Technical Notes 2025, Issue 93 - Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill

• The purpose of this Technical Note is to advise Members of the introduction of the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill and to seek any comments on the draft response prepared by Council officers to the Economy and Fair Work Committee’s Call for Views. The response deadline is 23 May 2025.

The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill as introduced

• The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill was introduced by the Scottish Government on Wednesday, 20 March 2025, with the purpose of ensuring consistent implementation of the community wealth building model across Scotland.
• The Bill as introduced is accompanied by the following supplementary information:
  • Explanatory Notes
  • Policy Memorandum
  • Financial Memorandum
  • Delegated Powers Memorandum
  • Statements on legislative competence
• The Bill as introduced and accompanying documents can be found on the Scottish Parliament Website.

Implications for Local Authorities

• The following paragraphs summarise the information provided by the Bill and its accompanying documents, particularly referring to implications for local authorities.

Overview – Extract from Explanatory Notes

• The Scottish Government has adopted the internationally recognised Community Wealth Building (CWB) approach to economic development as a means by which progress can be made towards realising the Wellbeing Economy vision outlined in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET). CWB acts as a strategic framework to build on policy actions already underway in Scotland, including in Fair Work, Sustainable Procurement, Community Empowerment and asset transfer. The Bill aims to create a statutory framework to unite these actions and ensure consistent implementation of the CWB model of economic development across Scotland by public sector anchor organisations.
• The Bill makes provision for Community Wealth Building in three ways:
  • It places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to produce and publish a CWB statement setting out measures to be taken by the Scottish Government in relation to CWB;
  • It requires local authorities, acting with certain public bodies within the local authority area, to produce CWB action plans setting out the measures to be taken within the local authority area in relation to CWB and to implement those plans so far as reasonably practicable; and,
  • It places a duty on Scottish Ministers to produce guidance in relation to both the production of action plans and the inclusion of CWB measures in strategic planning by public bodies.

Community Wealth Building Action Plans – Extract from Policy Memorandum

• Local authorities and relevant public bodies (to include Territorial Health Boards, Regional Colleges, Scottish Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and Regional Transport Partnerships) are to work together as a “community wealth building partnership.”
• CWB partnerships have a duty to prepare a CWB action plan for the area of the local authority within the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which the relevant section comes into force. This action plan must set out the measures the CWB partnership is taking or intends to take to facilitate and support the generation, circulation and retention of wealth in the local economy.
• To align with the CWB pillars, the CWB action plans may, in particular set out measures to:
  • use public procurement to facilitate or support such generation, circulation and retention,
  • support local economic operators to access public sector contracts,
  • promote—
    • employment opportunity,
    • workforce development,
    • equality in the workplace,
• diversify ownership of land or other assets by facilitating or supporting community ownership,
• bring vacant and derelict land back into use in a way that provides financial, social or environmental benefit to the community,
• encourage local business start-ups or entrepreneurship,
• promote or support the development of employee-owned businesses, co-operatives or social enterprises,
• such other measures as the community wealth building partnership considers appropriate.
• The CWB partners must, so far as reasonably practicable, implement the measures set out in the plan in the area of the local authority during the period to which the CWB action plan relates. The identified CWB partners responsible for action plans have been selected primarily on the basis that they are the public sector anchor organisations considered to have the greatest level of economic agency in local authority areas and wider regions. The core policy intention of the CWB action plan is to provide a means for these organisations to collaborate on joint actions, supported by their combined spending ability and broader powers.
• Two or more local authorities may act jointly, with the relevant public bodies, to prepare and publish a CWB action plan covering their respective areas. The government considers that local authorities will be best placed to make the decision as to whether or not they should collaborate with other Councils on their action plan. This path has been provided in order to reflect the growing preference for local authorities and their partners to adopt a regional partnership approach to economic development.

Costs on local authorities – Extract from Financial Memorandum

• The expected costs for local authorities to undertake the duties required by the Bill are focused on:
  • Requirement to work with local anchors to develop and implement a CWB action plan (timeline 3 years following the commencement of the relevant provision).
  • Requirement to consult on and publish the CWB action plan.
  • Requirement to review and update CWB action plans (timeline within 5 years of the most recently published version).
  • Requirement to take account of any associated guidance produced as part of the legislation.
• Feedback to Scottish Government from local authorities and other public bodies that are already implementing the CWB model has suggested that this works best where there is a lead officer to drive the agenda, as evidenced in the call for resources to support the implementation and adoption of CWB in the consultation responses.
• Local authorities have taken different approaches to implementing CWB as reported in a CWB Practitioner Network Survey. This ranges from the development of strategies and associated work being undertaken as part of an officer’s remit; a full-time lead CWB officer; multiple full-time CWB officers or a whole council approach with a full-time CWB officer supported by a virtual team of colleagues from across council departments.

