This Participation Strategy is for everyone who lives and works in North Ayrshire.
It shows the ways you can participate in decisions that affect you and the people that matter to you.
It also shows what you can expect when you get involved and how you will be treated, through the National Standards for Community Engagement.
Which organisations are involved in this strategy?
This strategy has been co-developed with a range of North Ayrshire Community Planning Partners including our Third Sector Interface, Ayrshire College, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue and NHS.
What does this strategy cover?
This strategy shows how we want to support communities to be involved in engagement and participation in North Ayrshire.
On this website you can find resources that can help communities and partners get involved in or design different types of participation, information on what has happened, and examples of changes that have happened through local people getting involved in decision making in North Ayrshire.
The strategy is intended to encourage more involvement in local decision making and provide a route for young people within and beyond the Youth Participation and Citizenship Strategy 2021-2025.
We want to:
Ensure all sections of our communities can participate, including those who may find it more difficult to do so;
Help you to feel that getting involved can make a difference;
Increase democratic involvement in North Ayrshire; and
Help you to feel a greater sense of ownership and control over what is happening locally.
Our commitment to you
“Our commitment in this strategy is that we will involve local people in decisions that affect their lives, and that we will do this in a way which is accountable, open and transparent.”
The National Standards for Community Engagement
In North Ayrshire we work to the National Standards for Community Engagement.
They are a set of principles designed to improve and guide the process of community engagement. They are intended to support and inform the process of community engagement and improve outcomes.
There are seven standards:
- Inclusion
- Support
- Planning
- Working together
- Methods
- Communication
- Impact
Why should you get involved in local decision making?
In North Ayrshire we want decisions to be made as close to the communities they affect as possible, and we are committed to local democracy.
We understand that what is right for one place will not necessarily be right for another and decision-making arrangements will vary. We also recognise the role our communities are playing in tackling inequalities and driving inclusive growth through community wealth building. This includes taking a leading role in designing and delivering services, managing and owning community facilities and planning for the future with local people and the Community Planning Partners.
It strengthens local and community decision-making in ways that improve outcomes, support communities to focus on their priorities, support the economy to grow for everyone’s benefit, and help new ideas to flourish. All of this helps our communities to have a sense of ownership, pride and control and can be inspirational and rewarding to be part of.
How and where can you find ways to participate?
How will we know what we are doing is working?
We will keep talking to you about your experiences when you are involved in participation in North Ayrshire. This helps us to understand how it feels for you to be part of decision making and democratic processes, what we are doing well and what we can change to improve things.
Through the feedback to you, we can show the difference that your participation has made and the decisions that have been affected. Feedback methods will be different for each participation process and in some cases will include formal reporting, such as the annual reports we produce showing the progress our locality partnerships are making against each of their priorities. In other cases, feedback will be more informal, but we commit to making sure we tell you the difference being made through your involvement.