Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill Fairer Scotland Duty Summary

Summary of assessment findings

The CWB Bill places strategic planning and reporting duties on the Scottish Ministers, local authorities and public bodies, which seek to ensure universal implementation of the CWB economic development approach across Scotland. As these duties are focused on strategic planning and reporting, it has been determined that the Bill will not have any direct impact on inequalities.

While the Bill itself will not have a direct impact on inequalities the implementation of the duties to produce a CWB statement and CWB action plans may have positive impacts on socio-economic inequality. While we cannot predict what will be included in either the CWB statement or CWB action plans the potential positive impacts may be the result of:

• increased numbers of employers paying the real living wage;
• increased business opportunities;
• increased employment opportunities;
• diversification of ownership of assets; and
• the expansion of more inclusive business models including co-operatives and employee-owned businesses.

The Bill and its provisions have been shaped by the feedback received in the CWB Consultation^[9], Get Heard Scotland Report^[10]and the PHS HIA^[11]. The stakeholder insights captured in this evidence included the need to ensure that the strategic aims of CWB - to reduce economic and wealth inequality between individuals and communities and support economic growth - can be easily understood. The Bill seeks to address these concerns by setting a duty for the Scottish Ministers to set the strategic direction at a national level by producing a CWB statement. This statement will set out the measures that the Scottish Ministers will take to reduce economic and wealth inequality between individuals and communities and support economic growth by facilitating and supporting the generation, circulation and retention of wealth in local and regional economies.

The PHS HIA highlighted the importance of Fair Work, better use of public procurement and more support for inclusive businesses. The Scottish Ministers and CWB partnerships are encouraged to include actions and measures aligned to these issues in their CWB statements and CWB action plans.

The PHS HIA also included a recommendation that recognised the importance of scale and reach of CWB. This echoes a concern raised by the Get Heard Scotland report, which noted the importance of ensuring that CWB is implemented appropriately and does not become a “tick box” exercise. This is addressed in the Bill by the duty to not only prepare the CWB action plan but to collectively implement the actions it contains.

The Get Heard Poverty Alliance report also highlighted the need to ensure communities are involved in the development and implementation of CWB. To address this concern, CWB partnerships will have a duty to consult with persons directly impacted by the CWB action plans, which will ensure that communities can shape the plans as they are developed.

In addition, the Scottish Ministers will publish guidance to assist CWB partnerships and specified public bodies to identify and implement CWB actions that will contribute to the reduction of socio-economic inequality. This guidance will also provide further advice on how to monitor the impact of these actions.

Through the implementation of actions contained in the CWB statement and CWB action plans, the CWB Bill could contribute to the reduction of socio-economic disadvantage and narrow gaps in outcomes. As the CWB statement and CWB action plans are developed it will be the responsibility of the Scottish Ministers and each individual local authority and public body to complete an assessment of the possible impacts of their specific actions on inequalities of outcome and consider strengthening the actions and policy development.

Sign Off Name: Anne-Marie Martin

Job Title: Deputy Director, Regional Economic Development

Date: 06/03/2025