Orkney
2015 - 2018
Community Learning & Development Strategy
1.
Introduction /Background
The Government’s National Performance Framework sets out the
strategic objectives for all public services, including Community
Learning and Development (CLD) whose specific focus should be:
1.1 What is Community
Learning and Development?
Improved life chances for people of all ages, through learning,
personal development and active citizenship; and
The purpose of CLD is identified
as empowering people,
individually and collectively, to
make positive changes in their
lives and in their communities,
through learning.
Stronger, more resilient, supportive, influential and inclusive
communities
CLD is delivered by many partners within Orkney. There are too
many to mention but as an example include big organisations like
Orkney Islands Council, Highland and Islands Enterprise, Orkney
College, Voluntary Action Orkney and Skills Development Scotland
and also independent groups and charitable organisations like
community associations, development trusts etc. All partners
involved in the delivery of CLD should aim to deliver these
objectives through:
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community development;
youth work;
family learning and other early intervention work with
children, young people and families;
community-based adult learning, including adult literacies
and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL);
volunteer development; and learning support and guidance
in the community.
These activities are intended to lead to outcomes such as:

enabling the development of skills (including for example,
literacy and numeracy) that people can use in employment,
their community, further learning or as parents and family
members to support their children in their important early
years; and

supporting all our young people (and in particular those who
need more choices and more chances to achieve their full
potential) to become confident individuals, effective
contributors, responsible citizens and successful learners and
empowering communities to work together.
The development of a joint CLD strategy and plan will establish
how community learning and development will be taken forward
by partners in Orkney. This plan will be reviewed regularly and will
be amended to reflect any significant changes or developments to
ensure that it remains a useful planning document.
1. Introduction /Background
The Scottish Government issued Strategic Guidance for
Community Planning Partnerships in 2012. This strategic
guidance clarifies what is expected of Community Planning
Partnerships (CPPs), within the broad framework of public
service reform, in line with the Review of Community Planning
and Local Outcome Improvement Plans. Following on from the
new CLD Guidance, The Requirement for Community Learning
and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013 came into force
on 1 September 2013, making CLD a statutory responsibility for
local authorities.
The Requirements for Community Learning and Development
(Scotland) Regulations 2013 place a statutory duty on Councils
to produce a 3 year plan no later than 1st September 2015
which outlines how CLD will be delivered in the local authority
area. The plan is to cover a 3 year period and there is a duty to
publish plans each third year after the publication of the
previous plan. Each local authority should have a clearly defined
framework for planning and delivering CLD, through partnership,
as a key element of its reformed public services.
1.2 Why do we need a
Community Learning and
Development Plan?
2.
The Orkney Community Learning and Development Plan
“Working together for a better Orkney” (Orkney Community
Plan 2014–2017)
2.1 Our Vision
Our Vision’s development has been influenced by local and
national priorities and the need to continually work towards
improving the quality of services we provide. Partners at a
strategic level have come together to discuss the key areas for
community learning and development. We have taken the
opportunity through our extensive consultation to be forward
thinking, open to change and to provide clarity on how community
learning and development activity contributes to the outcomes of
the Orkney Local Outcome Improvement Plan.
During 2014, Orkney Community Planning Partnership undertook a
fundamental review of its purpose, priorities and structure. The
review was informed by an internal programme of development
workshops, an external audit of community planning and a
national improvement programme for third sector involvement in
community planning. As a result, the Partnership has been
reconfigured and a new, streamlined structure developed, which is
modelled on the new statutory framework for community
planning set out in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill.
The core structure comprises a Partnership Board and three
Delivery Partnerships, each of which will focus on a key strategic
priority of the Partnership. These priorities will change over time
and are currently:

Healthy and Sustainable Communities;

