Hi Everyone!!!

Last month a community councillor asked me if there was an organisation behind the survey. The answer is yes and no. To begin with, it was just me (using survey software that I have used for many years). However, now there are 35 community councils promoting the survey in their local area. So, could we call this a coalition?

Ok, that’s maybe a bit of a stretch, but it raises an important question – do we need a formal coalition for Scotland’s community councils? To answer it, we need to look carefully at previous attempts to form and sustain a national coalition.

Association of Scottish Community Councils

According to Professor Google, the ASCC was formed in the late 1970s, shortly after the creation of community councils. It folded in April 2012, blaming underfunding by the Scottish Government. 

Scottish Forum of Community Councils

2 years ago, some community councillors from West Lothian tried to set up a new coalition; the Scottish Forum of Community Councils. I wrote to them a couple of times last year, in the hope that they would work with me on the survey but got no reply. Recently the Scottish Community Alliance told me “..they still exist but have temporarily paused formal activity.”

Conclusions?

Establishing and sustaining a national alliance has proved difficult, if not impossible. The reason, I believe, is that Scotland’s 1,059 community councils have zero power. Multiply zero power by 1,059 and you still have zero power.
Therefore the only rational reason to form an alliance at this stage is to gather evidence that our communities are no longer content to be the most powerless of any Western democracy. If this is indeed what the survey shows (early results indicate this) it will put us in a strong position with the Scottish Government. 

If your community council wishes to join the survey, just let me know and I will send links for you to publicise locally.

Lastly, here is the link to see the survey report from Strathard Community Council - https://reporting.alchemer.com/r/412325_69c171cc048406.59178422.

Best wishes,

Michael
​
Michael Gallagher
New Powers for Scotland's Community Councils? (Facebook group)  
Scotland's Community Councillors Chewin' The Fat (website)

Dear Community Councillor,

Last year I wrote a short essay on why I believe democracy needs deep roots in everyday community life, titled ‘Why Empower Community Councils?’. It’s a bit touchy-feely, but if you have time to read it, I’d be very interested to hear your reactions – click here. 
  
I’m delighted to say that we now have 21 community councils participating in our Scotland-wide survey: 

• Nairn River  
• Morvern  
• Royal Burgh of Montrose  
• Crosshill, Straiton and Kirkmichael
• St Monans and Abercrombie  
• Haddington  
• Strathard  
• Symington  
• Jackton and Thorntonhall  
• Gourdon  
• Kinglassie  
• Duror and Kentallen  
• Buckie  
• Kenmore and District  
• Elie and Earlsferry  
• Pumpherston  
• Laggan  
• Brechin  
• Currie  
• Banchory  
• Overtown and Waterloo

Just let me know if your Community Council would like to take part, and I will send you two web links, one for your local survey and one for the results. 
  
Best wishes,
  
Michael 
  
Michael Gallagher  
New Powers for Scotland's Community Councils? (Facebook group)
Scotland's Community Councillors Chewin' The Fat (website)
  
 
     

Hi Everyone.
  
Although we’ve called this ‘Newsletter 5’, it's really just a brief addendum to Newsletter 4, in which we invited Scotland’s 1,060 active community councils to carry out a survey of local opinion. The basic question is, do the people in your area support the idea of giving community councils at least the same powers and budgets as England’s parish councils(?). 
  
To begin with, I’d like to thank the first four community councils for agreeing to take part. In each case, we have provided a separate questionnaire for their area: 
  
-            Elie and Earlsferry  
-            Overtown and Waterloo  
-            Banchory  
-            Currie
  
Actually, the main reason for this addendum is to reassure you about the idea of empowering community councils. 
  
Firstly, no-one is suggesting that community councils should be forced to take on extra duties. Rather, this is about giving you the freedom and money to do things that your communities want, without having to cajole reluctant local authorities. 
  
