Policy blog

There can be no underestimating the importance of trust in charities, which is already at a high level in Scotland. Public trust in the charity ‘brand’ is one of the most powerful assets our sector holds, but gaining and retaining this is not easy in 2019. The environment that... Read more

Council finance officers are today analysing what effect the Scottish Government’s budget will have on local finances. One area likely to be welcomed by authorities is a commitment to move to three-year council budgets. This will result in less uncertainty across Scottish... Read more

So, you're facing a crisis? Matters of state? Constitutional chaos? International economic catastrophe? Your place in the world? Have you tried Gordon Brown? In all his tarnished armour, Scotland's answer to Don Quixote rides once more to front lines - proffering his solution to... Read more

The Scottish Government and COSLA’s Public Health Reform aims to create “a Scotland where everybody thrives”. As part of this reform, the Improving Health Commission is looking into prioritising health as a human right, taking a Health in All Policies approach and prioritise... Read more

The recent visit to Scotland of Professor Philip Alston, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, shone a light on what organisations working on poverty-related issues already know to be true; that the increasing levels of poverty that we have... Read more

As colleagues across the sector will know, getting an amendment into the Bill is one of the strongest ways to make change, as the amendment becomes law. So how can the sector effectively engage with the Scottish Parliament’s Bill process to progress their policy proposals? Last... Read more

Amongst the hubbub of Brexit dealings and confidence votes, you could have been forgiven for forgetting about the humble old Scottish Budget, which was delivered by Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay, yesterday afternoon. As I mentioned in a previous piece on the Programme for... Read more

Scotland is “mopping up the mess” of UK welfare policy, this was the key assertion from Aileen Campbell MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, during last month’s Ministerial Statement on the interim findings from the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme... Read more

I’m no Carol Vorderman, but the numbers don’t look good for Theresa May pushing her Brexit deal through the House of Commons. A combination of opposition parties and Tory rebels make it appear a mathematical impossibility. After two long years, the PM signed off on an agreement... Read more

Following the release of the Scottish Government's 'Fair Start Scotland', 'Work First Scotland' & 'Work Able Scotland' statistics publication, the fifth publication in a series about the devolved Scottish employability services, SCVO's Chief Executive Anna Fowlie responded today... Read more