Positive Aging; and
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A Vibrant Economic Environment
The membership of the Orkney Partnership Board (OPB) is drawn
from the list of statutory partners included in the new Bill, and
others as required. The chairs of the three Delivery Partnerships
are compiling plans to progress their assigned priorities, which will
be drawn together into a draft Local Outcomes Improvement Plan
for consultation.
The work of the Strategic Community Learning Group (SCLG) will
complement that of the Orkney Partnership Board and strong
communication links will provide a conduit for the dissemination
of information and for alerting the OPB to emerging priority issues.
2.2
Links to Local Community
Planning
2.
The Orkney Community Learning and Development Plan
It is important for any plan to be guided by a headline strategic
direction. For CLD in Orkney the SCLG has considered the
Delivering Outcomes In Community Learning And Development:
Current Issues For Outcome-Focussed Practice In Community
Capacity Building Report, the Orkney Community Plan and also
the key opportunities and threats that have emerged and been
presented through a STEEPLED workshop (see 4.2) that the SCLG
undertook, and as part of the wide-ranging consultation that has
been undertaken to inform the CLD Plan for Orkney.
The CLD plan must have four elements:

How the local authority will co-ordinate its own provision
of CLD with other providers of CLD in its area.
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What action the local authority will take to provide CLD
over the period of the plan.
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What action other providers intend to take to provide CLD
in the local authority’s area over the period of the plan.
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Statement of any needs for CLD that will not be met over
the period of the plan.
The purpose of plan is therefore to co-ordinate provision of CLD
in the broadest sense, essentially all learning and development
that takes place in the community, other than vocational
training and programmes delivered by teachers in school and by
further education lecturers. The plan will enable all partners to
integrate and improve planning, delivery and evaluation of
community learning and development and therefore improve
opportunities and outcomes for learners.
2.3 The Orkney Community
Learning and Development
Action
Plan
3. An Orkney Context
Orkney has an estimated population of 21,590 in 2014, an
increase of 12.2 per cent from 2001. Kirkwall which is the biggest
town and the capital of Orkney has a population of 9,000.
Approximately 18,000 people live on the mainland of Orkney and
3500 in the isles.
In Orkney Islands, 15.3% of the population are aged 16 to 29
years. This is smaller than Scotland where 18.3% are aged 16 to
29 years. Persons aged 60 and over make up 28.7% of Orkney
Islands. This is larger than Scotland where 24.0% are aged 60 and
over.
According to the 2012 Economic Review, 85.9% of the Orkney
working age population was economically active. This was above
the Scotland rate of 76.9%
Unemployment rates in Orkney are lower than across the
Highlands and Islands and Scotland. The annualised Jobseeker
Allowance claimant count rate in 2013 was 1.2% in Orkney
compared with 2.4% in Highlands and Islands and 3.7% in
Scotland.
Orkney has a much greater number of self-employed people
11.7% compared to the Scottish average of only 8.1%. School
attainment and school leaver positive destination rates are above
the Scotland average.
Farming and tourism sectors are the main industries for Orkney.
Renewables is a key growth sector, with Orkney leading the way
in tidal and wave energy. 10% of Orkneys employment comes
from agriculture, forestry and fishing compared to 1.7%
nationally.
The rurality of Orkney can pose many challenges for providers in
planning and delivering services and for service users in accessing
and participating in activities.
Orkney is served by extremely active local communities with
Community Councils, Community Associations, Development
Trusts and local volunteers contributing greatly to the success of
our County. Orkney has over 600 community groups and 234
registered charities which is one of the highest number of
registered charities per head of population in Scotland (VAO
Records). Orkney also has one of the highest number of
volunteers in Scotland i.e. 17% higher than the Scottish average
(Scottish Household Survey 2012)
Our population has increased
over the past number of years,
but our demographic is also
changing quite rapidly which
presents a challenge for the
County. Nevertheless, our
supportive community enables
people to contribute to society
for as long as possible helping to
meet the current needs of our
communities and ensuring the
best start in life for our children
and young people.
4. Our Community Learning and Development Consultation
Learner Workshops
4.1 Methodology
Direct dialogue with existing learners in group
settings. A discussion pro-forma was used to
capture information. 7 groups met
Community Focus Groups
Engage with a broad range of the community,
including established groups. 8 Community
Consultation workshops held and 1 drop-in session.
with Isles Development Trusts.
Stakeholder Interviews
Engage with those involved in the provision of CLD
to map current provision and identify gaps.
33 stakeholders were spoken with.
Survey
Questionnaire developed both in paper format and
online through survey monkey. 298 questionnaires
completed to capture views of learners plus 199
young people completed tailored survey which they
helped design.
Social Media
#orkneylearns handle established. 63 Facebook
follows. 150 Twitter followers. Accessible for all
with suitable internet connection. Twitter hour on
Community Participation with 29 active
participants; 19 views of Storify following Twitter
Hour.
Peer Consultations
Drop-in events run in both large secondary schools
and worked with Connect, Youth Café, Orkney
College, Dynamic Youth and Young Farmers.
4.2 Strategic Community
Learning Group Workshops
During the consultation,
partners from the Strategic
Community Learning Group met
regularly to analyse and discuss
the findings and consider any
potential appropriate actions
which may arise. After the
consultation report was
finalised, the SCLG partners
undertook a final workshop
session which focussed on
capturing the combined
knowledge of the partners
through a STEEPLED exercise –
Socio-cultural, Technological,
Economic, Environmental,
Political, Legal, Ethical and
Demographic. This exercise was
effective in further analysing the
findings in order to identify our
priorities and in generating the
Action Plan.
5.
What our Consultation told us
The consultation identified the five A’s that assist in an
individuals’ ability to participate in community learning
opportunities, namely:

