The Review of Non-Financial Support to Community Councils Working Group met to discuss the ongoing review of non-financial support provided to community councils. The meeting's agenda focused on reviewing previous meeting notes, recapping discussions, and planning the next steps for a public consultation on support mechanisms.

Consultation on Non-Financial Support

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to the upcoming public consultation regarding non-financial support for community councils. The consultation, scheduled to run from 5 June to 3 August 2026, aims to gather feedback on how the council can best assist these local bodies. The working group was presented with a link to the consultation platform: https://scotborders.citizenspace.com/customer-communities/cc-support-review/start_preview?token=ad507d8f29731f92f6070ce6330c5ebaad8981ba.

The report pack indicated that the consultation would cover various aspects of support, including guidance on website maintenance, public communications, and data protection considerations. It was also noted that the council would compile and share a list of generic contact details for relevant council services and other public sector agencies to aid community councils in their liaison efforts.

Secretarial Support and Meeting Arrangements

The working group was scheduled to consider options for supporting community councils with secretarial duties. This included exploring the provision of guidance, templates, and officer advice for functions such as arranging meetings, booking venues, preparing agendas, and issuing correspondence. The report pack highlighted that while some functions are the inherent responsibility of community councils, support could be beneficial in areas like website maintenance and public communications.

Discussions were also planned regarding minute-taking and meeting recording. The report pack noted the practical challenges of recording meetings, particularly larger in-person sessions, and the limitations of existing digital tools. The potential use of artificial intelligence tools for summarising material was mentioned, with the caveat that outputs would require human review. The group was also to consider guidance on records management, archiving, and maintaining asset registers.

The report pack indicated that officers would explore options for supporting community councils with meeting recording and minute-taking arrangements, and consider the inclusion of template options for minutes, action trackers, forward planners, and asset registers within the consultation material.

Community Council Networks

The meeting was also scheduled to discuss options for the future structure of community council networking. The preferred approach, as outlined in the report pack, was a Borders-wide model focused on information sharing, networking, and joint sessions. This would involve two larger meetings per year, with breakout sessions organised around shared interests or current issues. The rationale for not favouring locality-based models was to be set out, reflecting practical difficulties and previous experiences of variable participation.

Next Steps and Future Meetings

The working group was to agree on the next steps, which included the consultation period, analysis of consultation results, and the agreement of recommendations to be made to the Executive Committee by 11 August 2026. The report pack also detailed the schedule for future meetings, including an informal online meeting on 21 April 2026 and the current meeting on 2 June 2026, with papers for the Executive Committee meeting on 8 September 2026 to be published on 1 September 2026.

The meeting was scheduled to be held in Committee Room 3, Council Headquarters, Newtown St Boswells. Enquiries regarding the meeting could be directed to Declan Hall, via telephone on 01835 826556 or email at declan.hall@scotborders.gov.uk.

The membership of the Working Group included Councillor Caroline Cochrane (Chair), Councillor James Anderson, Councillor Tom Weatherston, Councillor John Paton-Day, Councillor Annette Smart, and Councillor Marshall Douglas, alongside community councillors Bob Hope, Mathew Ladds, Alex Baillie, Kevin Marsh, and Peter Maudsley. Susan Handyside and Clare Malster were also listed as attendees.