Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015

Participation requests

22 Participation requests

(1) A community participation body may make a request to a public service authority to permit the body to participate in an outcome improvement process.

(2) In making such a request, the community participation body must—

(a) specify an outcome that results from, or is contributed to by virtue of, the provision of a service provided to the public by or on behalf of the authority,

(b) set out the reasons why the community participation body considers it should participate in the outcome improvement process,

(c) provide details of any knowledge, expertise and experience the community participation body has in relation to the specified outcome, and

(d) provide an explanation of the improvement in the specified outcome which the community participation body anticipates may arise as a result of its participation in the process.

(3) Subsection (4) applies where a community participation body which is a group as mentioned in section 20(4) makes a participation request to a public service authority.

(4) The group must, in addition to complying with subsection (2), provide such information to the authority as the authority may require in order for it to be satisfied that the body meets the requirements to be such a group.

(5) A participation request may be made jointly by two or more community participation bodies.

(6) A participation request may include a request that one or more public service authorities other than the authority to which the request is made participate in the outcome improvement process along with the authority to which the request is made.

(7) In this Part—

• “outcome improvement process”, in relation to a public service authority, means a process established or to be established by the authority with a view to improving an outcome that results from, or is contributed to by virtue of, the provision of a public service,

• “participation request” means a request made under subsection (1),

• “public service” means a service provided to the public by or on behalf of a public service authority,

• “specified outcome” means an outcome of the type mentioned in subsection (2)(a).

23 Regulations

(1) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations make further provision about participation requests.

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may in particular make provision for or in connection with specifying—

(a) the manner in which requests are to be made,

(b) the procedure to be followed by public service authorities in relation to requests,

(c) the procedure to be followed by public authorities in relation to requests that include a request of the type mentioned in section 22(6),

(d) the information to be provided in connection with requests (in addition to that required under section 22(2)),

(e) ways in which public service authorities are to promote the use of participation requests,

(f) support that public service authorities are to make available to community participation bodies to enable such bodies to make a participation request and participate in any outcome improvement process resulting from such a request,

(g) types of communities that may need additional support in order to form community participation bodies, make participation requests and participate in outcome improvement processes.