News & Views

The EDAS Community Wealth Building Open Session 5, titled, ‘Local Authorities and Resources’, welcomed speakers from Scottish Government and Local Authorities.

With a focus on sharing, networks and learning as to how local councils are advancing Community Wealth Building,  the session highlighted the importance of the role of councils, existing corporate strategy and progress across the pillars of community wealth building.

Speakers

• Liz McEntee, Chair, EDAS

• Tracy Jackson, Community Wealth Building Policy Manager, Scottish Government

• Sinead O’Donnell, Project Manager, Communities Directorate, Fife Council

• Alison Davidson, Team Leader, Economic Development, Clackmannanshire Council

• Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Glasgow City Council

• Mhairi Paterson, Community Wealth Building Coordinator

• Jude King, Programme Manager, North Ayrshire Council

Recording of session

Click on the video below to play. You can download the slides here.

Key points from speakers

Community Wealth Building and the fit into corporate strategy, Sinead O’Donnell, Project Manager, Communities Directorate, Fife Council

• Scene setting: Fife is often considered to be a microcosm of Scotland due to its diverse areas both rural and urban.
• Strategic approach to CWB across the local authority was pulled into the ten year, Plan4Fife as the focus from 2021 – 2024 as a mechanism to achieve goals such as, leading economic recovery, tackling poverty and preventing crisis and addressing the climate emergency.
• To implement CWB into existing corporate strategy, a separate list of commitments were compiled: Develop a CWB model of economic reocvery and development; Develop a CWB approach to the climate emergency; Embed local people and place-based approaches across the Fife partnership; Redesign systems and processes to deliver wider social benefit through procurement, recruitment, fair employment and the use of land and assets; Expand support for community ownership, social enterprise, and community owned businesses through a new business support hub; Further develop the role of Credit Unions and the CDFI to support financial resilience and wellbeing.

Advancing fair work and living wage through fair work charter: Alison Davidson, Team Leader, Economic Development, Clackmannanshire Council

• Good Employment Charter working group was set up in April 2021, which includes representation from Clackmannanshire Alliance organisations: Clackmannanshire Council, University of Stirling, Central Scotland Police, NHS Forth Valley, Clackmannanshire third sector interface, Forth Valley College.
• The process to date has included bi-monthly meetings where union representatives are invited to attend, agreement from parties to follow Scottish Government Fair Work framework with an output of a draft charter which has pledges around 6 topics – Effective Voice; Opportunity; Security; Fulfilment; Wellbeing; Respect. After consultation and agreement a seventh pledge was added on the topic of Environmental change.
• Next steps include: The draft charter being presented to the Anchor Partnership, agreement on priority groups to be supported through ‘opportunity’ pledge, final version to be presented to Clackmannanshire Alliance for sign off, sub group to be set up to consider implementation and roll out to other businesses across the region.

Land and property – vacant and derelict land (VDL): Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Glasgow City Council

• Current activities around CWB taking place at Glasgow City Council include: agreement from Council to adopt a CWB approach to policy making across the council, mapping of activity that relates to CWB but is not currently badged as such, continuing this mapping exercise by encouraging Anchor organisation to undertake similar exercises, creating a CWB action plan.
• Under procurement of goods and services the following changes have pulled CWB into existing practices: enhanced focus on community benefits along with delivery and consequences for non-delivery; support for consortium bids from social enterprises and charities; identifying contracts suitable for social enterprises and supporting capacity building in that sector.
• Under socially just use of land and property, the following changes have pulled CWB into existing practices: More liberal use of CPO powers; supporting development trusts with funding applications for vacant and derelict land; People Make Glasgow Communities Programme.

Finance, ownership and the Ayrshire Growth Deal: Mhairi Paterson, Community Wealth Building Coordinator, and Jude King, Programme Manager, North Ayrshire Council

• Council wide approach brings in regional and local partners and focuses across all the pillars of CWB (procurement, fair employment, land and assets, financial power and plural ownership of the economy) to see the pillars as mutually supportive, particularly in the case of ownership and financial power, recognising the financial and economic power of the Council to spread wealth more broadly within the region.
• Under the pillar of Financial Power, North Ayrshire Council ihas implemented the following: investing in communities through the Community Investment Fund; empowering communities through the use of participatory budgeting; working with credit unions to develop financial literacy, encourage progressive finance and explore the feasibility of a mutually owned community bank; promoting investment within communities to regional and national institutions.
• Under the pillar of democratic ownership, the following has been implemented: a place-based locality approach to engaging with local communities and businesses; supporting wider forms of business ownership includig employee ownership, coops, community businesses and social enterprises; considering municipal ownership to advance CWB while protecting services; utlisiing land and property assets to develop low carbon and renewable energy schemes and support a geren transition.