Available to individuals and communities based on their
needs.
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Accessible to those who could benefit from them.
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Known about by individuals, communities and CLD partners
in order that people are or can be made Aware of what
learning opportunities are available.
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Priced in order that the people and communities that might
benefit can Afford to take part.
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Supported and supportive in order that individuals can have
the (self)-Assurance and confidence in order to take up
learning opportunities or get involved in their community.
The SCLG reflecting on the consultation findings led to the
identification of three key strategic objectives, the three P’s –
PARTICIPATION, PARTNERSHIP and PERFORMANCE. The
linkages between these three aspects to the national and local
policy context and the threats and opportunities that were
identified by the SCLG are presented in the figure below. This
sets out the CLD outcomes from the capacity building report
referred to earlier, the Orkney outcomes from the Community
Plan and a summary of threats and opportunities; all of which
confirm the strategic direction to be guided by these three P’s.
By PARTNERSHIP the intention is to build on the current
relationships across Orkney, between the public sector
organisations, with the Third Sector and with private enterprise,
communities and individuals to ensure that there are fair and
equitable opportunities for PARTICIPATION. By PARTICIPATION
the intention is that all CLD opportunities focus on the five A’s,
maximising opportunities for people to participate.
Finally, by PERFORMANCE, the intention is that CLD opportunities
are provided in such a way that maximises the benefits that can
be achieved from them. A partnership approach between
partners and with communities will be required in order to
maximise performance and to gain the most from CLD activities.
The five A’s of participation and
the three P’s of CLD provide the
strategic direction for the SCLG
Partnership in Orkney, and
provide the tests by which
actions can be developed,
prioritised, delivered and
evaluated.
5.
What our Consultation told us (Cont.)
6.
Conclusions
The full consultation report provides information on:
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The identification of target individuals and groups.
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Consideration of the needs of those target individuals and
groups.
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An assessment of the degree to which these needs are
already being met.

Identification of the barriers to the adequate and efficient
delivery of CLD.
This information has been used to develop the CLD Action Plan,
attached in Appendix 1. The Action Plan contains outcomes we
aspire to and actions we will take to make improvements to current
provision and develop new ones. In addition the Action Plan
identifies gaps in provision which cannot be met in the timescale of
this plan.
In summary, the strategic direction for the SCLG Partnership and
the tests by which actions have been developed and prioritised,
and will be delivered and evaluated, is through the main objectives
of the three P’s, PARTNERSHIP, PARTICATION and PERFORMANCE,
and the five A’s of participation. This will enable improved life
chances for people of all ages, through learning, personal
development and active citizenship which, in turn will develop
stronger, more resilient, supportive, influential and inclusive
communities.
7. Monitoring and Evaluation
Community Learning and Development activity is evaluated using
How Good Is Our Community Learning and Development - a
framework that includes a common set of quality and performance
indicators for use in self-evaluation by practitioners and managers
and in Learning Community inspections by Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Education. There is a clear need to improve how
outcomes are demonstrated, data recorded and how the work in
and around the plan is jointly monitored and evaluated. The Action
Plan will be updated on a quarterly basis by the SCLG.
Appedix 1 CLD Action Plan