Aspiring Places: Community Projects in Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute Council · 4 December 2025
Back to Policy and Resources Committee — 4 December 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE 04 December 2025 Aspiring Places; Community Projects in Argyll and Bute 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 Members will recall from the Council meeting of September 2024, decisions in relation to ‘Aspiring Places: Community Projects in Argyll and Bute’ as set out in the Corporate Plan 2025 – 2027. 1.2 Members will be aware of the successful launch of the Aspiring Place digital platform in March 2025 and the registration of a number of community groups and community projects. 1.3 ‘Expressions of Interest’ for 3 government funds for projects were launched through the Aspiring Places platform and were compulsory for community projects to be considered. 1.4 An evaluation of the Aspiring Places initiative has been completed and the findings are set out in this report of which some key findings are as follows: a) Engagement - over 150 community group members registered, and 104 project proposals were published during the pilot phase. b) Level of participation - 83% of publishing groups submitted Expressions of Interest for funding. c) Correlation between funds and registrations – assumption that project proposals submitted by community groups was partly driven by the Council’s request for ‘Expressions of Interest’ for the 3 government funds. d) The critical importance of government grant funds for community projects. 1.5 In seeking to develop an understanding of the current grant funding environment and its relationship with the issues that Aspiring Places seeks to address, a further finding is a need to develop more sustainable solutions to managing government grant funds in an equitable manner for the Council and our communities alike. 1.6 It is proposed that new activity is now required to build on our understanding to date to develop those solutions for the benefit of our organisation and our communities alike before making further decisions with regards to Aspiring Places.
Page 2
1.7 Parallel to the Aspiring Places initiative is the emergence of a ‘Funders Forum’ established for officers involved in administrating grants to share best practice, identify risks and coordinate activity for improved processes. 1.8 Subsequently the Council’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT) has requested that the Funders Forum undertake a formal review of our approach to the management of grant funding in a manner that is aligned with the Corporate Plan and Connect for Success principles and submit recommendations to ELT for improvement. 1.9 As part of the review, further consideration will be given to the future use of the Aspiring Places site which in the interim, will remain a live site and continued important resource to capture community projects and link with government funds until any future recommendations are made to Members. 1.10 This activity provides the opportunity to ensure that the Council develops a sufficient understanding of the complex and inter-related problems to support good decisions based on evidence and data and the future needs of the organisation and our communities. 1.11 Recommendations. a) Note the successful launch of the Aspiring Places platform and that it remains a live site for the benefit of communities, funders and the Council; b) Note the key findings from the evaluation of the scheme as set out in paragraphs 4.7 to 4.33 and in particular an emerging need to develop a more sustainable approach to managing government grant funds in an equitable manner for the Council and our communities alike; and c) Request the Chief Executive to undertake a formal review of our approach to the management of grant funding in a manner that is aligned with the Corporate Plan and Connect for Success principles.
Page 3
ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE 04 DECEMBER 2025 Aspiring Places - Community Projects in Argyll and Bute 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 Further to the launch of the Aspiring Place initiative, an evaluation has been completed setting and key findings are set out in this report. In seeking to develop an understanding of a new related issue that has emerged, it is argued that a wider and deeper piece of work is now required to build on our understanding to date and develop more sustainable solutions to managing grant funding. 2.2 Parallel to the Aspiring Places initiative is the emergence of a ‘Funders Forum’ who have been requested to undertake the review including the future of the Aspiring Places site which in the interim will remain a live site and continued important resource. 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 Members are asked to agree to: a) Note the successful launch of the Aspiring Places platform and that it remains a live site for the benefit of communities, funders and the Council; b) Note the key findings from the evaluation of the scheme as set out in paragraphs 4.7 to 4.33 and in particular an emerging need to develop a more sustainable approach to managing government grant funds in an equitable manner for the Council and our communities alike; and c) Request the Chief Executive to undertake a formal review of our approach to the management of grant funding in a manner that is aligned with the Corporate Plan and Connect for Success principles.
