Community groups across Scotland are being asked to facilitate ‘conversations’ on how better to deliver public services in their areas.

Grants are available for up to £300 to assist groups to take this forward.

COSLA President Alison Evison said:

“Across the country, it is widely recognised that Scotland needs local solutions to the opportunities and challenges it faces. The conversation is a vital contribution to the change that is needed across all spheres of government to make Scotland a more democratic place, and to ensure that Scotland’s public services are built around the communities they serve.”

Scottish Community Alliance Director Angus Hardie said:

“As things stand, communities often find that the really important issues that affect them the most are decided without their involvement and in faraway places. But if democracy is working well, most of those decisions would be taken much closer to these communities and often by local people themselves. Democracy Matters is a rare opportunity for communities everywhere – especially for those groups whose voice doesn’t always get heard – to become involved and to re-imagine how democracy can be made to work for everyone.”

The project will run for 6 months and community groups can find more information, support materials and how to apply for funding:  here.

This is part of the Local Governance Review and will end in November of this year.

Angela Constance, Communities Secretary  in the Scottish Government said:

“The start of the Democracy Matters conversation is an important moment for community decision-making in Scotland. We believe that more decisions about public services should be taken locally, and that communities should be able to influence those decisions. We want to hear from people across Scotland about the issues they want decisions on in their neighbourhood, town or village, and the kind of arrangements that would help that happen.”

This is not related to the ‘conversations’ Orkney Islands Council will be taking out into the islands – more of which can be found at: Orkney Council Reaches Out to Communities