People & Parliament

CHE Fellows Vérène Nicolas and Alastair McIntosh are part of the People & Parliament Steering Group, chaired by Canon Kenyon Wright. As a national project of value discernment, People & Parliament sought to clarify, for the new Scottish Parliament and community groups, questions of identity and values, vision for the future and expectations for the Parliament. In 1998, 28,000 leaflets were distributed, inviting people all over Scotland to discuss the following three issues:

We are a people who...
By the year 2020 we would like to see a Scotland in which...
We therefore expect our parliament to work with the people in ways which...

Programme objectives

• Deepening the debate about the new Scottish Parliament by getting behind the short-term political arguments, to the common perceptions and values in Scotland today, the aspirations for the future, and ideas about making that vision a reality.
• Broadening the debate by bringing in those who feel excluded, powerless or marginalised, and whose views are not usually heard.

Achievements to date

Over 450 group responses have been received representing at least 3500 who took part directly in the whole exercise. Many of the People & Parliament groups were from sectors of society who often feel excluded - unemployed, homeless, pensioners, disabled, ethnic minorities.

Three reports have been published: the summary of results will be widely distributed all over Scotland, the Executive Report has been sent to all the groups who have participated to the exercise and all the MSP candidates, Scottish MPs and MEPs and the full technical report with a detailed analysis of all the results.

Regional conferences have been organised in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glenrothes to give feedback on the results and bring together ordinary citizens and politicians. These conference have in total attracted 300 people, included a good number of MSP candidates who joined small group discussions with people who had participated in the People & Parliament exercise.

The Way Forward

With the publication of the results and their presentation to the people of Scotland, the People & Parliament project is complete. However the hopes and expectations it reveals so strongly and consistently, remain. Within the Centre we are now developing two projects which are directly inspired from the results of the People & Parliament process:

Participation of Ethnic Minorities in Scottish Democracy (see description below)

The Scottish Boal Hit Squad in partnership with Theatre Workshop, SEAD (Scottish Education and Action for Development), Friends of the Earth and the Big Issue. This project aims to use Augusto Boal's "Theatre of the Oppressed" to help marginalised groups to express their views in relation to the Scottish Parliament.

Programme Partners

• The People & Parliament Steering Group
• The Scottish Churches
• The Craighead Institute, Glasgow
• Scottish Human Services, Edinburgh
• Conroy Associates, Glasgow

Programme Staff

Vérène Nicolas and Alastair McIntosh as part of the People & Parliament Steering Group