Localities

What are Localities?

 There are four localities: North West, North East, South West and South East. (see map below). Details of the geography for each of these areas and the current Voluntary Sector Forums (VSF) that are in them can be found here.

Why was locality working introduced?

The aim of locality working is to improve outcomes for individuals, improve partnership working and information exchange within the Public Sector and with the Third Sector.

How will locality working affect the Third Sector?

It is hard to say to what extent locality working will affect the Third Sector, for some the impact will be great, for others very little.  As locality working develops and grows in each locality, funding, partnership working, colocation and consultation will increasingly be in localities.  Working in partnership with the Third Sector is a key aspect of locality working and input from the Third Sector in localities are being sought via the VSF.

Since 2016 there have been various meetings held with the Third Sector to keep the sector up to date with progress and to gain the sectors thoughts and concerns regarding the changes.

Locality Leadership Teams

EVOC and the VSF chairs attend the locality leadership meetings to represent the Third Sector. Other key strategic partners include City of Edinburgh Council, Police Scotland, Fire and Rescue Service and NHS Lothian.

Download a copy of the localities directory. This directory provides you with your key contacts in the Locality teams along with other important local contacts in our Council services. It also provides you with the lead contacts in each locality for all of our strategic partners, who are all members of the Locality Leadership Teams.

 5-year Locality Improvement Plans (LIPs)

Each Locality has a 5-year Locality Improvement Plan (LIP) these have been  developed around 5 themes;

• Place
• Health & Wellbeing
• Children & Families
• Community Safety
• Employability

There is also a focus on small areas in each LIP which have been identified through looking at the SIMD data for the locality.

Locality Working Groups

To implement the LIPs there are 5 Locality Working Groups for each locality around the 5 themes above, EVOC are working with the leads of the groups, and the Voluntary Sector Forum members to support Third Sector representation on each of these groups.

To access information on a particular locality, and the different Locality Working Groups in each locality please click on the links below:

• South West
• North West
• South East
• North East

How does a Voluntary Sector Organisation keep up and influence?

1. VSFs are the forum for Third Sector organisations to network and keep-up with developments in your area, including information exchange with locality leadership meetings and also the locality working groups. The VSFs take place quarterly, are open to anyone working in the Third Sector, and are chaired by a colleague working in the Third Sector supported by EVOC.  The minutes are posted up on EVOC’s website.
2. For citywide organisations, thematic networks will be an avenue to engage in localities and keep updated with the latest developments. Thematic networks supported by EVOC can be found here.

Latest news

The Locality Improvement Plans have now been approved by the Edinburgh Partnership, work is underway to develop the working groups and to define actions to fulfill the plans.  Different localities are at different stages with this.

City of Edinburgh Council has now set up Locality Committees alongside the LIPs and the wider community planning partnership going forward. Dates and papers from these Committees can be found here.