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Review of Locality Planning in Glasgow
The Review of Locality Planning in Glasgow was carried out between May 2018 and December 2019, in compliance with the Glasgow City Council (GCC) Strategic Plan. The final report was presented to Glasgow Community Planning Partnership (GCPP) on 18 February 2020. The public minutes of the meeting note that the Strategic Partnership,
'authorised the Director of Community Empowerment and Equalities to implement any and all recommendations arising from the review of locality planning in Glasgow that were deemed necessary in the interests of the operational requirements of the Service', and
'agreed that a development session be arranged to allow members to discuss in more detail the recommendations set out in the report.'
The final report is available here: 
Review of Locality Planning in Glasgow [2Mb]
The 23 recommendations made in the review were:
1. The criteria for selecting localities should be based on the local share of 5% most deprived data zones in Scotland, |
2. Additional Locality Planning Officers should be deployed to support deprived areas across Glasgow in stage two of locality planning, alongside the Thriving Places programme, |
3. Any community that comes forward from a priority neighbourhood should receive support from Community Empowerment Services and community planning partners to co-produce a locality plan, |
4. The Vibrant Communities approach[1] should be adopted for reviewing locality plans and subsequent locality plans that may be produced in the second stage of locality planning, |
5. Community-led action research and co-production of locality plans should be built into a core training programme, |
6. The core funding programme for Thriving Places should be reviewed, |
7. Where a community anchor organisation has effectively mainstreamed the Community Connector permanently into their organisation, then future funding for this post should not come through the Thriving Places programme, |
8. Community Connectors should be employed on three-year contracts, |
9. Funding awarded for Thriving Places projects should be directly linked to the outcomes identified in locality plans, |
10. Broad-based community organising should be rolled out across locality planning, with the aim of establishing people's organisations in each locality within the proposed three-year funding, |
11. Locality planning should be supported by a core training programme for community activists and staff that Community Connectors will recruit into, |
12. Publicly available updates on the progress towards achieving outcomes in locality plans should include information on costs, for greater transparency , |
13. All approved locality/neighbourhood group minutes should be made available to GCC and the public within 14 days of the meeting, |
14. All approved Thriving Places Development Group (Citywide) minutes should be made available to GCC and the public within 14 days of the meeting, |
15. The Thriving Places Development Group (Citywide) should be actively involved in the monitoring and evaluation of Thriving Places, |
16. Locality/neighbourhood based steering groups should become locality action partnerships that are steered by local communities, |
17. Locality planning should become a standing item on the agenda for the Strategic Partnership, with partners clearly accountable for the outcomes detailed within locality plans, |
18. A proportionate number of appropriate community groups should be invited to participate in local steering groups covered by the Thriving Places programme, |
19. Community representatives should be formal members of sector partnerships, |
20. Community representatives should be formal members of the Strategic Partnership, |
21. A Glasgow Locality Planning Forum should be established, made up of community representatives from each locality, |
22. Existing capacity building opportunities for community groups and organisations should be built into locality planning, and |
23. Community empowerment roadshows and drop-in sessions should become regular features in neighbourhoods across the city |
Consultation on The Review Recommendations
A subsequent consultation was carried out on the recommendations from the Review of Locality Planning in Glasgow.
The consultation was carried out over six weeks between 8/10/20 and 20/10/20. This took the form of an online survey, which was open to any citizen who lives or works within the city.
The consultation was promoted on social media by the GCC Public Relations Team, with launch and reminder emails circulated to all contacts within the various GCPP email strings and all active Community Councils within the city. Every Community Connector funded through the Thriving Places programme and all members of Community Empowerment Services were asked (and reminded) to forward the weblink to their local networks. Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF) and Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS) also promoted the survey. The online survey was hosted on Smart Survey and listed on the GCC Consultation Hub.
It had been intended to carry out the consultation earlier in the year. However, the GCC Consultation Hub was closed for a prolonged period. The six-week survey window was extended by one week at the request of two community anchor organisations.
The survey design utilised a series of statements with the exact wording of the recommendations of the review, with respondents asked to indicate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the statements. The questions were grouped under the same headings found in the review. Open questions were used in each section to collect qualitative data. The review was specific to the review recommendations, questions were not specifically asked about any other topic, although there were several open-ended questions. The survey design was tested and agreed by officers within Community Empowerment Services and Corporate Policy.
Consultation Findings
There were 140 complete responses to the survey, with an additional 142 incomplete responses.
38% of respondents self-identified as community representatives, with a further 8% indicating they were volunteers. 7% of respondents self-identified as elected members. 17% of respondents indicated they were frontline staff, with management level staff accounting for 19%. 20% of respondents indicated they worked for GCC and 14% for the Third Sector, whilst 5% indicated they worked for HSCP. 6% indicated they worked for a community anchor organisation. Nearly a third (32%) of all responses came from Community Councils and a slightly lower number (30%) with local steering groups within the Thriving Places programme, with 37% indicating an involvement in Area Partnerships. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) indicated they were not currently involved in community planning structures.
Nearly half of all respondents (48%) indicated they were currently involved in the Thriving Places programme at a local level, with a further 5% involved at a citywide and local level, with 5% solely involved at a citywide level. 42% of respondents indicated that they were not involved in Thriving Places at all.
The following tables provide findings for each heading and recommendation found in the review.
Supporting Locality Planning in Further areas of Need
Implementing a Clearer Process for Developing Locality Plans
Locality Planning
Strongly Embedding Community Development in Locality Planning
Governance
Enabling Community Groups to Participate in Community Planning
| Agree | Neither Agree nor Disagree | Disagree | Response Total |
18. A proportionate number of appropriate community groups should be invited to participate in local steering groups covered by the Thriving Places programme | 88% | 9% | 1% | 117 |
19. Community representatives should be formal members of sector partnerships | 68% | 22% | 8% | 116 |
20. Community representatives should be formal members of the Strategic Partnership | 68% | 24% | 9% | 114 |
21. A Glasgow Locality Planning Forum should be established, made up of community representatives from each locality | 86% | 12% | 2% | 116 |
Locality Planning is Directly Supported by Capacity Building Programmes
| Agree | Neither Agree nor Disagree | Disagree | Response Total |
22. Existing capacity building opportunities for community groups and organisations should be built into locality planning | 91% | 6% | 3% | 116 |
23. Community empowerment roadshows and drop-in sessions should become regular features in neighbourhoods across the city | 85% | 11% | 3% | 116 |
Responses to the online survey indicate a very strong support for the recommendations of the review. There is a drop-off in the number of responses towards the end of the questionnaire, which is not unusual given the time, level of knowledge and prior reading of the review required to participate in the survey.
A substantial volume of qualitative data was generated through the consultation. This data varied wildly in tone and usability, but there were many suggestions that add nuance to the framework for locality planning proposed in the review. This data is being used to help shape operational workplans for the implementing many of the recommendations of the review. The points below are illustrative of the qualitative data.
'I appreciate that the funding is only for three set areas of the North East of the city. I believe the majority of partners around the various meeting tables could develop similar strategies and focus of delivery to all the other areas / neighbourhoods of the North East who they also equally represent and must ensure by their organisations guidelines that their resources are spread equally and fairly wither [sic] the locality is a Thriving Place or not.'
'Too much red tape and deadlines can be detrimental to the ongoing development and sustainability of community-led groups.'
'This has to be local people that are passionate about their community and want it to thrive though, people who are socially aware and want to assist other members of the community where there are high areas of deprivation and inequalities.'