Participation Requests: Evaluation of Part 3 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015

This report presents findings from an evaluation of Part 3 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (the Act). Implemented on 1 April 2017, Part 3 of the Act introduced participation requests, offering an opportunity for increased community engagement between community participation bodies and public service authorities. The Scottish Government is statutorily required to evaluate Part 3 of the Act within three years of its enactment and to report on how participation requests are being implemented by public service authorities, utilised by communities, and what impact they have on community empowerment and reduction of inequalities of outcome. The evaluation should also consider the need for an appeals mechanism. As part of the Scottish Government's commitment to review participation requests, a team at Glasgow Caledonian University was commissioned to undertake research to document and evaluate the processes and outcomes related to participation requests, with a particular focus on how Part 3 of the Act addresses (or reproduces) social and economic inequalities.