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.

More than “just” action plans

A few weeks ago, I was chatting to someone about CLES, our work in Scotland and our expertise in community wealth building. They made a comment about us “just” designing action plans for local authorities. I explained we did a lot more. Afterwards I paused to reflect, if they don’t know what we do, perhaps it’s time to explain? So, this blog is a little different, not so much Scotland focused, but CLES focused. If you’ve ever thought, “what do they do at CLES?”, then this blog is for you.   

Here at CLES, we work to make local economies better serve communities. If you look around the place you call home, you will see the economy working all around you. It is in the shops, and jobs, the homes and infrastructure, it is in the parks and land.  These are all part of an interconnected ecosystem. The way this system is designed, and functions dictates who benefits and who doesn’t. CLES use evidence and practice to support places change that system. We want to ensure that the economy benefits local people, in the places they call home, all while protecting our planet. To do this, we work to ensure wealth is generated, shared, and kept locally. We collaborate as equal partners with governments, local institutions and communities to ultimately transform local economies for the better. But how do we do it?  

Spend analyses 

Let’s start in the more obvious place – CLES’ work around the pillars of community wealth building. One of these is the progressive procurement of goods and services. For many years we have pioneered work investigating local economies and procurement to ensure that money is retained in local economies. A spend analysis is the first step on an organisation’s strategic procurement journey, providing an evidence base to progress the way public procurement and economic development are delivered. This can take many different forms, from the high level (involving analysing data based on supplier location), to organisation type, to deeper survey analysis on supplier employee location, generating insights on what spend is doing further down the chain (re-spend) so we can review what spend areas can be ‘influenced’ to capture more benefit locally.  

Employment mapping 

Employment is another pillar where we offer specific advice and support to our partners. Understanding the shape and composition of an organisation’s workforce is a crucial first step to foster inclusive employment opportunities. Employment mapping provides a detailed picture, revealing patterns and disparities that can inform targeted interventions. Our approach to employment mapping integrates various data sources to create a detailed map of the labour force within an organisation or geographic area. These insights enable anchor organisations to design targeted initiatives aimed at improving employment outcomes, such as training programmes, recruitment programmes, and support services tailored to the needs of disadvantaged residents. 

Demystifying the social economy 

Growing the social economy is the underlining bedrock of community wealth building. So, we’ve recently developed a unique tool to map the social economy in locales. The tool brings together data from various sources to map out social economy organisations within an area. Combining this with data on employment, turnover and profit allows us to estimate the current size and profile of the social economy. By understanding the social economy within a local area, decision makers can better target business support and strategies to facilitate the growth of this vitally important sector.  

Community led research 

At CLES we are passionate about bridging the gap between the public sector and local communities. That’s why we have pioneered community research linking the two. We work on the ground, in places, delivering research with people to understand issues. We will recruit local researchers to facilitate discussions or focus groups, paying them fairly for their time and we always ensure they have regular support from CLES during the research process. We use this to influence public sector plans, to grow awareness of local challenges and to build relations between people and place. 

Convening anchor networks 

We have worked across the UK supporting the development of anchor networks. Powerful economic organisations like councils, the NHS and others can come together to coordinate their activity and use their power to tackle local challenges. We can facilitate initial set-up, provide support developing action plans and strategies, unlock economic and social measurement and be a critical friend, as well as hosting anchor network coordinators. We have seen fantastic results from the work we have done with anchors across the UK and want to see more flourish. Our work in Birmingham on the I Can showcases the opportunities which can arise from having a dedicated community wealth building coordinator, someone supporting the anchor network and driving action. 

Tracking progress 

Behind the scenes we’ve been developing a community wealth building impact assessment. Assessing in social and economic terms, what progress in places looks like and what the impact of that has and will be. We are taking a holistic approach, building in quantitative data alongside interviews with people in their places. This creates a more detailed picture of progress, and where future activity can focus. We’ve also taken this approach within organisations as well, supporting them understand their impact in what they do and where they do it. We can delve further and deliver evaluations of projects or initiatives, working collaboratively as a critical friend to embed community wealth building thinking and activity. 

On top of this we can apply community wealth building thinking to different thematic areas – from food systems to land governance, from renewable energy to free ports and more – we can bring our deep economic experience to many projects and places.  

Membership 

Last, but certainly not least, did you know CLES is a membership organisation? We have organisational members across the UK and carry out specific but flexible work for them each year; aiding understanding of their impact, furthering their community wealth building journey and enabling them to build on their aspirations. This can involve a stock-take of community wealth building progress, delivering workshops, developing case studies, supporting anchor network ambitions and participating in CLES events.  

We work with organisations beginning their local economic journey, to those further along with their activity and can tailor our approach based on what places need and want. 

I think you’ll agree, we do a lot more than just action plans! Get in touch if you’d like to know more about anything mentioned.