Participation Requests
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 allows community bodies to make a request to public authorities, such as Orkney Islands Council, to take part in an ‘outcome improvement process’. The intention is to provide a new way for communities to establish formal dialogue with public service authorities about issues that are important to them. Participation requests are not intended to replace good quality existing community engagement or participation processes, nor are they intended to be an extension of complaints procedures. The Act sets out a formal process for the management of participation requests.
The Act emphasises it is important that community participation bodies and public service authorities engage in dialogue at an early stage and always before any formal participation request is submitted. This will help to ensure that existing processes are used appropriately and that any participation request that is submitted is well thought-out, appropriate and is focused on improving community outcomes.
Orkney Islands Council is happy to discuss your Participation Request informally before you make a formal request, and can provide assistance if you would like help to formulate your request. Our first point of contact is Anna Whelan, our Strategy Manager, who can be contacted on 01856873535 extension 2160, or by email.
Before you start, please read our 'Guidance and Participation Requests Policy' which can be found in the 'Related Downloads' section of this page. If you would like this information in a different language or format, please contact the Strategy Manager as above.
The Council’s annual reports on Participation Requests and Community Asset Transfer Requests are available in PDF format from the 'Related Downloads' section of this page.
Please note that if your request is actually a complaint about service delivery then we will deal with this through our Complaints Procedure which can be found in the 'Related Links' section of this page.
If you want to find out more about our consultation and engagement activities this can also be found in the 'Related Links' section of this page.
