Boosting local economies

A community wealth building report for the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland

On behalf of The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Scotland, CLES investigated current procurement practices from within local authorities to their members.

In light of a recently updated public sector procurement strategy, alongside proposed community wealth building legislation, understanding how community wealth building has been integrated into procurement practices already is essential to ensure the legislation can be utilised effectively and support SMEs across Scotland.

The research found significant gaps in quantitative data reporting around procurement, it also clearly demonstrated through the qualitative analysis that community wealth building activity has led to improvements in procurement practices for SMEs. There are opportunities to use these findings to ensure that current procurement legislation supports the Scottish Government’s community wealth building ambitions.