Page 4
4.0 DETAIL 4.1 Members will recall from the Council meeting of September 2024, agreement to the recommendations set out in the report ‘Aspiring Places: Community Projects in Argyll and Bute’ (formerly Area Plans) as follows: a) Rename the initiative as ‘Aspiring Places: Community Projects in Argyll and Bute’. b) Adopt Consul Democracy, a COSLA supported tool for civic participation, as a user friendly digital platform to which constituted community groups can promote their proposals (regardless of stage of development). c) Engage with all community groups over the same period of time rather than a phased approach on an area basis. d) Provide guidance to inform community groups of potential funding opportunities. e) With the emergence of a live community digital platform, no longer create the publication of 8 ‘Area Plan’ documents and subject to a trial period, alternatively report to members on a) the outcomes of the initiative through a formal evaluation and b) future recommendations on the long term viability and retention of the Aspiring Places – Community Projects in Argyll and Bute initiative. 4.2 The vision of the initiative is ‘to create in one place, a comprehensive picture of all community projects to increase the likelihood of collaboration, securing external funding and implementation of projects in a planned approach to place’. 4.3 Further to testing with a panel of community groups, Aspiring Places platform was launched as a digital platform in March 2025 and supported by the following: a. In collaboration with other services and organisations, participated in a promotional ‘Funding Connections Roadshow’ taking in Bute, Dunoon, Islay, Jura, Lochgilphead, Mull and Oban. Officers attended a separate and larger community event in Helensburgh at the time of the launch. b. In addition to online guidance, project officers were available to directly support community organisations in tutorials on the platform and responded to all enquiries and requests for assistance. 4.4 Set out in the table below is the number of registrations and projects published on the platform as of 30 June 2025, broken down by administrative area. Administrative Area No. of Registrations No. of Projects Published Argyll & Bute-wide 11 3 Bute & Cowal 31 13 Helensburgh & Lomond 27 9 Mid Argyll, Kintyre & the Islands 49 40
Page 5
Oban, Lorn & the Isles 39 38 Unknown 1 0 Outwith Argyll & Bute 2 2 Total 159 104 4.5 Once a community group has published a project proposal on the platform, it can be connected with relevant funding opportunities and during the pilot period, three ‘expressions of interest’ for the following government funds were issued by council officers through the Aspiring Places platform: a) Carbon Neutral Islands Fund b) Regeneration Capital Grant Fund c) Community Led Local Development Fund 4.6 An important observation is the notable increase in the registration of community groups and projects in direct correlation with the announcement of request for expressions of interest for government funds. Evaluation 4.7 As agreed by the Council in September 2024, an evaluation was undertaken and the table below provides an overview of the approach and participants. Table: Numbers of evaluation participants by stakeholder group Evaluation Method Community group staff or volunteer Council Officers Elected Members Community Planning Partners Individuals in the Community 1 Baseline Survey 109 17 4 8 112 2 ‘Funding Connections’ Feedback Survey n/a 7 n/a n/a n/a 3 Semi-structured interviews n/a 8 n/a n/a n/a 4 Follow-up Survey 60 9 7 6 308 4.8 The key findings of the evaluation are set out below: a) Engagement - over 150 community group members registered, and 104 project proposals were published during the pilot phase. b) Level of participation - 83% of publishing groups submitted Expressions of Interest for funding. c) Correlation between funds and registrations - project proposals submitted by community groups appeared to be driven by the Council’s request for
Page 6
Expressions of Interest for the 3 government funds that had to be submitted via the Aspiring Places platform if to be considered. d) The critical importance of government grant funds for community projects. e) User satisfaction: i. 85% of users who published a project were satisfied with the submission process. ii. 80% of project-uploading groups found the platform valuable. f) Internal collaboration - the pilot strengthened cross-departmental collaboration, particularly between Community Development and Economic Growth teams, supporting the Council’s “One Council One Place” transformation principle. 4.9 Key challenges were identified as follows: a) Participation barriers: i. A small percentage of users faced difficulties with the platform. ii. Examples of communities with low confidence in accessing digital platforms. iii. A perception that the platform was not relevant to smaller or early-stage projects. b) Geographic disparities - uptake varied across the region. c) Cross-service dependencies: user satisfaction and value was (partially) dependent on successful collaboration between stakeholders. d) Sustainability - concerns were raised about the resources required to maintain and develop the platform beyond a pilot phase and a need for an efficient method of administrating grant funds. 4.10 As shared at the Elected Members Seminar 18 September 2025, the key recommendations from the evaluation are as follows: a) Strategic development: consideration to further developing a digital platform that supports delivery of the empowered and resilient communities theme in the Council’s Corporate Plan. b) Value: seek to ensure value for all participating, including those not seeking external funding. c) Funding: explain what funding will be promoted and how decisions will be made. d) Community engagement: target under-represented areas. e) Promotion: use a multi-channel approach. f) Data and evidence: consider how data can be used to support outcomes. Reassessing the problems we seek to address. 4.11 A particular challenge with this initiative has been to understand our future needs. As set out in the vision (to create in one place, a comprehensive picture of all community projects to increase the likelihood of collaboration, securing external
Page 7
