Community Planning is the duty placed on statutory organisations to work together with the full participation of local communities to ensure our services result in the best possible outcomes for people and reduce inequality gaps.
This duty was established with the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, and has moved centre stage in the context of recent public sector reform. The Community Planning duty was significantly updated by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
With this Act, responsibility for community planning is shared among the Local Authority, the Health Board, the Scottish Police Service, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Enterprise, plus a further 11 public sector partners.
These are the main responsibilities:
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Set out how the statutory partners work together and with local communities to plan and act to improve local outcomes, particularly tackling inequalities
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Set out the above in a Local Outcome Improvement Plan and Locality Plans for communities which experience the poorest outcomes
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Ensure resourcing for the Local Outcome Improvement Plan
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Ensure provision for the participation of community bodies.
In brief - Community Planning is about:
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Organisations and communities working together to improve the way services are planned, coordinated and carried out
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Making sure that all services truly meet the needs of the people who use them or who are affected by them - particularly those who most need them
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Ensuring real improvements are made in people's lives, opportunities and surroundings
East Lothian Partnership
In East Lothian, partners work together through East Lothian Partnership (ELP), which is the overarching partnership for this local authority area. ELP brings together public services, the third sector, the business community, and community organisations that are based, or working in East Lothian - at present 22 organisations and networks.
East Lothian Partnership's Statement of Intent for East Lothian, which sets out what partners aim to achieve in the long term, states:
“We will work in partnership to achieve an even more prosperous, safe and sustainable East Lothian, with a dynamic and thriving economy that enables our people and communities to flourish.”
The arrangements aim to ensure strong governance and accountability, to streamline planning and delivery and to drive up performance.