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Participation Request Process

Participation request and outcome improvement processes.

WDC will issue a Reference number for your Participation Request and this will be shared with your community group for future reference.

1. Name of the group making the Participation Request?

  • Who is the main contact for the group
  • Address of where the group is based or where the main contact lives
  • Main email address for group or main contact

2. Type of organisation making request

To make a participation request, the community group needs to meet specific criteria. They can be either:

  • a community-led body
  • a community council
  • a community led body with constitution & governance structure

(i) A community group can also be a more loosely associated group of people with no constitution, as long as they meet the criteria above. It will be for West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) to determine whether a group meets the requirements under the Act but it will be for your community group to provide such information as WDC needs to be satisfied.

(ii) A community group with a written constitution should include in their documentation:

  • A definition of the community to which the body relates (either a geographical community or formed around a shared interest or characteristic, e.g. faith groups, disability, sports club);
  • provision that membership is open to any member of that community;
  • provision that most members are from that community;
  • a statement of the body’s aims and purposes, including the benefit for that community; and
  • provision that any surplus funds or assets are to be applied for the benefit of that community.

3. Does your Community Group need support to complete the Participation Request process?

If your community group requires support to complete the Participation Request process, please contact the Communities Team:

Email: empowerment@west-dunabarton.gov.uk

4. What issue does your Community Group want to discuss?

In your own words please describe the issue or concern about a service which you want to discuss further with WD Council.

5. What outcome does this relate to? 

The outcomes may be found in the Council’s Strategic Plan which you might want to review.  For information you can access the Councils Strategic Plan.

If you need support to identify or develop a new outcome that your group is trying to achieve then please contact the Communities team for support:

Communities Team
Housing & Employability
West Dunbartonshire Council
16 Church Street
Dumbarton, G82 31QL

Email: empowerment@west-dunabarton.gov.uk

6. How will the outcome be improved because of the involvement of your group and this Participation Request?

Please give details of the ways in which your group will help to improve the identified outcome (from question 5).

You may wish to answer the following questions (if applicable):

  • What does your group hope to achieve?
  • Who will benefit?
  • Where will this take place?
  • When will this take place?

7. What previous contact has your group had with the West Dunbartonshire Council about this issue?

What communication have you had so far? Have you had informal discussion with any of the departments within the council?  Have you had informal or formal contact with any of our partner organisations e.g. Police, Scottish Natural Heritage, Fire and Rescue, NHS etc.?

8. Where should this Participation Request be directed to? (e.g. department or team within the Council)

If you know where this participation request should be directed please indicate on the form.  If not, the Communities Team will direct the form to the relevant department.

9. What if any other partner organisations should participate in this Participation Request discussion? (e.g. Health Board, Fire and Rescue, local college)

If there are other partner organisation involved in this issue please indicate at this section of the form e.g. NHS Glasgow and WD Council. 

If your participation request only involves West Dunbartonshire Council we will notify you of our decision within 30 working days.

If your request involves more than one partner organisation then the time to consider the application is extended to 45 working days.

10. What knowledge or expertise does your group have in the issue identified in this Participation Request?

Please use this space to detail your understanding of the issue which you are making the request about. This could include any sources of information or research you have carried out or any information you have been given on the subject. You may also wish to include any advice you may have been given.

11. How does your group represent the community that are affected by the issue?

Give details here of how many people are in the group and how representative they are of the community as a whole for example in terms of – age, disability, ethnicity, religion or belief and sex. Please also include how many members are affected by the issue.

The next question will give the opportunity to expand on how you have taken steps to represent the view of the whole community beyond the members of your group.

12. How has your group consulted with the community who might be affected by this issue?

Please give details of how you have consulted with local people about the issue. This should include what steps were taken to gather views from local residents, such as meetings, surveys, social media or other methods. This should include any consultation you have carried out and the findings and any which is planned.

Please let us know if the consultation has managed to involve a diverse range of people as noted at question 11.