To date Scottish Government’s policy and investment focus has been on recycling and waste management. On behalf of their membership, Circular Communities Scotland is calling for this focus to shift to reuse and repair.

Reuse brings numerous circular benefits including:

Social: Reuse tackles the cost-of-living crisis by offering affordable pre-loved goods and helps overcome employment barriers by creating work and training placements.
Environmental: Reuse addresses the climate crisis and the challenges of achieving net zero by dealing directly with the issue of over-consumption and material use.
Economic: Reuse creates opportunities for green skills, local and Scottish based jobs and supports economic growth.

Read the full Circular Communities Scotland Reuse First Manifesto.

We recently responded to the Economy and Fair Work Committee’s Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill Call for Views.   We continue to support the Government’s previous consultation assertion that “CWB is focused on growing the influence communities have on the economy and ensuring communities receive more of the benefits from the wealth they help to generate.”

We also continue to agree that the transition to a wellbeing economy requires a “whole system transformation”, of which CWB needs to be a core component.

However, we maintain that to truly ‘tackle long-standing economic challenges and transform local and regional economies’, the legislation must clearly recognise that CWB encompasses more than just economic growth – it also includes social, cultural and environmental wealth.  Acknowledging this broader definition would better position Scotland to achieve sustainable and equitable wealth for the benefit of everyone.

We consider this Bill – in tandem with non-legislative policy initiatives – offers an opportunity to permanently embed and mainstream CWB principles within and across the wide range of public policy spheres is crucial to achieving the fairer, wealthier, and greener wellbeing economy to which we all collectively aspire.  The requirement to produce a CWB Statement, Guidance and Actions Plans offers an opportunity to ensure consistency across Scotland.

However, a fundamental element missing is the inclusion of community-led intermediaries and community organisations. The community sector has long been a driving force behind CWB and without meaningful involvement of communities, there is a risk this legislation could default to a top down public sector led approach – which we understand is not the intention. To prevent this, we urge that the Bill, Statement, Guidance and Action Plans recognise the vital role, experience and expertise of communities; utilise existing learning and good practice; and embed communities as critical partners in delivering CWB.

Read our full submission on our website.  You can also read a number of our members’ submissions on the Scottish Parliament website.

The City of Edinburgh Council just passed a motion to develop a proposal for a public diner trial in the city. On Thursday 8 May, Councillors debated a motion to trial publicly funded restaurants serving healthy, tasty, affordable meals to the general public. Along side public transport, public leisure centres, public libraries, public hospitals –public diners would be public infrastructure for food.

Scotland used to have over 90 publicly supported restaurants – known as British and Civic Restaurants – during the 1940s and 50s. The UK had over 2000 in total (more than Greggs and Wetherspoons combined). Today there are successful international examples of governments investing in restaurants so that the price is low, and quality is high. If Edinburgh gets a public diner it will lead the way on new public infrastructure in the UK and immediately deliver on big ticket public health, climate and social objectives.

What are public diners?

Public diners are a policy proposal for government to support a chain of restaurants open to the general public that serve high quality, tasty food at low prices. Food policy organisation, Nourish Scotland, has been working on this proposal for the last three years. It sees public diners as a way for the state to deliver its duty to protect the right to food and help address major issues associated with the current food environment: health, climate, social fabrics.

Nourish have drawn inspiration from the historical precedent of British Restaurants and from successful current international examples to develop a blueprint for public diners in Scotland and the wider UK. Their ongoing consultation effort with people from across the food system has come up with 7 core principles that define what a public diner is:

1. State supported. Public diners are underwritten by state support. They operate with public support for public good.
2. Universal. Public diners are open and accessible to everyone. They are not targeted at or exclusive to a particular group.
3. Here today, here in a decade. Public diners are here for the long run. They have a sustainable, resilient business model.
4. Democratic. Public diners are democratic institutions. They have formal mechanisms for public scrutiny and participation.
5. A place you want to dine. Public diners are restaurants. They have a reputation for quality, enjoyable dining experiences.
6. Affordable. Public diners are always affordable. The price is not a barrier to eating at a public diner.
7. Real good food. Public diners model good food culture. They have menus that are a good fit for peoples’ lives and cultures, are healthy enough and environmentally sustainable.

What happens now?

A public diner trial will be considered in Edinburgh. Let’s say it’s taken forward- then Edinburgh could be the first city in the UK to have a public diner.

That public diner would need to be delivered inline with the 7 core principles. It would need to have a reliable business model sustained by some form of public funds/support. It would need to be open and affordable to everyone and look, feel, taste like a place everyone wants to dine. It would need to create new, highly valued jobs and new local, climate friendly routes to market. Above all, its meals would need to be hearty, healthy, tasty and reflective of the people it serves.

An international blueprint

If international examples of public diners are anything to go by –this is the trail that is usually blazed when it comes to getting public restaurants up and running. In Türkiye, the halk lokantasi (public restaurants) serving four course meals for the price of a cup of coffee now operate in over six municipalities across the country. This all started when the mayor from Istanbul began the first public restaurant. The operation of this restaurant said to the rest of country: this model works. From day one, people went to the restaurant – enough for it to break even (thanks to economies of scale) and enough for it to make a real improvement to everyday lives(convenience, health, community). It also didn’t particularly bother private food businesses like some thought it might. People were still going out to their specialty restaurants and coffee houses – in fact, the restaurant has probably generated more footfall and freed up more income to be spent elsewhere. After only a few months of successful operation, more municipalities began investing in their own chain of halk lokantasi.

