Scottish Parliament passes Community Wealth Building Bill
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 4th March 2026
The Scottish Parliament has voted to pass the Community Wealth Building Bill into law, becoming the first country in the world to pass a bill of its kind.
Community wealth building (CWB) aims to increase the community impact of money spent by public services by spending it via local community enterprises. As part of the legislation, each local authority must prepare a CWB plan that will aim to increase economic value in the local economy and raise the incomes of local people.
While supportive of community wealth building, we believe that inclusive local implementation will be vital if this approach is to reduce inequalities and support sustainable growth. Part of this will be linking to community-led planning already underway in local communities, backed up by delivery of public sector procurement that invests in communities overall.
In our consultation response published last year, we argued that the Bill, now an Act awaiting Royal Assent, should have gone beyond the requirement for local authorities to ‘consult’ on the development of these CWB action plans. A focus on involving organisations addressing inequality and equalities will be key.
In the coming year, SCDC will be looking at how to support communities to improve understanding of their local economies. We'll be arguing for community wealth building plans that meaningfully support communities to take action on the issues important to them.
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