Community Planning in Edinburgh
When service delivery organisations work with each other and with communities, services improve, quality of life is enhanced, and people feel more engaged and more in control of their lives.
These are the fundamental principles behind Community Planning, laid out in the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. The City of Edinburgh Council has a statutory duty to lead on community planning in Edinburgh. You will find more information about Community Planning published on the Council's website.
Edinburgh Partnership
The Edinburgh Partnership is the community planning partnership for the city. In 2009 the partnership agreed a new structure, with increased political representation on the Edinburgh Partnership Board, and with a new Edinburgh Partnership Executive, comprising chief officers of partner agencies and the Chair of the Edinburgh Compact Partnership.
The Edinburgh Partnership holds strategic responsibility for Edinburgh's Single Outcome Agreement. The Improvement Service describes SOAs as 'the means by which Community Planning Partnerships agree their strategic priorities for their local area and express those priorities as outcomes to be delivered by the partners, either individually or jointly, while showing how those outcomes should contribute to the Scottish Government's National Outcomes.'
The voluntary sector is represented within the Edinburgh Partnership by Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations' Council (EVOC).
The Edinburgh Partnership Board includes one representative each from communities of interest and communities of place. The Communities of Interest member is to be drawn from the Edinburgh Equalities Network. Communities of place are those who live within a particular geographical area and are represented via the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils.
News on community planning in Edinburgh can be found in the Edinburgh Partnership Newsletter.
Local Community Planning
In November 2006 the City of Edinburgh Council agreed to establish 12 Neighbourhood Partnerships across the city, giving local expression to Community Planning. Neighbourhood Partnerships are chaired by a Local Councillor and include all Councillors in the relevant wards, community representatives, and representatives of NHS Lothian, Lothian & Borders Police, and the Local Voluntary Sector.
This pdf map (2.5 mb) shows the boundaries of the city's 12 Neighbourhood Partnerships.
In March 2007 the Council reported on progress on Establishing Neighbourhood Partnerships, and in June 2009 the Council's Policy & Strategy Committee received a further progress report on a Review of Neighbourhood Partnerships.
Full information on Neighbourhood Partnerships can be found on the Neighbourhood Partnerships website.
Voluntary Sector Representation and Involvement
Each of the city's 12 Neighbourhood Partnership Boards has a seat for the Voluntary Sector. EVOC is working to develop and support Local Networks of voluntary organisations delivering services in a Neighbourhood. Further detail on Neighbourhood Networks is available. To contact the relevant member of EVOC staff please call our switchboard on 0131 555 9100.