In Scotland, the story might be very similar. Different local authorities trial public diners, more follow. There would probably need to be the extra, critical step of national backing to roll out public diners across the country. Local authorities are certainly the delivery arm of policy in Scotland, but they need sustainable backing at a national level – especially for something that needs to be ‘here for the long run.’ Baked into any trial of public diners would be channels to the national government that say, ‘look at this, this is a smart public investment.’

If other local authorities think public diners are a good idea they should be watching and putting in their own motions – the more debate, the better. As for Edinburgh, it can’t hurt to start dreaming up a site for the first public diner. Maybe it’s the Assembly Rooms, right there on George St, which the Council already owns. Or even Summerhall – given how much energy is building against turning it into luxury apartments. I’ll leave the last words to Edinburgh Councillor, Kayleigh O’Neill, who spoke in favour of the motion for Edinburgh to get a public diner: “Wherever it is, I look forward to joining you all for a lovely meal when it comes.”

Public diners supporter network

Nourish Scotland is pulling together a wide, diverse network of supporters for the public diners proposal. The aim of this network is to build a broad, diverse consensus of support for public diners. The commitment is small- your organisations logo and if you wish, a couple of sentences about why your organisations supports public diners (i.e. more routes to market for local produce, more and better jobs in the food sector, public health, communities, the right to food for everyone).

Contact abigail(at)nourishscotland.org.uk

The Community Enterprise Fund, from Firstport, is a funding programme that helps community organisations to start trading or set up social enterprises in Scotland. It offers grants of up to £5,000, to be spent over 6 months. Funding comes from the Scottish Government’s Social Entrepreneurs Fund (SEF).

The Community Enterprise Fund is for you if your group wants to begin trading activities or set up a social enterprise so you can generate income, become more financially resilient, reduce reliance on grant funding and be better equipped to support your community.

Your community group is ready to apply for a CE award if it can demonstrate:

• A strong business model- showing how the idea will generate income, so it does not rely on grants in the long term.
• A clear social impact– demonstrating that your group has identified a social or environmental issue they want to tackle.
• A determined and motivated team – SEF focuses on the people involved in the idea, so we want you to tell us about the skills, knowledge, and passion within their team for the issue they are tackling and how these will help to make the idea a success.

Find out more from Firstport

With funding from Foundation Scotland, DTAS have announced the development of a new £5 million funding programme exclusively for their members focused on recovery and resilience.

The programme aims to serve three core purposes:

1. To proactively support the recovery and long-term resilience of DTAS members 
2. To help DTAS members gain stability, build capacity and future-proof their operations
3. To prevent DTAS members escalating into crisis

The aim is to launch the fund at the DTAS conference in August, with applications opening in early autumn.

DTAS are proposing the fund will make available grants between £10,000 and £100,000.  It will be open to Provisional and Full DTAS members and is expected to remain open for two years.

Find out more from the DTAS website.

The First Minister has set out his Programme for Government for 2025 to 2026.

It will focus on: eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency, delivering high quality and sustainable public services.

It includes the legislative programme for the next parliamentary year.

Programme for Government – gov.scot

A new initiative, led by Community Land Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Land Commission, is launching to ensure more people can benefit from the investments being made in natural capital across Scotland.

The project will broker partnerships between local communities, landowners, and nature finance developers.

The Natural Capital Community Partnerships project will help deliver Government expectations that communities are involved in decisions about – and benefit from – Scotland’s land.

Read more at the Community Land Scotland website.

This Bill was introduced by the Scottish Government on Wednesday 20 March 2025.

What does the Bill do?

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an approach to economic development that tries to use the power of ‘anchor organisations’ to grow and retain wealth within a local economy.

Anchor organisations can be public, private, or third sector bodies that have a large enough presence in a local area to be able to change economic outcomes. These could include local authorities, the NHS, large private sector employers, universities and enterprise agencies.

Under the CWB approach, these types of organisations might, for example, use their spending power to procure locally, pay the real living wage, or facilitate community ownership of land or assets.

All of Scotland’s local authorities are currently working with their own CWB models. However, these are not always underpinned by formal plans and the extent of implementation varies.

The Scottish Government says the purpose of this Bill is to ensure that CWB is implemented consistently across Scotland as an economic development tool.

The Bill proposes to do three things:

• It would place a duty on the Scottish Ministers to publish a CWB statement which sets out the measures they will take to facilitate CWB.
• It would require local authorities and ‘relevant public bodies’ to publish and implement a CWB plan for their area.
• It would require ‘specified public bodies’ to have due regard to CWB guidance when developing their corporate plans and associated delivery strategies.

Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill – Scottish Parliament – Citizen Space

Aimed at community groups involved in renewable energy and low-carbon projects, this annual survey builds on previous years to provide the most comprehensive view of community energy across Scotland and the UK as a whole. Your input helps highlight sector achievements, strengthens the case for community-led energy and influences government policy and key decision-makers.

SOTS is a collective effort by Community Energy Scotland, Community Energy England, and Ynni Cymunedol Cymru (Community Energy Wales).  A link to the 2025 State of the Sector Portal where you can register for this year’s survey and submit your data is provided below, and previous SOTS reports can viewed here –  Welcome | State of the Sector