Review of Community Councils in Inverclyde 2022 to 2023
Introduction
Community councils are groups of people who give time to, and have an interest in, the well-being of their community. They were introduced by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which sets out the main purposes of a community council as being:
- to consult and represent the local community:
- to make known to the Council and other public bodies the views of those in the community; and
- to take such action it feels is appropriate in the interests of the community.
Community councils are consulted on planning applications in their areas. They are also kept informed about licensing applications and frequently consulted on how local services are delivered and other issues affecting their areas.
In Inverclyde they operate under the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils in Inverclyde (the Scheme), which covers a variety of matters including the community council areas, who can be a community councillor, how many and what types of community councillor there can be, and the roles and responsibilities of community councillors. It also covers the operation of community councils, dealing with meetings, accounts, elections and other ways to fill vacancies.
The Council must from time to time review the Scheme, and if it is considered necessary may amend or replace it. The Council decided on 1 December 2022 to start such a review (the Review), which had several stages as set out on this page, including three public consultations and specially arranged meetings of the Council. The formal review concluded on 7 December 2023 when an Amended Scheme came into force (the 2023 Scheme).
Stages of Review the Review
1. First Consultation.
The first consultation in the Review sought the views and representations of the community on the community council areas and the composition of the Community Councils under the Scheme in force at that time (the 2011 Scheme).
The consultation was open for responses from 7 December 2022 until the 28 February 2023. Council also published an online Smart Survey with various questions on the Community Council Areas and their composition, and arranged a series of workshop sessions with existing community councils and other community groups.
No formal responses were received to the consultation, but the feedback from both the survey and the workshops is detailed in the report submitted to the Council on 18 May 2023, and informed the Draft Scheme taken forward to the Second Consultation. The report can be viewed by following the link in the related links section of this page.
Maps of the community council areas and a document summarising the composition of community councils under the 2011 Scheme were available as part of the first consultation and can be provided on request.
2. Second Consultation
The second consultation sought views and representations on the terms of a Draft Scheme, incorporating proposed new community council areas, and was open for responses for an 8 week period to 15 August 2023.
The following were published as part of the second consultation, namely:
- a Draft Scheme consulted on;
- a table listing the material changes it proposed to the 2011 Scheme; and
- maps of new boundary proposals based on 8 community council areas - these maps showed:
- all of the proposed community council areas on one map;
- each of the proposed community council areas as separate maps; and
- a comparison of the current and proposed community council areas.
An online survey was also conducted as part of this second stage, and publicised on this webpage and elsewhere.
The responses received in the second consultation, both formal and as part of the survey, were reported on to the Council 28 September 2023, and informed the proposed Amended Scheme which the Council agreed at that meeting be taken forward to the third consultation. The report can be viewed by following the link in the related links section of this page.
3. Third Consultation
The third consultation sought the the views and representations of the community on a proposed Amended Scheme, which included a map of proposed community council areas based on the 11 community council areas under the 2011 Scheme. This was made available on this web page and at the Council’s Customer Service Centre, Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square, Greenock, PA15 1LY and the Council’s libraries. The consultation was open for responses for a 4 week period to the 16 November 2023.
There were no formal responses to this consultation and this was reported to the Council on 7 December 2023. The report can be viewed by following the link in the related links section of this page.
4. Amendment of the Scheme
At a special meeting on 7 December 2023 the Council noted the outcome of the Third Consultation and amdended the Scheme by adoption the proposals consulted on as the current Scheme (the 2023 Scheme). The report can be viewed by following the link in the related links section of this page as can the Scheme.
Formal notice of this amendment was published in local newspapers and various locations in the Inverclyde Area. This notice can be downloaded from the documents section of this page.
The 7 December 2023 report also updated the population figures in the Funding Scheme to tie in with the 2023 Scheme, and started the community council election process. More details of both can be found on the community councils page.