Secondly, the funding that parish councils receive allows them to hire clerks who take on much of the administrative and clerical burden. Here are a couple of web pages about the role of clerks:
  
My Working Life: Parish Clerk | CIPD
What is a parish clerk and how much do they get paid?
  
Just let us know if your Community Council would like to take part in this national survey, and we will send you a dedicated questionnaire link for you to publicise in your local area, for example in social media and local press. 
  
Best wishes,
  
Michael. 
  
Michael Gallagher  
New Powers for Scotland's Community Councils? (Facebook group)  
Scotland's Community Councillors Chewin' The Fat (website)
  

Dear Community Councillor,

NEWSLETTER NO.4 – INVITATION TO SURVEY YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY

In our last newsletter (no.3) we proposed a 3-step action plan, leading (hopefully) to a meeting with the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee.

As a first step, we invite your Community Council to ask your constituents what they think of the idea of giving Scotland’s community councils the same wide choice of discretionary powers (with matching budgets) as England’s parish councils.

We have set up a template questionnaire (click here) and will make a copy of this for you with a unique website address that you can promote locally. We will also send you a link to the results of your survey (like this example). When you have completed your survey, we will gather the results and publish them.

Of course there is no guarantee that the public will support the idea of empowering community councils. That’s the annoying thing about democracy – you don’t always get the answer you want. But at least we’ll know, one way or the other.

Anyway, we look forward to hearing from you once you have made your decision.

Thanks and best wishes,

Michael
​
Michael Gallagher
New Powers for Scotland's Community Councils?
Scotland's Community Councillors Chewin' The Fat
Tel 07476 494021

https://www.facebook.com/groups/new.powers.for.community.councils
Dear Community Councillors
NEXT STEPS – AN ACTION PLAN
I hope you enjoyed Christmas and Hogmanay, whether in relaxation or revelry.
Before the end of the current Parliament, the Scottish Government’s ‘Democracy Matters’ team will publish a ‘blueprint’ for empowering communities.
A member of the team, Cameron Mellowes, said the Scottish Government has “no intention to abolish community councils and recognises their important statutory role.”
However, a hae ma doots, given repeated references to ‘new decision-making bodies’ in their Phase 2 Consultation report of 2023. Nor was my confidence restored when he added that “Future proposals may include empowering community councils alongside other community-led bodies.”
Nevertheless, Cameron stated that their blueprint will only provide recommendations, and that further consultations will be held before any final decisions are made.
What now?
I had an interesting exchange of emails recently with community councillor David Houston. He shares my view that we need to bring our case to the Scottish Parliament’s Citizen Participation & Public Petitions Committee.
The Committee has the power to recommend actions for the Scottish Government and ask for a debate about the petition in the Chamber.  
Of course, before we petition the Committee, we will need to see what the Democracy Matters team proposes. I’d love to hear them say that community councils should have at least the same discretionary powers and budgets* as England’s parish councils, but I suspect the odds are low.
*N.B. England’s parish councils can raise their own local tax known as a ‘precept’, which pays for administrative assistance.
Lobbying
Even if the Committee agrees to consider a petition, it may not necessarily allow petitioners to appear before it and address its members.
Therefore David suggested that we should try to find a group of supportive cross party MSPs to help to get a proper hearing. 
With that in mind, here is a draft action plan:

1. LOCAL PETITIONS: Before the Scottish Parliament elections in May, community councils set up their own petitions, asking local people to support the idea of community councils having at least the same powers and budgets as England's parish councils. They could use Facebook Polls for this, as well as paper versions.
2. GATHER THE RESULTS: All participating CCs submit the results of their petitions to our Facebook group 'New Powers For Scotland's Community Councils?' AND send them to their local authority councillors, MSPs and MPs.
3. PETITION THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT: Collectively, after the May elections, we lobby MSPs and submit a national petition to the Citizen Participation & Public Petitions Committee, in the hope that we will be allowed to make our case in person.

