Democracy Matters phase 2: analysis of responses

9. Additional considerations

The consultation questions and facilitated conversations concluded by asking participants if they had any additional views to share concerning Democracy Matters Phase 2. The vast majority of additional comments left by participants provided more detail on the themes already outlined in the rest of this report. This chapter summarises one other theme which was evident in the comments.

Question 16: Please also tell us about anything else you think is important for us to know at this stage.

Feedback on Democracy Matters Phase 2

Democracy Matters Phase 2 attracted some negative feedback. This included comments that: the consultation paper and questions were unclear or contained jargon; the timing of the exercise was inappropriate given many other issues affecting Scotland; it adopted a top-down approach, rather than being grounded in local aspirations; and it was "tinkering around the edges" of community decision-making unless wider reforms were undertaken.

Concerns were expressed that participants would not be listened to, that community groups would not be able to assume greater powers and queries were expressed over how a new layer of governance would operate alongside other structures. Concerns were also raised about the financial viability of the proposals.