APPLICATION FORM PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING TRAINING SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES. Telephone number Gayle Findlay

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1 APPLICATION FORM PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING TRAINING SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES Contact Details Name Telephone number Gayle Findlay Organisation: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Role: Community Partnerships Manager address: Address: Sandwick Road, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, HS1 2BW Please indicate if you are requesting a 4 or 10 day package of support by PB Partners and why you have made this selection. The 4 day package. The CPP has not undertaken PB before and it was felt this initial package would work with a wide range of staff, community members and elected members that would ensure people had a good understanding of the process, where we could apply it and how we could learn from some small scale PB events. Detail of your proposal (Please limit answers to 500 words per box if possible). 1. Aims/Objectives Please insert a brief account of the objectives of the initiative in this section. Include an indication of the budgets (if possible) that you are looking to use, their total size per year, and how this initiative will build on or replace existing budget engagement work. (Indicate the main purpose of the training request e.g. to establish new PB projects or to get support/buy-in for existing ones). The training would primarily be to establish some small scale PB projects across a range of grant pots potentially including youth, sports, community council challenge funding, Amenity Grants and Gaelic (total 183k). Currently funding is allocated through an application process, assessed by committee and / or officers and the funds are often disseminated to community organisations, so could lend itself to PB well. The local authority would like to explore the possibility of using PB to design the deliver the non-statutory bus services across the islands of Uist and Barra ( 660k). The Comhairle is currently considering how to change the way it delivers buses services as 1

2 currently the buses are not meeting the needs of the community and are underutilised. This is a new idea and PB may provide an opportunity to ensure the budget for public transport is spent in a way that works for local communities. The training would help officers and the community understand whether PB would be an appropriate process to support this redesign. NHS WI would also like to consider how the PB methodology could be used in addressing issues related to health inequalities and in particular would be keen to understand how you could use PB to address issues that don t garner interest readily such as mental health services. In addition the CPP feels it is important to understand how PB can operate successfully in very rural areas, where the ability to engage across a wide geographical area with a relatively small number of people presents different challenges to more urban contexts, where the successes with PB tend to be. Rural deprivation is often hidden; the Outer Hebrides does not have geographical areas of the most deprived, but those who are well off and those that struggle to make ends meet live side by side in rural communities. This means priorities within a geographical area can often be conflicting, unmet and unheard. 2. What do you hope it will achieve? Provide a summary of the benefits that have been achieved as a result of the project. These should where possible focus on improved outcomes. Identify the time period over which the benefits might be realised and the process through which they might be evaluated. (For example external review by funding body, academic body, regulator, inspector or by survey). Community has a better understanding of budget allocation within the public sector The Public Sector has a better understanding of community needs and priorities Whole community of interest involvement in allocation of grant funding that then funds projects which meet the needs and priorities of the community. Raising awareness of PB amongst colleagues and partners within the CPP. PB projects happening with CPP partner budgets outside of the Local Authority. Community involvement in design and delivery of a service resulting in a public bus service which meets the needs of local communities and is utilised. Community capacity building Grants pot benefits for example youth projects, would be realised fairly quickly with the funding covering summer activities. The redesign of the delivery of a bus service; benefits would be seen in the following year and would be evaluated by the Comhairle as the funding provider. 3. Where? Please enter a description of where the project might be located together with a brief description of the characteristics of the location - for example whether it was undertaken in an urban or a rural context. 2

3 The Outer Hebrides is one of the most sparsely populated areas in Scotland, with 9 people per square kilometre compared to the Scottish average of 67 people per square kilometre. Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis is the most populated settlement in the island chain. The Outer Hebrides location and geography present major social and economic challenges and while transport infrastructure and services within the islands have improved greatly in the last twenty years, significant challenges remain in terms of logistics and cost of living. Population sparsity, depopulation and demographic imbalance present further challenges. The quality of the natural environment in the Outer Hebrides is special and the people have a strong cultural identity directly related to the Gaelic language. Traditional industries of crofting, fishing and Harris Tweed still remain but face significant challenges. Despite these challenges the communities are resilient and the strength of the third sector and emergence of social enterprises is key asset of the Outer Hebrides. In many ways the Outer Hebrides communities lend themselves very well to PB, but one of the challenges is equality of provision across the island chain. It is proposed that the PB work with young people is run through four events on each of the island groupings. Any PB work with the Sports Grants and Gaelic Grants would need to work with established committees that are in place already. In regards to other grant funding this hasn t been established yet and is one of the issues that the CPP would hope the training might address. 4. How might you do it? Provide a very brief account of the structure, funding and operating methods of the initiative. These should focus on those aspects that are innovative or aimed at mainstreaming PB. Community Education (inc youth grants) 45k Sgioba na Gaidhlig funding 64k Sports grants 35k Amenity grants 19k Community Councils Challenge Fund 20k All these funding posts may have some constraints as some monies already committed. Uist and Barra buses 660k (exclude school buses) The whole project and oversight of PB testing would be through the CPP Executive Group s Improvement Working Group. The bus contracts PB would be overseen by the relevant service manager within Technical Services department and a project team including procurement, CPP, Community Development and HiTRANS. If this event was successful, procurement and service managers would consider which other areas of service delivery could be designed and budgeted using this process. 3

4 Service managers would oversee the delivery of their relevant PB event for their grants, with support from third sector and community development. The CPP Improvement Group are overseeing the whole area of participatory budgeting 5. Who will be involved? Provide a list of the main partners likely to be involved in the initiative and where appropriate a brief account of their role, including the community involved, by locality or by other characteristic. Local Authority including: Finance and Corporate Resources, Sgioba na Gaidhlig, Community Development, Sports development staff Sports Councils, Community Council members Elected members, NHS WI public health; and Community representation The Community Planning Partners (Board members and key theme group members) 6. Authorisation Provide details of the elected member or a senior executive lead who can authorise the budget in question and has agreed to this initiative. Name Phone Number Malcolm Burr Role/position Chief Executive 4

5 Please return the completed form to Kathleen Glazik, Policy Officer, Community Empowerment Team, Scottish Government at by Friday 30 January For any queries please call