| AdminHistory | Communication Services was the final incarnation of a department that had played a vital role in the development of Livingston's community. From the outset the Livingston Development Corporation was tasked not just with developing a physical infrastructure of roads and buildings, but of fostering and facilitating a well-balanced community with a sense of local identity.
The Development Corporation appointed its (and Scotland's) first Housing and Social Relations Officer in 1963. As the title implies, the emphasis was on providing an access point for the town's new residents to raise issues with the Corporation. The first Community Development Officer was appointed in 1966, but until 1982 the function of Community Development remained a junior partner. From 1971 the Community Development Team was based at Howden Park Centre, separated from other departments of the Development Corporation, and only loosely co-ordinated with Housing and Social Relations Department.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, the role of community development grew in importance as there was a recognition that simply providing facilities for social groups did not sufficiently attend to the needs of the community. With the retirement of teh Housing Manager, Leslie Higgs, in 1982, the department responsible for Community Department was formally placed on equal footing with the Housing Department, as shown by its replacing of Social Relations in the department name- those functions which had been deemed to come under social relations were then folded into the much enlarged Community Development Department.
Despite the merging of Housing and Community Development, and although there were areas of overlap in aims, objectives and operations, Community Development operated largely independently, and increasingly so through the 1980s. Final separation came in September 1990, and for a short while Community Development functioned as a separate entity within the Livingston Development Corporation.
Following further organisational changes to the Corporation in 1991, Community Development was attached to the Commercial Directorate where it was thought that it could liaise effectively with the marketing team and public relations team.
Community Development's final move within the organisation came in December 1993. Moving towards the windup of the Corporation, the head of Community Development was seconded to the Chief Executive's Office and the Community Development Department was disbanded. Its remaining, limited functions were returned from the Commercial Directorate to the Property Services Directorate and renamed Communication Services. Its emphasis in these final years was on maintaining communication with community groups and ensuring that community facilities were passed to community bodies once the Development Corporation ceased to exist. Together with the Financial and Management Services Directorate it also reviewed and published staff news letters.
By whatever title it was known, social relations, community development or communication services, there were the same key functions from 1962-1996: to help create a balanced and caring community in Livingston, and to develop a sense of identity belonging to local people with a strong community spirit. The department aimed to achieve this by encouraging opportunities for people to participate fully in local affairs, by developing a well-resourced and active voluntary sector, by developing a broad and relevant range of services from the statutory and voluntary sectors, and by providing a range of community services. Under the statutory terms that had created the Development Corporation, the Corporation could not provide ongoing funding to community groups, however, it could contribute to the initial capital costs under certain circumstances. The Corporation could also provide advice and training to assist community groups and individuals to improve their professionalism, performance and knowledge.
Examples of projects which Community Development supported include: the Knightsridge and Craigshill Initiatives, West Lothian Youth Theatre, Braid House Day Centre, Livingston Council for Older People and the creation of Livingston Skatebowl, amongst many others. |
| ScopeandContent | 4 series comprising:
1. Department Management. This series consists of the minutes, and associated papers, of the meetings of the various senior staff bodies that were responsible for the managment of Community Development. This series also contains the records relating to the Major and Minor Amenities funds, which controlled financing to community groups, 1968-1995.
2. Inter-agency bodies contains material generated by the liaison of the Corporation with other statutory and voluntary bodies in the Lothian region (mainly Lothian Regional Council and West Lothian District Council), where the focus was on Community Development, 1976-1994.
3. Community Initiatives, Societies, Groups and Events, includes all surviving files related to the creation and management of community based initiatives and facilities in Livingston, 1964-1996.
4. Community Information: resident handbooks, maps, newsletters and informational leaflets, 1971-1994. |