Scottish Government programme for government 2018/19

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The Scottish Government has published its programme for government for 2018/19. The documents sets out the key areas of focus for the government, as well the specific legislation that will pass through parliament over the next 12 months.

There were a number of announcements of interest to community development practitioners and community organisations, with the government continuing to build on its commitments around addressing poverty and inequality and delivering public services with communities in different ways.

Of interest were:

  • A continued commitment to implementing the Community Empowerment Act.

  • A focus on human rights, with the First Minister's Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership due to deliver its recommendations this year, as well as work around the human rights of the child.

  • The conclusion of the Local Governance Review, culminating in the Local Democracy Bill later in the parliament.

  • A strong focus on mental health, with SAMH nothing that it "pays greater attention to mental health than any Scottish Government programme has done before." More here.

  • Concern from the Scottish Food Coalition, which saw the wording around the Good Food Nation bill ‘downgraded' in the document. More here.

  • A continued focus on community-led regeneration and their commitment to "look for opportunities to facilitate more support to enable people and communities to take charge". More from SURF here.

  • The ongoing commitment to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers to into our communities with the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy.

  • A commitment to "supporting the further empowerment of our communities through increased participation and decision making," with particular focus on participatory budgeting.

  • The imminent delivery of the next stage of the Open Government Partnership Action Plan for Scotland.

  • Statements around tackling poverty and inequality including continued monitoring of the Fairer Scotland duty.

  • The ongoing work around The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, with information about Children's Neighbourhoods Scotland, a "a distinctive approach to empowering communities and improving outcomes for children and young people in neighbourhoods with high levels of poverty."

SCDC looking forward to the government engaging further with community organisations around these issues and will continue promoting community development approaches to how these commitments are developed and implemented over the next year. 

You can read more here.