Community planning partnership option identified for Inverness

Members of The Highland Council’s City of Inverness Area Committee have confirmed their views on a preferred local partnership option for the City of Inverness area.

Members have indicated that their preference would be to use the ‘City of Inverness Geography’ option and that a local partnership is developed for the whole area currently defined as the ‘City Committee area’.

Members were asked to choose a preferred option for the delivery of community planning in the Inverness Area that would meet the new duties within the Empowerment Act; local planning responsibilities contained within the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013.

Under the new requirements 15 public bodies will be involved in forming the Community Planning Partnership which will be jointly led by Highland Council, NHS Highland, Highland and Islands Enterprise, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Provost and Leader of the City of Inverness and Area Cllr Helen Carmichael said: “An area matching the Council’s City of Inverness Area Committee geography has been identified as a preferred and more feasible community planning partnership area with our main partners. We recognise that there will be challenges in how we engage with the communities within this area and that will be our challenge in the coming months to ensure that we make it easy for people to participate.”

Leader of The Highland Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson said: “We have committed to the area committee model and we are now committed to community planning. There is everything to be gained here - the Community Empowerment Act has given us more opportunity to engage with our public sector partners in a more effective way.”

The Community Planning Partnership Board will be asked to agree the geography for taking forward local partnerships at their meeting on 30 June 2016.