Communities Scotland was an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...

of the Scottish Government from 2001 to 2008. The Agency was responsible for housing, homelessness, communities and regeneration throughout

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Communities Scotland was headquartered in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

with 8 area offices throughout Scotland. Communities Scotland was disbanded on 1 April 2008, when most of its responsibilities transferred to the Housing and Regeneration directorate of the Scottish Government. The

Scottish Housing Regulator The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) is an independent Non-Ministerial Department, directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament. The body was established on 1 April 2011 under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. SHR is the successor to the prev ...

was formed to take over the work of Communities Scotland's Regulation and Inspection division.

History

Communities Scotland was formed in 2001 as the Executive's housing and regeneration delivery agency. The Agency was charged with meeting the objectives of the Scottish Executive as set out in the ''Partnership for a better Scotland'', a joint statement of the Scottish Executive to improve the life of people in Scotland. On 31 October 2007

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

, the

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, commonly referred to as the Health Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for the Health and Social Care Directorates and NHS Scotland. ...

, announced that she had decided to abolish Communities Scotland as a separate agency and bring its main non-regulatory functions into the core Scottish Government. She confirmed that its regulatory functions would be reformed to operate outside the Government and independently of Ministers.

Role

The Agency had five stated objectives: * To increase the supply of affordable housing where it is needed most. * To improve the quality of existing houses and ensure a high quality of new build. * To improve the quality of housing and homelessness services. * To improve the opportunities for people living in disadvantaged communities. * To support the social economy to deliver key services and create job opportunities. Communities Scotland was granted a budget of £800 million in 2006–07. It provided grants to individuals, organisations and local authorities in Scotland for housing and community projects. It also acted as an inspector and regulator for

registered social landlord In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help fin ...

s and local authorities in the provision of social housing (e.g.

council house A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

s).

References

External links

Official website
(statement of closure date with links to successor bodies) 2001 establishments in Scotland Defunct bodies of the Scottish government Government agencies established in 2001 Housing in Scotland Homelessness in Scotland Executive agencies of the Scottish Government 2008 disestablishments in Scotland Government agencies disestablished in 2008 Organisations based in Edinburgh {{Scotland-gov-stub

History

Role

See also

References

External links