SCVO

Day

Wednesday 8 November

Time slot

13:30-14:30

This event took place over 1 year ago

Room

Carrick suite
Wheelchair accessible

Contact

Kyrstie Brown
0131 474 8000

Topics

Economy Policy & influencing Families and communities

Overall aim

This event will explore what a community centred approach to Community Wealth Building looks like, and the sector’s role in delivering this.

What is Community Wealth Building? 

Community Wealth Building (CWB) was first coined and tried in America. Its success inspired Preston City Council to adopt a version of it, with the support of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies. CWB is an economic approach which redirects money from anchor institutions (public bodies and large organisations in an area with influence through their buying/employment power) back into local communities. There are five pillars which drive the CWB approach: spending, workforce, land and property, inclusive ownership & finance. 

Community Wealth Building in Scotland 

The Scottish Government have committed to using CWB as a means to achieve a wellbeing economy. The Bill will cement the role local authorities and other public sector anchor organisations play in supporting local economic development and advancing a wellbeing economy.  

There are six CWB pilot regions in Scotland right now. Each one has worked with CLES to develop a CWB action plan. When legislation is finalised, all councils will be expected to develop a CWB action plan. Legislation will build on consultation responses and learnings from pilot areas. 

CWB, the voluntary sector, and the problems with implementation 

A lot of CWB work is driven around these action plans. The problem is that the voluntary sector doesn’t have much of a role to play in the planning or delivery of these action plans. 

Principles around CWB are not new to the sector, as many voluntary organisations already address issues related to the five pillars or fulfil the role of an anchor organisation by employing local people, delivering services, and purchasing goods and services. The sector is also well placed to help reach communities and understand what communities need. 

More work needs to be done to engage the sector & communities on the planning and delivery of CWB. It’s this lack of meaningful engagement which feeds into a top down approach.

Description

Community Wealth Building is a person-centred approach to economic development that aims to tackle inequality through the redistribution and retention of money and assets, to the benefit of local economies and communities.The Scottish Government have committed to adopting CWB as an approach to achieve their ambition of transforming Scotland into a wellbeing economy. There are currently six pilot CWB regions in operation across rural and urban areas in Scotland, with local authorities leading the implementation of CWB in each area.

While promising in theory, SCVO’s engagement with the sector on CWB reveals a wide range of concerns around implementation. Many see the Scottish government and local authorities taking a top-down approach to delivering CWB, which is at odds with the inclusive, community centred vision that was promised. For CWB to have the transformative effect it promises, a community centred approach built on the engagement and inclusion of communities and the sector is needed.

Who was the event aimed at?

Public

Who spoke at this event?

Martin Avila, Chief Executive, CEIS
Ruth Boyle, Policy and Campaigns Manager, The Poverty Alliance
John Hannen, Chief Executive Officer, GMCVO