COMMUNITY wealth building is helping to create a fairer Fife, the region’s local authority has said.
Community wealth building is an initiative where the local authority, businesses, and partner organisations make a commitment to increasing local employment, use local produce and resources, and increase and retaining wealth within an area.
Councillor Linda Erskine, spokesperson for communities, said, “In Fife we believe in fairness and that means all our people and communities being able to access jobs and economic opportunities. We are focusing on improving investment, growth and participation by businesses, people and communities. The aim is to support businesses to grow and to make sure that communities benefit from new business investment.
“This latest report shows just how much progress has already been made and the difference we can make to local people and communities when we work together with partners, contractors and other community organisations.”
A commitment to community wealth building was made by Fife Council in 2020, with early actions focusing on engagement with other anchor organisations, the creation of effective governance models and implementation of priority measures.
In recent years the work has been more visible and obvious and the benefits and impacts on local communities are now more ‘tangible and quantifiable’.
The report to committee gave several examples of Community Wealth Building projects with case studies from various people and groups involved.
Three examples are:
Dunfermline Learning Campus: One of the most successful community benefit projects recently has been through the construction of the new Dunfermline learning Campus, which has been built in partnership with Hub East Central Scotland and contractors BAM.
Some of the community benefits include:
- £33.4 million of social and local economic value delivered through sub-contracts placed with local businesses, the employment of local people, apprenticeships, volunteering, and community projects. It equates to 35.26% of the contract value (£95m).
- £21.36 million of work was awarded to local enterprises
- £20.81 million of the contract was spent on a local supply chain.
- There were over 107 local people on the contract through the supply chain, 31 local direct employees and 1,883 weeks of apprenticeships
- Work with community groups included 640 volunteer hours, 188 expert hours, £74,618 of community support, and £2,580 of charity support.
Kirkcaldy and District Men’s Shed: The council explored the use of community benefit arrangements to support improvements to the pavilion which the group use.
Outcomes of the project include:
- Upgrades to the building.
- The Men’s Shed has agreed to deliver benefits in turn by refurbishing benches in the baby memorial garden adjacent to Kirkcaldy Crematorium.
Life Chances programme: Life Chances supports people who may find it hard to get or keep a job for various reasons such as long-term unemployment, little or no work experience, living in a jobless household, etc. The scheme can help them get into fair, sustainable work, improving their own circumstances and supporting the local economy. The approach involves linking employability programme participants to a paid 13-week placement in the public or third sector.
For the 2024/25 programme, there are currently 27 participants (15 on Fife Council placement, 12 on partner placements). There are 60 placements being offered this year.
