Community Wealth Building Bill is published!
By Neil McInroy
The recently published Scottish Community Wealth Building Bill will be a welcome, progressive and powerful addition to economic development in Scotland. At present, Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an optional and discretionary activity, thus the legislation will serve to make CWB activity mandatory – elevating, amplifying and scaling action and outcomes.
There has been consultation on the Bill, and over the last five years CWB has already advanced in Scotland with some Local Authorities producing action plans with other community, regional, public bodies and anchor organisations adopting the model. Furthermore, ‘community wealth’ is now a term and concept used in business and in local place and economic development more generally. All testament to a growing and successful agenda.
However, putting CWB into statute through legislation matters. Scotland and the world stands at a crossroads, an inflexion point, moving from an old fossil-fuelled economy with unsustainable resource use and unacceptable levels of poverty and inequality, towards a new economy that is more resilient, dynamic, prosperous, fair and green. The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act 2026 will be an important marker and boost to that quest. It will be a supportive and enabling legislative change, ensuring that CWB activity will not be done in isolation, but comprehensively, helping Scotland to go further in creating a dynamic economy where more wealth can be generated, circulated and retained for the benefit of all who live here.
Community Wealth Building is a practical, action-focussed approach to economic development in place, delivered through its actionable five pillar model (see ourEDAS guide), but also rooted in a robust theory, with a progressive provenance of economic system change, economic democracy and wellbeing economics. As such, any successful CWB legislation needs to be mindful and balance bespoke local contextual practice and pathways of the ‘here and now’, whilst still creating legislative guide rails and stipulations for deeper and aspirational economic system change. In striking this important balance, the Bill will legislate in three key ways.
Firstly, the Government must publish a CWB statement, stating what it intends doing across a range of elements relating to the five pillars of CWB, and report on progress. This, in essence, enshrines CWB as a key part of Scotland’s economic landscape now and into the future, setting out Government action and delivery plans. It means CWB will be an ongoing national economic development process and mission.
Secondly, the Bill ensures that all local authorities and relevant public bodies (including amongst others Local Anchor Organisations as well as Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of SScotland Enterprise) must as part of a ‘community wealth building partnership’ and produce a CWB action plan. These blueprints will set out the specific measures the community partnership needs to take in supporting the generation, circulation and retention of wealth in local economies.
This is a significant shift as regards economic development. At present, economic development is merely a responsibility of local authorities – meaning they have the power to undertake economic development activities. But this is only a ‘permissive power’ rather than a statutory duty. With this Bill, CWB action plans and their progressive economic development aims will be legally mandated as a core function of local authorities and, by association, their partner bodies.
Thirdly, the Bill stipulates that the Scottish Government must issue guidance on CWB, and a range of public bodies must make due regard to this in their corporate plans and delivery strategies. This means that these public bodies will be legally recognising CWB and their role as economic agents for change into their activities and work.
Of course, legislation is not everything. It is vitally important to recognise that CWB in Scotland is happening and is unlocking success, with significant action across the three legs to the CWB stool – practice, networks and policy. The Bill will, however, both consolidate gains already made, whilst helping a deeper and faster take up and push.
As regards Practice, CWB in Scotland started in North Ayrshire Council, and was followed by Scottish Government ‘pilot projects’ action plans in five other locations (Clackmannanshire, Fife, Glasgow City Region, South of Scotland and the Western Isles). And many other local council areas, under their own steam, have since taken up CWB by drawing up action plans. Furthermore, other organisations and anchor organisations ( including some Health Boards) have part-adopted CWB and woven it into their activities, covering aspects of the five-pillar model. With the Bill legislating for and detailing the role of Government and stipulated public bodies, it makes CWB more universally deployed across Scotland, thus deepening and scaling impact.
In terms of Networks and movement building, there are already local networks of folks, as well as national networks such as the CWB centre for excellence run by the Economic Development Association of Scotland (EDAS) and a community of practice run by the Improvement Service. There are also a range of organisations who advocate and campaign for community wealth across the five pillars. The Bill ups the anti on the network learning and sharing, creating a bigger and deeper cohort of activity which will create greater collective effort and deeper outcomes.
And, as regards Policy, there is existing policy by which aspects of the five pillars can be advanced. This primary CWB legislation and guidance will give an added boost to a whole range of policy areas as it will create – and, critically, enable – a mutually reinforcing context for these other secondary legislative and policy levers. This includes new potentially progressive procurement measures, links to the Scottish Government’s Land Reform Bill, growth of inclusive and democratic business models, fair work and more effective deployment and democratisation of finance. With key significance in economic sectors such as energy.
Turning to the Parliamentary process timetable, we can expect Stage 1 to be undertaken by this autumn (2025). Subject to Parliament, stages 2 and 3 may take place in early next year, with Legislation passed before the next Scottish Parliament elections in May 2026
At the end of the day, legislation is just legislation. It always should – yet doesn’t always – prompt the required action or add meaningful value. In this Bill we have something which potentially avoids this pitfall. It is a measured Bill, cognisant and informed by ongoing practice and learnings, the existing networks and the desire and need for progressive economic change that truly works for people, place and planet.
I look forward to ongoing engagement, along with democratic debate inside and outside of Parliament. Not only will this make the legislation even stronger but it will serve as a boost to the ongoing CWB movement and its aim in creating an economy and patterns of wealth that truly work for the planet and all who live here.
Oban-based economist Neil McInroy is globally-recognised as an expert in community wealth building. He is Chair of EDAS and holds a senior role with The Democracy Collaborative.