The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB.
Help shape SCVO’s response to the Scottish Government's Community Wealth Building Bill Consultation
The Scottish Government’s Building Community Wealth in Scotland consultation was launched at the start of the year and seeks to legislate on the delivery of a wellbeing economy in Scotland.
SCVO are responding to the consultation and are seeking views from the sector on what this legislation needs to deliver for the sector and communities.
What is Community Wealth Building?
Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an approach to economic development which aims to address systemic challenges by reappropriating public spending so that wealth and assets are locally owned and redirected back into the economy and community.
This is achieved through harnessing the economic and social power of anchor institutions such as hospitals, universities and local government, who can exert influence through their procurement of goods and services, workforce and employment capacity, and by use of their facilities and land assets, to better support their local and regional economies.
The approach also involves developing community-owned and controlled institutions and assets that focus on service to the public over profit maximization and linking them to the procurement power of anchor institutions. Community Wealth Building centers around five key pillars: spending, workforce, land and property, inclusive ownership and finance.
Community Wealth Building in Scotland
The Scottish Government have committed to exploring Community Wealth Building as an approach to delivering a wellbeing economy for Scotland, and plan to introduce legislation on Community Wealth Building during the current Parliamentary session as outlined in PfG 2020-2021 and the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET).
The Bill will aim to cement the role local authorities and other public sector anchor organisations play in supporting local economic development and advancing a wellbeing economy, legislating for them to consider their economic footprint within a wider place system.
New CWB legislation is intended to provide a statutory underpinning to deepen and further embed CWB activity across Scotland. This legislation will build on the successes and learnings from current local and regional pilot areas across urban and rural Scotland: North Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire, Glasgow City Region, Tay Cities Region, South of Scotland and the Western Isles.
Why are SCVO responding?
Community Wealth Building touches upon SCVO’s existing work on procurement, fair funding, the living wage, partnership working, the National Performance Framework, and our commitment to ensuring the sector’s role in the economy is valued and understood.
We want to make sure our response, and our support for our Chief Exec Anna Fowlie who is on the Community Wealth Building Steering Group, is guided by the work and lived experiences of the sector, and that national legislation reflects what is needed in communities.
Please get in touch with me at kyrstie.brown@scvo.scot no later than 13 April if you would like to share your thoughts and experiences on Community Wealth Building.
