Engaging communities in decisions relating to land - guidance: review

Conclusion

68. The Guidance provides a good foundation for encouraging engagement with communities on decisions relating to land. This is demonstrated by the development and use of supporting documents, including the Protocol and sector-specific guidance, and the adoption of the principles of the Guidance by those who use it. Significant use of the Guidance or similar documents appears to be common only among specific geographical and sectoral groups, in particular those likely to have prior awareness of community engagement issues, rather than widespread across sectors and areas.

69. Awareness and use of the Guidance is generally not very high amongst those who make decisions about land, and awareness of the Guidance is much lower amongst communities in general. Use of the Guidance or similar documents, while higher in some sectors, is also generally low across sectors and communities as a whole. The Guidance can be an effective tool for encouraging engagement, as demonstrated by those who do use it, but low awareness limits and reduces its effectiveness.

70. Overall levels of community engagement remain low. Perceptions of the effectiveness of the engagement that does happen is low amongst communities and only slightly higher amongst those making decisions about land. There is also significant variation in community engagement geographically and across different sectors. These issues highlight the limited effectiveness of the Guidance in practice. While culture change can take time to take effect, the low overall levels of engagement and poor perception of its effectiveness suggest that the impact of both the Guidance and other relevant documents has been limited.

71. Further work is needed to raise awareness of the Guidance and other documents, and to encourage their use or adaptation in sectors where engagement remains low, as awareness and use of the Guidance and other documents is critical to their effectiveness. The current pandemic has supported barriers to engagement by limiting the available methods of engagement and creating other demands and priorities for everyone. It has also hampered promotion of the Guidance through channels such as events and conferences that are not taking place in their usual formats at present. We will continue to work with stakeholders to raise awareness and use of the Guidance, and will consider how to reach groups who have a lower awareness of community engagement and the documents, including the Guidance, available to support it.

72. There is also a need for improvements in the quality of engagement, and the Guidance and other documents have a key role to play in strengthening the effectiveness of community engagement. We will work with stakeholders to develop ways of assessing improvements in the level and quality of engagement, as this is also an important indicator of the effectiveness of both the Guidance and other documents.

73. We will consider the findings of this review when carrying out the upcoming statutory review of the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement, due to be laid in Parliament by September 2022. We will assess the suggested revisions to the Guidance noted in this review for possible inclusion in the Guidance. We will also consider whether work to promote the LRRS could also promote awareness and use of the Guidance.