funding and implementation of projects in a planned approach to place), Aspiring Places started out as a dynamic platform to address two problems defined as follows: a) Capture a comprehensive picture of all community projects. b) Due to the increasing critical importance of government grants to fund community projects, seek to increase our share. 4.12 Whilst the Aspiring Places platform has been successful in addressing the first problem defined above, as concluded in the evaluation, project proposals submitted by community groups was partly driven by the Council’s request for Expressions of Interest for the 3 government funds and had to be submitted via the Aspiring Places platform. 4.13 A counterfactual question has emerged that asks if the request for Expressions of Interest for funds were not launched via the Aspiring Places platform, what would the actual number of community project submissions be? Whilst we don’t know the answer, it is safe to assume that it would be less than the 104 received from 159 groups during the pilot period. 4.14 This in turn led to the project manager seeking an understanding of the current grant funding environment and its relationship with the problems defined above and concluded that there is anecdotal evidence that 2020 onwards (in a post EU environment), has witnessed a rapidly evolving landscape of (government) grant funding for community projects that has unwittingly resulted in a complex and systemic issue that: a) Places enormous and growing pressure on ‘local systems’ (i.e. local authorities and community groups). b) Created a hidden and growing cost to local government (and taxpayers). 4.16 Set out below is an abstract diagram that seeks to illustrate the modern practice of how governments connect grants with community projects based on an understanding of the following characteristics: a) Community groups receive capital benefits towards projects (whilst noting that many bids can be unsuccessful). b) Government (both UK and SG) receive policy benefits (i.e. demonstrable efforts in use of funds to address policy issues). c) Local authorities are de-facto ‘middle management’ and often with either no benefits (i.e. service is gratis) or benefits in the form of ‘capacity payments’ that are projected to reduce in value in proportion to the level of ‘management’ required.
Page 8
Diagram: illustration of the practice of how governments connect grants with community projects. 4.17 Recent information suggests that this issue is likely to deteriorate, and it is proposed that this defines a third problem (in addition to the two defined above) as follows: a) A need to develop more sustainable solutions to managing government grant funds in an equitable manner for the Council and our communities alike. 4.18 It is possible that due to the unpredictable future of public sector policy and funding arrangements, the Aspiring Places platform may not be suitable for our longer term future needs and in the absence of a satisfactory approach to managing government grant funds, noting the critical correlation between government grants for communities and the sharing of community projects, it is suggested that it cannot be assumed that continued investment in the Aspiring Places model at this stage is best value for money. 4.19 Therefore it is proposed that new activity is required to build on our understanding to date and develop more sustainable solutions for the benefit of our organisation and our communities alike before making further decisions with regards to Aspiring Places. 4.20 In response to this emerging need, an unintended benefit of this initiative is the emergence of an officer only ‘Funders Forum’ established with management approval for colleagues involved in administrating grants and with an approved
Page 9
purposed to inter-alia share intelligence, best practice, shared support, coordinate potential wider funding bids and identify and action on risks and opportunities. 4.21 Consequently the Council’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT) has requested that the Funders Forum undertake a formal review of our approach to the management of grant funding in a manner that is aligned with the Corporate Plan and Connect for Success principles and submit recommendations to ELT for improvement. 4.22 As part of the review, further consideration will be given to the future use of the Aspiring Places site which in the interim, will remain a live site and continued important resource to capture community projects and link with government funds until any future recommendations are made to Members. 4.33 This activity provides the opportunity to ensure that the Council develops a sufficient understanding of the complex and inter-related problems to support good decisions based on evidence and data and the future needs of the organisation and our communities. 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 The Aspiring Places initiative emerged from an idea to have a clear picture of community projects in order to be better placed to increase our share of government grant funds. 5.2 The initiative has been shaped by wider engagement with a range of stakeholders including communities and colleagues from which it has emerged that government grants are a) critical to community projects and b) is proving to be an increasingly complex issue that is increasing costs with diminishing benefits to local authorities (and taxpayers). 5.3 It is argued that a wider and deeper piece of work is now required to build on our understanding to date and develop alternative and potentially more sustainable solutions for the benefit of our organisation and our communities alike. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy; delivery of a priority within the Council’s Corporate Plan 2025 – 2027 to enhance and deepen our understanding of local issues and improve collaboration including launch of Aspiring Places: Community Projects in Argyll and Bute. 6.2 Financial; none, the next step review will be met from existing resources. 6.3 Legal; none. 6.4 HR; none. 6.5 Customer Service; none.
Page 10
6.6 Risk; none. 6.7 Climate Change; none. 6.8 Fairer Scotland Duty: none 6.9 Equalities - protected characteristics; none. 6.10 Consumer Duty; none. 6.11 Island Communities; none. 6.12 Children’s Rights and Wellbeing; none. Pippa Milne, Chief Executive Policy Lead, Councillor Jim Lynch. 05 November 2025 For further information contact: Stuart Green, Corporate Support Manager, Chief Executives Unit. stuart.green@argyll-bute.gov.uk