Audit and applaud it - the role played by communities during Covid-19
/Audit Scotland has published a new online report, highlighting examples and learning from the community-led response to Covid-19 so far.
‘Community empowerment: Covid-19 Update’ builds on Audit Scotland’s Principles for community empowerment published in 2019, and draws on a number of great examples of community groups and local partnerships between agencies and community groups. It links to some of the case studies featured on Communities Channel Scotland, which you can find on our Spotlights page.
The report’s learning includes:
In areas where existing relationships were stronger, some communities were able to provide a faster and more targeted response
Partnership between public bodies and community organisations works well when public bodies recognise and support community leadership and work collaboratively.
Relationships will be more effective where partners are trusted to do what they do best with a shared sense of purpose.
Learning should be used to adapt approaches, including where things have not gone well, to increase the impact of community empowerment
Work in some areas illustarted the benefits from being flexible to do things differently with less red tape and bureaucracy
Caveats include:
There are still challenges around inequalities and poorer outcomes for the most vulnerable and for disadvantaged groups of society, such as those on low incomes, ethnic minorities, people without digital access, carers and people with disabilities and care needs.
There has been a varied response across Scotland and there is a risk of going back to old ways of working and losing improved and more efficient ways of working which have developed during the pandemic
Click here to view the report on Audit Scotland’s website
More information
Visit the dedicated Covid-19 section of Communities Channel Scotland, which includes links to resources for staying safe, supporting vulnerable people, accessing funding and great examples from around Scotland.
