This update is part of a regular series of rundowns of policy developments and reports on our work in Scotland, by CLES Head of Scotland, Naomi Mason.

Beginnings, Bills and a Big Birthday Bash!

2026 has begun and what an exciting year it is going to be for CLES. We have exciting projects underway and kicking off, impending elections across the country, Community Wealth Building (Scotland) legislation progressing through the Scottish Parliament and, this year, CLES turns 40!

For CLES in Scotland alongside our project work, a lot of our focus in the next couple of months will be around the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill. This is the first legislation of its kind in the world, seeking to ensure that progressive economic development moves to being a core part of public sector planning and thinking. It looks to cement partnership working in places and provide the guidance and support for places developing their community wealth building action plans.

community wealth building is a powerful set of tools

We know that community wealth building is a powerful set of tools that can transform economies, making them inclusive, sustainable and locally rooted. It’s all about changing the model from money leaking out of a local area to one where it stays to make a difference for communities. It’s been linked to improvements in life satisfaction, wages and mental health – pretty powerful stuff. But this only works when places are given the space to be creative, the opportunity to be bold and are supported to take action.

We saw the Bill introduced to parliament back in March (my initial reflections from the time can be found here), and it is now into Stage 2. The time for amendments. The Bill as it stands stops short of actually redistributing power or wealth. The language is weak and does not compel leaders or officers to adopt ambitious approaches such as worker ownership, community control of land and assets, or enforceable fair work and procurement standards. There’s no resourcing behind the Bill either – no dedicated funding or capacity support – and accountability is lacking.

we want to see bold legislation

The Economy and Fair Work Committee report and the Stage 1 debate highlighted areas which political parties across the chamber felt could be improved upon in the Bill – namely around the organisations the Bill covers, the need for benchmarking and setting targets as well as how you measure success. We’ve worked on developing amendments to further strengthen the Bill. We want to see bold legislation which will deliver more and move from an additional action plan, to instead become a fundamental part of strategies and policies for our public sector. Specifically we want the aim to focus not just economic growth, but at least ‘inclusive and sustainable growth’. We also want to see binding language, a commitment to look at commissioning as well as procurement, a review of the list of ‘relevant public bodies’ and a clear sense of what a benchmarking, measurement and outcomes framework would look like.

CLES will be influencing where we can

The amendments are still coming in as I write this now, with over 100 received. It will be very interesting to hear the Stage two debate taking place towards the end of January. We at CLES will be influencing where we can to guarantee this exciting legislation can ensure Scotland’s commitment to community wealth building is more than skin deep.

As 2026 progresses we will support the Scottish Government and other partners as the creation of Community Wealth Building Guidance and development of metrics and measurement is discussed and delivered. We will be watching the forthcoming elections closely as well, both here in Scotland, but also in Wales and councils in England. These elections will change the political landscape and dialogue with a significant number of MSPs standing down in the Scottish Parliament.

we exist to work with others

Of course, we will continue to work in local economies across the country. We will partner with places and organisations wherever they are on their community wealth building journey and further develop our work exploring who owns our economy and how the economy can benefit more of us. We exist to work with others, and these partnerships are exciting places to explore new ideas, new ways of working and new opportunities to challenge prevailing economic narratives and test new ground.

As I mentioned at the start, this year is very special, this year CLES turns 40! It is an absolute honour to be part of the organisation’s story as it reaches this milestone. We will be looking ahead to the next 40 years of our journey – we hope you can join us on it!