What do you think? Will your community council take part? 
Yours sincerely,
Michael Gallagher
New Powers for Scotland’s Community Councils?

Hello, 

It's been a few weeks since our first newsletter, informing you about our petition calling for Scotland's community councils to have the same discretionary powers as England's parish councils. Many thanks to the 292 people who have signed so far - https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/the_scottish_parliament_give_scotland_s_community_councils_real_powers_and_budgets_like_england_s_parish_councils/.

As a follow-up action, Balloch and Haldane CC suggested drafting a template letter that fellow campaigners could send to [for example] MSPs and elected members of Scotland's 32 local authorities.

So here it is in Word format - see attached. Feel free to use or modify it as you see fit, or compose your own entirely!

The total powerlessness of Scotland's community councils needs to be on everyone's minds as we approach the May elections. Therefore feel free to suggest how we can build momentum and raise awareness of this issue.

YOUR CONCERNS

A couple of CCs have expressed concern that additional powers would become a burden on volunteers who are already overstretched. This is a justifiable fear, given the way that CCs have been treated in the past.

Hopefully, though, if CCs had commensurate budgets to go with any new powers, they would be able to pay for admin support. English parish councils typically employ a paid clerk who handles all the administrative and financial work. The clerk's role is not just secretarial; they are the responsible officer who ensures the council acts lawfully, implements decisions, and manages daily operations, with the size of the role depending on the council's size.

Best wishes

Michael Gallagher
Disillusioned former community councillor
(Just let me know if you don't want to be on the mailing list for future newsletters)

Dear Community Councillor
 
PETITION: NEW POWERS FOR COMMUNITY COUNCILS?
 
Scotland's 1,200 community councils have no meaningful decision-making powers and virtually no money. By comparison, England's 10,000 parish councils can choose from a wide range of powers with budgets to match, promoting collective creativity and strengthening local democracy - see details below. 
 
WHY NOW?
Under its 'Democracy Matters' programme, the Scottish Government is committed to publishing a ‘blueprint’ before the end of this parliament for devolving powers to communities. Therefore this is a good time to press the case for empowering community councils. 
 
With this in mind, you are invited to sign this petition, calling on the Scottish Parliament to give Scotland's community councils at least the same range of optional powers (with commensurate budgets) as England's parish councils - https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/the_scottish_parliament_give_scotland_s_community_councils_real_powers_and_budgets_like_england_s_parish_councils/
 
BUDGETS OF ENGLAND'S PARISH COUNCILS:

• 5,268 parishes in England have precepts in excess of £10,000
• 260 councils have precepts exceeding £500,000
• 70 local councils in England with precepts in excess of £1M

OPTIONAL POWERS OF ENGLAND'S PARISH COUNCILS INCLUDE:

• Providing allotments, bus shelters, parking spaces, footpaths, public lighting
• Providing premises for athletic, social or educational objectives
• Providing premises for offices and for public meetings and assemblies
• Taking measures to prevent crime
• Tackling environmental issues
• Participating in schemes of collective investment
• Acquiring land for recreation grounds and public walks.
• Incurring expenditure not otherwise authorised on anything which in the council's opinion is in the interests of local inhabitants 

However, these are rather dry, administrative roles, somewhat lacking in the human element. If we want to live in caring and supportive communities, we should prioritise the needs of those who are most vulnerable, such as the elderly, the disabled, single parents and home carers.
 
Then there are those aspects of community governance that concern the welfare of the whole community. These might include: 

• Road safety, e.g. the installation of traffic calming measures and pedestrian crossings, albeit with advice from the local authority 
• Taking part in the management of local health centres
• Co-ordinating local volunteering

LET'S HAVE A DISCUSSION !!
I'm sure you also have lots of thoughts about your role as a community councillor, and how it could be strengthened. With that in mind, you would be very welcome to join this new Facebook group -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/new.powers.for.community.councils/
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Michael Gallagher (scunnered former community councillor)