The introduction of fair votes for Councils in May 2007 offers a real opportunity to reinvigorate local government and local communities - an opportunity we can’t afford to miss. By following the principle that decisions should be taken at the most local level practical, we can build our communities from the grassroots up. Every single day, people across Scotland do their bit through volunteering, charitable work and community groups. Too much of it goes unnoticed. Yet these are the people who make things happen. We know that we can do much more if we put our trust in local people and give them the chance.

That's why we want to see:

• a new fund to help breathe new life into small towns across Scotland.
• greater involvement of local people in grassroots decisions.

We must not impose a one size fits all policy to local government or to communities. We want to encourage innovation, not stifle it. We want to see local people given the power to decide what happens in and around their streets. Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see new models of community management. Where local people have the vision, drive and commitment to actively manage our public spaces, we should embrace that.

That’s why we want to see:

• people having the chance to manage local libraries, parks, sports facilities and other spaces and services where local people want it. This new model would see local people form appropriate management bodies responsible for day-to-day running, with their own devolved budget, but remaining within the strategic control of the principal local authority.
• more power and responsibility devolved down further to meet local needs.
• more transfers of land and assets to community groups and the rebirth of ‘common good funds’.
• a new ‘light touch’ programme to help engage communities and give them the power to influence events in their area. This means more access to advisors, mediators, other groups with experience, and being part of a network of community groups so that local people get the support they need.

Community power is also about making public services and government work for citizens. We hear too many examples from people who have been sent from pillar to post with no one taking responsibility for solving their problems. People aren’t interested in whose responsibility it is – they care about getting it sorted. Scottish Liberal Democrats want to break down institutional barriers wherever they frustrate progress or inconvenience the public. That means organisations working together across boundaries to solve people’s problems.

That’s why we want to see:

• a new Service Scotland agenda to develop a one stop shop culture in Scotland’s public services. This new approach will build on work to modernise government and bring the state into the information age. This will be a major culture change. When a Scottish citizen comes into contact with the state, there should be a duty on public employees to solve the problem for them, not pass them from one department to another.
• a range of ‘public’ services being co-located on single sites in local communities across Scotland so that the one stop shop approach can work and services are sustainable for the long term.