Currently Scotland's Community Councils are pointless talking shops that achieve nothing of note. They have almost no budget and no power to make a positive change in their local area. The Scottish Government should give all Community Council's 1% of their Local Authority's budget split on a pro rata basis. This money will be given on top of the current local government settlement rather than it being taken out of Local Authority budgets. This money should be used on whatever the Community Councillors and local Councillor set as their local priorities. A Scottish Government funded online hub should host video recordings of all the meetings where Community Councillors and local Councillors can speak and vote on all spending priorities. Community Councillor chair, secretary and treasurer should receive £100 a month allowances for this increased responsibility. In order to maintain democratic scrutiny, the election of Community Councillor should take place every two years via an online voting system conducted through the Scottish Government funded online hub. The Scottish Government will publish a template Scheme of Establishment for Community Councils that the Local Authority must adopt for their Community Councils to receive this funding. The Scottish Government will tender for an existing third sector organisation to run the online hub that implements: voting, payment to Community Councillors, payments to Community Councils and an audit process. The Scottish Government will also tender for another existing third sector organisation to have an audit and monitoring role over the whole process.
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