FAQ's about Community Benefits Wishlist

What are 'Community Benefits'?

Community benefits are built into the Council's procurement processes, designed to bring added value to communities when the Council tenders for a service. Social, environmental and employability support can be provided by companies who have goods, service and works contracts, ensuring that the impact of them winning that tender, gives something back to the people of Dumfries and Galloway directly.

Why a Wishlist?

As part of Dumfries and Galloway Council's commitment to Community Wealth Building, we are reviewing how our community benefits are delivered, with the aim of improving the process for both communities and suppliers. The Wishlist allows us to share the requests for support that our Council has received from groups across Dumfries and Galloway region, and acts as a 'one stop shop' for Council suppliers to see the range of community benefit opportunities available. Registering a wish with us helps to get your needs out there and spread the word on Community Wealth Building.

How does the process work?

The Wishlist form is open to any community group, organisation, association, social enterprise or charity within Dumfries and Galloway who would like to request external support. A simplified version of the process can be seen below:

There are several steps to the process:

1. The wishes can be submitted using the Wishlist form. Once you have completed the form, we will receive a notification and the wishlist will be updated the last Friday of every month.  You may have up to three wishes on the Wishlist at any one time. Additional requests cannot be added until one of your existing wishes has been completed.
    
2. If the Community Benefit leads have any questions or need any further information from you, we'll be in touch using the contact details you've submitted. We will only use this contact information for communication regarding community benefits, and you may ask us to remove it, along with any wishes, at any time.
    
3. After receiving your form, we will either:
   a. Upload your requests to the wishlist viewable publicly on www.dumgal.gov.uk.
   b. Be in touch to clarify any questions we have about what has been submitted to ensure the wish is as clear as possible for contractors.

The portal may take up to 2 weeks to add your request, so check back within 14 days to see when your wishes have been added. We aim to review all new requests within 10 working days of submission - you should hear back from us within this timeframe to confirm your wish has been added to the benefits wishlist. The wish may take up to 2 weeks to be published.

If a contractor feels they could help you with your request, we will put you in touch so that you can work together directly. Support is available if you need it during this phase - your Ward Officer can signpost you in the right direction.

Once you've agreed the scope and timeframe for the community benefit to be delivered, the contractor will fulfil their side of the agreement and undertake the work, support, donation, or other help they've agreed to. Once this has been done, we ask that those receiving the benefit report back via Community.Benefits@dumgal.gov.uk to allow us to monitor and report on committed benefit wishes, which feeds into our reporting to the Scottish Government, as well as ongoing improvements to community benefits processes at Dumfries and Galloway Council.

How long does the process take?

New requests will be reviewed and uploaded on the last Friday of every calendar month. Your wish will be added to the Wishlist, you should only hear back from us where there are further clarifications on your submission. If you have not had your wish added and 2 calendar months have passed since submission, please contact Community.Benefits@dumgal.gov.uk for further assistance.

There are no guarantees around how long it might take for your wish to be selected, and we unfortunately can't promise that your request will be fulfilled. However, we will do all we can to signpost contractors who work with our Council to the requests on the portal and promote the many opportunities to give back to them as part of our procurement processes.

To ensure the list remains accurate, wishes that have not been selected after one year will be removed from the list. Where your wish contains a deadline date , contact will be made directly to determine if this wish is still required. Where the wish is no longer required, this will be removed. You may then submit a new wish if you choose or make updates to your existing wishes.

Completing the wish list form

You can access the form Community Benefits Wishlist - Dumfries and Galloway Council (dumgal.gov.uk).

If you need any help to complete it, you can email the Community Benefits mailbox at Community.Benefits@dumgal.gov.uk , and we'll get back to you or alternatively contact your Ward Officer.

Below is an explanation of the questions to help you provide the right information and minimise the delay between submitting it and our portal being updated.

Name of community group, organisation, association, or charity

If you are requesting support for a specific project your organisation is running, you. can specify this here. For example: Children's After School Club run by [name of organisation].

Organisation/Group Address

Where is your organisation/group based? The location of your organisation will be mapped and be viewable on the Community Benefits Wishlist page.

Please provide a short overview of what your group does.

This helps to provide some context for contractors who may not be familiar with yourgroup. If you have a website or social media pages, please also provide these here,and we can share them with interested businesses.

For example: "Children's After School Club supports school age children and young people in Newton Stewart with activities to build their confidence, support their learning and grow their interests in a safe and fun environment. We're open to any pupil in Newton Stewart, Monday to Friday, 3.30-5.30pm."

Which Council Ward are you based in?

The Council has 12 wards, and we'll be using this information to help identify contracts that are going on in the area you're based in. You can check which locality your locality falls at https://apps.dumgal.gov.uk/findnearest.

Contact Name, Role in the organisation & contact information

Add the contact's name of the representative who should be contacted regarding the community benefit wishes and the position/role within the organisation.

Add an email address that can be used to contact regarding the delivery of community benefit wishes and a telephone number.

The contact's name, email address and telephone number used will be shared with the supplier expressing an interest to delivering your request and will be done so in line with UK GDPR legislation and Dumfries and Galloway Council's Privacy Notice.

Please note only contact information associated with the Community Group/Organisation should be used. If you have any questions regarding use of contact details, please contact Community.Benefits@dumgal.gov.uk.

Community Benefit Wishes

Wish 1: Type of community benefit your organisation/group requires?

• Equipment / product / materials / donations
• Sponsorship or funding initiatives
• Volunteering
• Work Experience
• Other

Wish 1: Describe what community benefit your organisation/group requires?

Provide some details - for example, if you're looking for a donation of materials, what kind, and how much do you need? Is it for a specific project? Is there a deadline?

The process will then provide you with the option to submit another 2 wishes (maximum 3 per submission).

Privacy Notice & Data Sharing Procedure

Dumfries and Galloway Council's privacy notice can be found Privacy statement - Dumfries and Galloway Council (dumgal.gov.uk)

As part of the Wishlist process, your group/organisation contact details will be shared with suppliers who express and interest in providing your request(s). This will be done adhering to UK GDPR and the Council's Privacy Notice. Further information can be obtained from Community.Benefits@dumgal.gov.uk . By submitting a request for Community Benefit Wishes, you are agreeing for contact information to be shared with Council Suppliers where they wish to complete your request.