Agenda item

CLES were commissioned by the CPP MC to take forward work on a strategy and action plan for Community Wealth Building (CWB) and the initial report and recommendations were circulated as part of the agenda pack. Takki said the work set out to identify best practice, some useful case studies of how CWB may be taken forward in Argyll and Bute, a strategy with recommendations, an action plan and two business cases.  Takki asked for the CPP MC to agree, in principle, the recommendations that have been made in the initial report before the final version is agreed by the Steering Group and returns to the next CPP MC for approval. Takki suggested that consideration is also given to the Steering Group undertaking more preparatory work for the next CPP MC including whether the Steering Group has a wider remit, to discuss how can some of the recommendations be taken forward and how CWB should be structured.

 

Charlie and Neil then gave a presentation on CWB in Argyll and Bute. Neil introduced himself and emphasised that CWB is a practical economic development approach to delivery on community economic aspirations and community ownership, not community development. He noted the CWB qualities that are already in place in Argyll and Bute including anchor institutions, strong procurement and existing community ownership and that these are important in terms of the report recommendations and how to scale up on the good things already happening. The draft recommendations have been driven by what they have found as a result of interviews, workshops, scoping and experience of what has worked well in other areas and he is keen to hear the feedback from the CPP MC on these.

 

Charlie noted that they have had discussions with CPP partners and area groups to identify what CWB meant to them and how they see it being scaled up and developed. He noted that the recommendations may take time to implement and some may need legislative support from the Scottish Government. He then provided a reminder on the 5 main pillars of CWB (Spending, Workforce, Inclusive Ownership, Finance and Land and Property).

 

Recommendations include :

SPENDING PILLAR

- Establishing a CPP Procurement Working Group, bring together lead procurement officers and the VCSE sector to update on challenge and opportunities,

- Building collective market intelligence, working with SMEs and focussed towards the social economy,

- Publishing a procurement pipeline so CPP partners can make procurement more accessible and clarify bid requirements,

- CPP Meet the Buyer events, creating an opportunity where local suppliers can engage and get feedback and navigate the challenges of public sector procurement,

- Develop a procurement framework, for business support organisations to pull resources and explore good practice.

 

Pippa noted that all partners need to commit to working on this, although she understands that there are some limitations regarding tie-ins to national procurement frameworks and was keen to understand from CLES how that has been overcome in other areas. Takki advised there is a current review of the Procurement Reform Act 2014 and partners may want to take the opportunity to make submissions to the Economic Committee before it looks at this on the 28 February 2024, although he also thought it was worth exploring what can be done within existing legislative and regulatory frameworks. Neil thought that the Scottish Government would be interested to hear how existing policy and legislation is hampering progress on CWB.

 

Andy noted that in terms of developing a Climate Change Strategy in the area, procurement managers are typically under pressure to deliver value in the short term and the organisational procurement footprint is often much larger than local operations. He felt setting up a procurement working group would provide a joint approach and prevent the need to discuss this with individual partners. 

 

Samantha felt there was so much potential for CWB to provide a transformational shift in the power dynamic and support to communities.  She also thought the 5 pillars of CWB should underpin the plans and strategies of CPP partners to ensure systemic change and has potential to improve social determinants of health.

 

WORKFORCE PILLAR

-   Developing pathways into work programs, how can partners come together to create good employment opportunities,

-   Explore adaptations to a value based recruitment approach, organisations that can support local people, and young people, into employment,

-   Partners mapping job families, compare and simplify the approach to recruitment and creation of applicant pools,

-   Argyll and Bute Employment Charters, partnering with local business representative and organisations, acknowledging that many may want to improve their recruitment practices.

 

INCLUSIVE OWNERSHIP PILLAR

-   Identifying ownership opportunities in growth sectors, having the social economy, social enterprises, community interest companies at the heart of sector growth,

-   Employee ownership, connections between in-place experts and ecosystem support for new start social economy enterprises and the support of institutional partners,

-   Opportunity to create links between procurement and social and inclusive ownership within the economy.

 

Andy highlighted the housing priority in the ABOIP as a great example of connected activity as it links to climate change (mitigation and adaptation), skills shortages in the region and potential pathways for business development and career prospects. Pippa agreed that business opportunities was a key part of the CWB context.

 

FINANCIAL PILLAR

-   Mapping alternative financial infrastructure, bring together and understand the range of alternative financial mechanisms that already exist and can be accessed,

-   Mapping community benefits, how to pull community benefits together for greater impact,

-   Develop a local finance initiative proposal, developing an outline business case for a local community owned finance institution to connect with government funding streams to fund CWB.

 

LAND AND PROPERTY PILLAR

-   Affordable workplace strategy, grow local community ownership in sectors and identify available business premises and future demand,

-   Vacant and derelict land, not limited to typical workspaces but also social community sites, ensure communities have access to properties and land without overburdening them,

-   Realisation of the public estate, partners understanding were co-location opportunities exist to free up the public estate for use by social enterprises,

-   Convening a Local Landowners’ Forum, with support from Scottish Government policies on land reform to engage with landowners on future land use.

 

Charlie recognised there are a number of challenges in Argyll and Bute, but CWB can be intrinsic to the area’s economic strategy and can be driven by the CPP to address issues like the housing emergency and depopulation. He said that responsibility for CWB delivery should not fall solely on the CPP, however partners do have an important role to play and work with other groups to promote CWB. To drive CWB forward, Charlie proposed setting up two-time limited groups to take forward action-focussed work to build on the report. He also highlighted two case studies on building employee ownership and building community shared ownership of the energy transition.

 

Pippa thanked Charlie and Neil for their presentation. Partners were asked to submit any comments on the report and recommendations, with the intention to finalise that at the April CPP MC. The recommendations were accepted by the CPP MC in principle. Rona thanked Takki and CLES for the work that has been done on this.

 

ACTION – Partners to submit comments on the CLES report and recommendations on CWB to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk.