Community planning provides the key overarching
framework for delivering services to communities, including
economic development. Community Planning will provide the
basis for the delivery of better, more responsive services.
It is a valuable process to enable joined up working and to
engage communities, including the business community, in
the decisions that affect them. This is wholly coherent
with the aim and purpose of the Forums. Indeed, Forums
working effectively
are an example of Community Planning.
The
Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 places a
statutory underpinning for community planning through a
duty on councils and other key community planning partners,
including the Enterprise Networks.
There is no template which can apply neatly across all
parts of Scotland, but it is imperative that Local
Enterprise Companies and other
Forum
partners fully engage in the broader community planning
process. A number of Forums have already forged close links
with community planning suited to their own local
circumstances. Forums provide a mechanism to make this
engagement effective and Forums should act as the major
contributor to the economic dimension of the community
planning process.
There should be three key principles supporting
this:
- Co-ordinating partnership activity on local
economic development, filling gaps where required and
avoiding duplication of activity;
- Ensuring meaningful input by LECs and the business
community to the wider social, economic and
environmental development of community planning;
and
- Ensuring that economic development components of
Community Plans are coherent with, and contribute to,
the overall national objectives articulated in
A Smart
Successful Scotland.
Scotland does not have coterminous boundaries between
local government and the Executive's local economic
development agencies. This makes cross boundary working
even more important and necessary. For example for the most
part Forums work at a higher geographical level than the
local authority level, showing that configuring
partnerships to suit the needs of specific issues is by no
means insurmountable. In building strong and effective
linkages with Community Planning, the continuing commitment
of all partners, will be fundamental.
Link
to Community Planning in Scotland Website