In this context some local authorities may not consider the discharging of their duties as required by the Bill as creating additional costs.

• The favoured approach seems to be a lead officer with support from other local authority officers and as such has been used to estimate costs within this Financial Memorandum. In order to prepare the best estimate of costs they have been prepared on the basis of 1 full-time lead officer and 1 day per week per annum of an additional 5 officers to support the implementation and embedding of the approach across local authority departments.
• Local authority estimated annual staffing costs have been calculated using team leader level salary and estimated on costs (e.g. National Insurance, Pay as you earn, pension costs) of an additional 35%, this was based on information shared by Public Health Scotland and equates to £65,856.28 - £68,920.55.
• In addition to the duty with partners to develop and implement a CWB action plan, local authorities are required to lead a review of and publish their CWB action plan every five years. Total costs of publication have been estimated at £3,000. This is based on the feedback from the CWB Practitioners Network Survey where similar plans were digitally published on council websites.
• The Bill allows for local authorities to discharge their duty in partnership with neighbouring authorities if they so wish, which may reduce associated costs. For the purpose of estimating costs in the Financial Memorandum the Scottish Government has assumed that all of the local authorities will discharge their duty individually.

Call for Views

• The Economy and Fair Work Committee is currently running a call for views to help inform its examination of the Bill. The call for views closes on 23 May 2025 and can be found at: Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill - Scottish Parliament - Citizen Space.
• The consultation seeks views on:
• • If the Bill will achieve its aim.
  • If there is agreement with the relevant and specified public bodies that are proposed, and the extra duties placed on them.
  • If there are potential unintended consequences to the Bill.
  • How the Bill could benefit local communities and small businesses.

East Dunbartonshire Response to the Call for Views

Background

• A report providing information on the Scottish Government’s consultation on proposed Community Wealth Building legislation, and seeking approval of the response drafted by Council officers, was presented to PNCA Committee on 27 April 2023 (PNCA/044/23/HH).

• The Council’s Land Planning Policy team have continued to introduce a focus on working towards Community Wealth Building in recent economic policy work, particularly through the ongoing work for the preparation of a new Economic Development Strategy (EDS), reported to PNCA Committee on 23 January 2025 (PNCA/002/25/EMN).

• Building on the previous response to the Scottish Government’s consultation and ongoing work (including the preparation of the new EDS, participation in the Community Wealth Building Practitioners Network, and regular monitoring of the evolving policy landscape) a draft response to the Economy and Fair Work Committee’s call for views has been prepared in consultation with East Dunbartonshire Economic Partnership (EDEP). The response is attached to this Technical Note, seeking feedback from Members.

Proposed Response

• The proposed response emphasises that:

The proposed Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill offers a positive opportunity to embed a more inclusive and locally focused approach to economic development across Scotland. The introduction of a statutory duty would embed CWB within public sector functions, particularly given that economic development has not previously been a statutory responsibility.

While the intentions of the Bill are aligned with the Council’s priorities and the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan, the response also highlights that not all local authorities are starting from the same point and East Dunbartonshire Council is still in the early stages of implementation, building the policy framework and capacities to facilitate CWB delivery. This means that resources and tailored guidance are critical to support effective implementation.

Furthermore, the response notes that utilising existing collaboration structures that contribute locally to CWB (such as the Community Planning Partnership and Economic Development and Employability Partnerships) rather than creating new governance arrangements is preferred. The response also notes the essential role that private and third sector partners can play in local efforts to build community wealth.

With reference to the suggested average annual staffing costs of £65,856.28 - £68,920.55 (in the Financial Memorandum), the draft response states that given current financial pressures the Council would not be able to create or recruit to new posts without additional funding from the Scottish Government.

Members are invited to consider the attached response to the Bill and make comments before it is submitted to the Economy and Fair Work Committee. Comments should be made by Thursday, 22 May 2025 and should be sent to Elisa.Meza-Noguez@eastdunbarton.gov.uk