Report to the People
Partnership and Social Inclusion
Co-operation; teamwork; alliance; collaboration; coalition; consensus. And of course partnership.
In the herd of government buzzwords, "partnership" is King. There seems to be no area of public policy in which we are not "striving to deliver partnership." Indeed, rumours abound of full and frank discussions between civil servants, should "partnership" be omitted from Executive publications.
But, while it sounds admirable, what exactly does it mean? Of course we all want to see partnership. No one, as far as I know, campaigns for tension, division, and isolation. But, to fight poverty, partnership must mean something concrete and deliver results.
On Saturday I attended a conference on Social Inclusion and Partnership at James Watt College’s Waterfront Campus to learn more about these issues and discuss the role of the Scottish Parliament.
Community Partnership is a challenge for us all. We need to work together in genuine co-operation. Local Government needs to co-operate with the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament must work with Westminster; and Westminster with Europe.
So what does the Scottish Parliament bring to the partnership table? One major advantage is increased parliamentary time. No longer must all Scottish matters be crammed into one afternoon a fortnight – we have a whole parliamentary year. This allows us to focus on the complex, persisting issues facing Scotland today and explore problems in depth.
The Parliamentary Committees are also important in scrutinising, analysing and revising proposals to address these problems. In their investigations, committees take evidence from those with first hand experience of various issues – not the usual suspects of politicians, professionals and pressure groups.
Indeed, as the Parliament is only a couple of hours away on the M8 or train, it extends the opportunity to attend committees, give evidence and become involved to people who have hitherto been excluded.
This new, responsive, accessible, democratic structure will give communities their first real chance to have a say in how we are governed. It will also give us the confidence to become involved in the decision making process and challenge decisions we see as wrong.
Partnership is about people’s right to have their say in decisions which affect their lives, and it goes far beyond the public sector. Business and industry are also key if we are to realise our social justice targets.
The social inclusion agenda is a business and industry agenda. The community agenda is a regeneration agenda. The best route out of poverty is a job. There are no two ways about it – we must continue to attract inward investment to Inverclyde if we are serious about tackling poverty.
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