ward area; community council area; postcode district). Or it may take account of other factors which can influence local civic identity and attachment ( e.g. school catchment areas; accessibility to GP practices and other local services; local travel to work areas).

151. In practice, we expect CPPs will often identify small communities (with populations of fewer than 10,000 residents) as localities for the purposes of locality planning. Localities of this size will often be more effective in encouraging community participation in locality planning, and in enabling plans and actions to be targeted closely to distinctive local needs and circumstances.

152. Provided other criteria are satisfied, the localities may, but need not, be the same as localities in the CPP area which are identified for the purposes of health and social care integration under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014.

Content

153. A locality plan under section 10(1) of the Act is a plan to improve outcomes in that locality. Because this locality has been identified because it contains communities who experience significant inequalities of outcome from socio-economic disadvantage, the starting point for the plan should be about how outcomes can be improved so as to reduce these inequalities.

154. Each locality plan under section 10(1) should demonstrate a clear, evidence-based and robust understanding of needs, circumstances and aspirations of communities in the locality. The plan should then translate that understanding of local needs, circumstances and aspirations into a genuine plan which reflects the CPP and community's shared priorities for improving outcomes and tackling inequalities in their area. Its content should reflect the perspectives and ambitions of local communities and the business and third sectors.

155. The plan should set out clear priorities for improving local outcomes and tackling inequalities, agreed by the CPP and community. It should make clear what will be different for communities as long-term outcomes in 10 years; and the contributory outcomes, indicators and targets by which progress towards these will be demonstrated over the short (1 year) and medium (3 years) terms. These short-, medium- and long-term outcomes and targets should be both ambitious and realistic.

156. The CPP should set out which actions will be undertaken over the short- and medium-terms, agreed by it and the community, either in the locality plan or in publicly accessible supporting documentation. This information should show how CPP partners are deploying resources in support of the agreed outcomes, especially in ways which promote prevention, the reduction of inequalities, and the building of community capacity.

Engagement with Community Bodies

157. Section 10(4) of the 2015 Act requires the CPP to consult both such community bodies, and such other persons, as it considers appropriate in preparing its locality plan. Consultation on the draft plan is a specific duty for the CPP. It does not replace the broader duty on the CPP regarding securing the participation of community bodes (section 4(6)(b) refers) (such as in informing and influencing the CPP's understanding of local, needs and aspirations; which outcomes the CPP should prioritise; and how partners should direct resources in support of proposed ambitions in the draft locality plan).

158. The CPP should define as appropriate for consultation any community body which it considers can contribute to community planning, as it does for consultation on its LOIP. It should also consider consulting directly with communities.

159. Having undertaken the consultation, the CPP should analyse the feedback and take account of it, to the extent that the CPP considers appropriate, in finalising its locality plan (section 10(5) refers).

Signing Off

160. Each CPP should have its mandatory locality plan(s) in place and signed off for 1 October 2017. This deadline reflects the significant preparatory work involved in developing and testing the plan, including to secure the effective participation of communities.

161. The locality plan is a shared expression of ambitions and related commitments for communities in the identified locality. So every community planning partner listed in Schedule 1 and the relevant local authority whose responsibilities include the CPP area should agree its content. The CPP may choose to include other bodies as signatories, for instance the local Third Sector Interface, community or representative groups or public sector bodies which are not already statutory partners. The separate signature of Scottish Ministers is not required.

162. By agreeing the locality plan, statutory partners are jointly responsible for ensuring the CPP delivers on commitments in the plan. They are also individually responsible for how they act as partners to help ensure that these commitments are fulfilled. The CPP can agree that other signatories can also be jointly and individually responsible for its delivery, if the plan makes this clear.

Reviewing and Updating Plan

163. The CPP must ensure that its locality plans remain up-to-date and appropriate for delivering improvement on themes which reflect local needs, circumstances and aspirations. Section 11(2) of the 2015 Act requires the CPP to review the plan from time to time, which it should do with close involvement with relevant community bodies. The CPP may then revise the locality plan, where it and the community bodies consider this appropriate.

Regulation

164. The proposed regulation in respect of locality plans focuses on population as the sole basis for determining a locality, with the guidance making it clear that each CPP should use their local understanding of needs, circumstances and opportunities to determine their localities.

165. Each community planning partnership must divide the area of the local authority into smaller areas, section 9(1). The smaller areas must be of such type or description as may be specified by Scottish Ministers by regulation, section 9(2). Each CPP is to identify each geographic locality in their area where persons experience significantly poorer outcomes than those experienced elsewhere in other localities within that area or generally by people section 9(3).

166. The proposed draft regulation is enclosed in the pages immediately following.