Community empowerment and renewal bill

The Scottish Government has consulted on its proposed community empowerment and renewal bill. This consultation set out a range of ideas designed to meet the aims of the proposed Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill: to support communities to achieve their own goals and aspirations through taking independent action and by having their voices heard in the decisions that affect their area. Derek Mackay, Minister for Local Government and Planning, launched an exploratory consultation on a range of ideas for the proposed Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill designed to:

• strengthen community participation
• unlock enterprising community development; and
• renew our communities.

Ideas in the consultation paper included:

• the possible extension of a community right to buy to urban Scotland;
• giving local people a greater say in local budget decisions;
• giving communities a right to challenge local public service delivery if it is not meeting their needs:
• giving local authorities greater powers to deal with empty homes and buildings;
• allotments legislation should be amended to better support communities taking forward grow-your-own projects: and
• exploring how existing legislation can be better used to allow Local Authority and RSL tenants to manage their housing.

You can read the full consultation here.  You can also read Lead Scotland’s response to the consultation (click on the links on the right-hand side of this page).