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INVOLVING OLDER PEOPLE: LESSONS FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING
CHAPTER TWO background
Introduction
2.1 This report describes a study commissioned by the Scottish Executive and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA). The study was commissioned to provide information about the current ways in which older people are involved in the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of public services throughout Scotland and to draw some lessons for the future involvement of older people in the Community Planning process.
2.2 The study was undertaken by the Royal Bank of Scotland Centre for the Older Person's Agenda (COPA) (formerly the Scottish Centre for the Promotion of the Older Person's Agenda (OPA)). The researchers worked closely with the Scottish Community Development Centre, University of Glasgow, who took on the role of 'critical reader', integrating their expertise in Community Planning into the study.
2.3 More information about the Royal Bank of Scotland Centre for the Older Person's Agenda and the Scottish Community Development Centre can be found in Appendix 1. A description of terms used in this report can be accessed in, for example, 'Working and Learning Together to build stronger communities' ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/walt-04.asp), and on the Government's Neighbourhood Renewal Unit website at http://www.renewal.net/JargonBuster.asp.
Context
2.4 The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, places a legal obligation on Local Authorities to initiate and facilitate Community Planning in their respective areas. Each Local Authority is expected to establish a Community Planning Partnership for its area, comprising representatives of all relevant public, private, voluntary and community bodies as appropriate. The Act also places a duty on NHS Boards, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Joint Police Boards and Chief Constables, Joint Fire Boards and Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority to participate in the Community Planning process. The Act does not prescribe how Community Planning should be taken forward. It is recognised that Scotland is a diverse place, and the legislation strikes a balance between consistency and importance of local circumstances.
2.5 The key principles underlying Community Planning promote the ideals of a shared strategic vision, integrated service delivery and, crucial to the successful implementation of these principles, community participation and involvement. The Act places a duty on Local Authorities to encourage community bodies in the local area to participate in Community Planning. Older people are just one of the communities of interest with which Community Planning partners are expected to engage.
2.6 Public involvement or participation has been given great emphasis in recent government policy statements and programmes. The view, now commonly held, is that consumers should have a voice in Community Planning and service development where planning and development activity impacts and/or potentially impacts on their quality of life. The recognised benefits of public and user involvement include: better outcomes of treatment and care (Barnes and Bennett-Emslie 1997); the ability of services to be responsive to needs; individuals and communities developing a sense of ownership of services (Ridley and Jones 2002); increased knowledge and self confidence for the user (Thornton 2000); and, finally, better quality in both policy and services (Carter and Beresford 2000). If public services fail to understand the needs of older community members from the older person's perspective and to address these needs, there is a high risk that older people will be unable to achieve optimal quality of life, and also that financial and other resources will not be used to maximum effect but instead be spent inappropriately.
2.7 An analysis of Community Plans in Scotland published by the Community Planning Task Force in July 2001 (see www.communityplanning.org.uk/information.html) found that only seventeen of the twenty-eight Community Planning areas for which they had data had some representation of the voluntary sector in their partnership. Representation was typically through a local voluntary sector 'umbrella' group rather than an individual organisation. Only eleven partnerships included a 'community' representative. This was most frequently a member of the 'Community Council' in the Local Authority's area. The report identifies only one partnership that includes an older person's organisation, namely, the Elderly Forum in Dumfries and Galloway. Several reports highlight the need to build greater community involvement in the Community Planning process (Joseph Rowntree Foundation 1999, Stevenson 2002).
2.8 The legal duty to undertake Community Planning has been introduced only recently and so it is perhaps not surprising that the need for further community participation has been recognised. However, public involvement has been central to policy initiatives developed by the Scottish Executive in recent years and as a result, a range of national and local structures and mechanisms for community involvement has been developed (Scottish Executive 2000a, 2001). For example, one of the key principles underpinning successful and sustainable regeneration of an area is the effective engagement of communities in the process. This is supported by a large body of research evidence and is a key principle of Scottish Executive regeneration policy as set out in the Community regeneration Statement, "Better Communities in Scotland: Closing the Gap (June 2002). There is also a good deal of evidence around which suggests that this is one of the most difficult aspects of the regeneration process to get right and that it is one which is often undertaken ineffectively, thereby leading to ineffective regeneration outcomes. Communities Scotland is addressing this specifically in two ways:
2.9 This study attempts to capture information about the range of activities undertaken by Community Planning partners that come under the umbrella of 'involving older people 1 in shaping public services' regardless of their relationship to Community Planning processes.
Footnote
1 The original specification did not specifically define an age bracket that characterises older people. Rather, it was the view of the advisory group that participants in this study should be asked for their interpretation of what constitutes older people.
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