Existing local institutions rely heavily on staff and other resources to support identification and assessment of policy, creation of service development options and decision making.

Communities operating in a decentralised context will also need access to this assistance in a form that they can use. In addition to building and maintaining community infrastructure, and the development of processes like community action planning and community engagement, they will require trusted and skilled community development support either on a dedicated basis for their communities, or at an adequate level that can be effectively shared with other communities.

This is workable if they share a common bond of some sort, e.g. relating to a larger democratic institution such as an existing local authority. This type of support needs to be primarily accountable to the communities it serves irrespective of who the employing agency might be.

Contents

DM2 response home
Context and ambition
The existing policy context
Core principles
New powers
Representativeness and accountability
Support for Communities
Conclusion & next steps

Core principles