Representing Members

Representation and Promotion

As a relatively young movement, DTA Scotland needs a strong voice to influence the policy, enterprise and funding contexts within which development trust operate, and to ensure that opportunities and resources are available to support their continued growth and development.

To do this, DTA Scotland undertakes a range of promotional and representational activities

• within the community, social enterprise and voluntary sectors
• with local authorities and the Scottish Government
• with other relevant public and private agencies
• with key funders

These activities are wide-ranging in nature but include, for example, responding to consultations, attending Cross Party Working Groups and other meetings within the Scottish Parliament and delivering presentations and training to local authority councilors and staff. In addition, DTA Scotland hosts Local People Leading (see link), which aims to provide a strong, co-ordinated voice for the community sector, and whose fortnightly e-bulletin has a distribution of almost 3,000.

A current focus of activity is the Promoting Asset Transfer programme (see link), funded by the Scottish Government and the Lankelly Chase Foundation, which involves direct work with local authorities and community organisations to advance the transfer of council assets to community ownership

The ability of DTA Scotland to do this effectively relies in part on our members being pro-active– feeding into consultations (see members area for latest submissions), attending strategic events, supporting DTA Scotland activities and raising the profile of development trusts and the movement as a whole with both political and agency representatives at a local level.