How can government policy help at a local level?

Good question! In fact, a lot of recent policy developments in Scotland are very much about helping community groups do things locally.

This section of Communities Channel Scotland aims to provide straightforward introductions to legislation, government programmes and programmes by other agencies which might be relevant to your community group.

Policy areas:

• Community empowerment - all the legislation and developments related to supporting people to have more control over what happens in their communties, including the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act (2015)

• Participatory democracy - including participatory budgeting, citizens assemblies and other innovations in citizen participation

• Local services and planning - everything you need to know about influencing planning in your area, whether in relation to buildings, services or addressing big challenges such as inequality and climate change.

Other important developments

See our hot topics section for information on climate change, covid-19, human rights and inequality. We’re also interested in hearing from community groups if you think there’s anything important we haven’t covered - please get in touch.