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Local People Leading is an informal alliance of national and regional networks, local community groups and individuals that has come together to campaign for a strong and independent community sector in Scotland.
LPL has two main functions - to promote the work of local people in their communities and to influence national policy development. We email regular briefings to our supporters on both these themes. More about us here...
At the Holyrood conference held last week on community empowerment, Colin Mair, head of the Local Government Improvement Service tried to shed some light on what we might expect of public finances over the next few years. As a consequence of the unprecedented levels of government borrowing, he anticipates a serious shortfall between what is needed and what is available in terms of public expenditure – he reckons as much as 20% by 2013. He argued that in these circumstances, tapping into the full potential of the community sector will be essential if the government is to achieve all the outcomes it has set itself. We agree.
