The Scottish Governments Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill

 

Over the last few weeks a number of our commissioners have been involved in responding to the Scottish Government’s consultation on its proposed Community Empowerment & Renewal Bill.

·         On the 12^th September Martin Johnstone attended the first meeting of the Bill’s Reference Group (which the Poverty Truth Commission has been invited to be a member of) along with 40 plus other folks. It was an interesting couple of hours with a lot of enthusiasm expressed for some of the aspirations expressed in the consultation. Martin sought to highlight the Commission’s enthusiasm for Participatory Budgeting and to emphasise that whilst talk about who owns buildings is interesting we all need to remember that it is people, not buildings, which are our greatest asset.

·         On the 15^th September, Martin & Donna Barrowcliffe attended a meeting hosted by Glasgow City Council to help local groups to respond to the consultation. Another interesting event with strong support for more effective community empowerment and a deep sense that it was time for governments to move beyond good words into genuine actions which show that they believe that local people have the wisdom that pass others by.

The Commission will be submitting its response to the consultation over the coming week, drawn from the experience of some of our Commissioners. You can view the consultation documentation on their website and the consultation period runs until 26th September 2012