Powering Participation in Scotland (GBSC0005)

Commitment ID

GBSC0005

Commitment Title

Powering Participation in Scotland

Problem

Scottish Government [SG] is committed to human rights, equality, inclusion and participatory democracy, and will deliver Covid Recovery in a person centred way. However, it is recognised that participation in decision making currently lacks diversity, an intersectional approach is rarely taken and participation methods used may not help address these inequalities. There is a lack of diverse representation within civil society and too few opportunities for these vital organisations to see themselves as important voices in creating a culture of inclusive participation.

There remains an appetite for increased participation, but too often the purpose and outcomes are unclear and participants cannot see how their input has influenced decision making.

There is insufficient understanding of the benefits of participation in public service. Levels of collaboration in policy making between government, stakeholders and the public is uneven. Too often this is accompanied by a lack of:

• skills, confidence and resources to commission or deliver effective participation, using the method most suited to the task
• accountability and transparency, with little monitoring and evaluation of participation
• alignment of participation with equalities and human rights
• understanding of how participation supports the delivery of other goals and priorities

This has created uncertainty and risks undermining work to improve democracy, trust in government and participation in decision making.

Status quo

Scotland’s previous NAP produced a Participation Framework (PF), to improve SG’s approach, build skills and confidence. The PF is under-utilised and needs improvement to ensure inclusion and equality are at its core and is useful beyond government.

SG is focusing on mainstreaming Human Rights and Equalities, and the rights of children and young people. This will create a legislative foundation and guidance. A recent review of the PF identified changes that are needed, with a key recommendation that participation is designed and conducted with those ‘furthest away’ from government in mind – to help everyone engage.

There are wider problems with the status quo, centring around a lack of inclusive opportunities, lack of skills, and lack of transparency and accountability:

• Methods used tend not to be inclusively designed, or part of a systematic and accountable approach to generating and using evidence from participation.
• Engagement often does not reach beyond a limited and up-skilled group.
• Insufficient feedback loops to inform participants how their input has influenced decision making

These work together to prevent a fully inclusive and intersectional approach to participation.

Innovative forms of democracy such as participatory budgeting, Citizens’ Assemblies, and utilising digital platforms have strengthened public involvement. These would benefit from more systematic application to avoid creating unmet expectations that can lead to further exclusion.

Action

This commitment will deliver actions around three interlinked themes:

1. Improve PF to be better used and more focused on inclusion and equality. Link policy, practice and decision making to build access to tools, advice, skills and confidence, better connecting participation resources to community practice.
2. Provide advice and support to ensure participation focuses on equality of access. SG is focusing on mainstreaming Human Rights and Equalities, and the rights of children and young people. It is key that participation is designed and conducted with those ‘furthest away’ from government in mind – to help everyone engage. The actions will seek to overcome barriers of: lack of understanding, skills, transparency and accountability.  This means recognising and systemically addressing issues around methods used, inclusive design, and feedback to participants.
3. Innovative forms of democracy such as participatory budgeting or Citizens’ Assemblies; use of digital platforms; and focused deliberation with particular groups, will be further strengthened. The PF will provide guidance so that these are institutionalised, with more systematic application to avoid creating unmet expectations that can lead to further exclusion.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

This commitment will contribute to solving the problem described above through the following outputs and outcomes.

• Provide guidance and advice to support the delivery of high quality participation for Scotland’s Covid Recovery, as well as the equalities and reform priorities.
• Establish high quality Citizens’ Assemblies and other forms of participatory democracy as routine
• Establish a network with civil society to progress improving the PF and implementation of this Plan.

There will be outputs from PF improvements that will feed into guidance, training and advice on participation:

• Set a clear definition of participation and the expectation that co-production or co-design will be used where possible
• Improve guidance on representation and sampling, making these as inclusive and intersectional as possible, including linking to Equalities Data Improvement Programme
• Explore ways to contribute to community capacity building to build more equitable participation
• Establish transparent monitoring and evaluation that records how participation is happening and what it has influenced
• Explore ways to align participation with equalities and human rights
• Implement programmes of training to roll out PF and build capacity on equalities mainstreaming
• Work with CSOs and procurement policies to ensure funding is targeted at under-funded groups or communities
• Work with OG Network to bring in voices with lived experience to Plan Commitments

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

This is an enabling Commitment. It will work to embed high quality and meaningful participation across the work of government, as well as supporting other Commitments to deliver in a participatory way.

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space, Inclusion

Primary Sector

Citizenship & Immigration, Public Services (general)

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?