Fife's community wealth building approach delivering jobs, opportunities and investment for local communities

Fife's commitment to community wealth building is continuing to deliver benefits for local people, businesses and communities, with hundreds of residents supported into employment and investment directed back into the local economy

A progress report to Fife Council's Cabinet Committee on 5 November highlighted the significant achievements made through the council's community wealth building programme, which aims to ensure that more wealth generated in Fife stays in Fife and benefits local communities. 

Among the key successes is the council's Life Chances programme, which has supported 236 people facing barriers to employment, with more than 150 progressing into positive destinations and 126 securing jobs with the council. The report also highlights the growing impact of the council's procurement activity, with contracts being used to create apprenticeships, training opportunities, community projects and support for local businesses and social enterprises. 

Recent community benefits arising from council contracts have included investment in local facilities, support for grassroots activities, skills development programmes and employment opportunities linked to major construction projects across Fife. 

The report comes as the new Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act places a statutory duty on local authorities and key public sector partners to work together to develop community wealth building action plans. 

Councillor David Ross, Leader of Fife Council, said:

 "Community wealth building is about making sure that the wealth created in Fife benefits the people, businesses and communities of Fife. 

"We're already seeing the positive impact of this approach through programmes such as Life Chances, which is helping people into employment, and through the way we're using council spending to create opportunities for local businesses, apprentices and community organisations. 

"These are real outcomes that are making a difference to people's lives while helping to build a stronger, fairer and more resilient local economy. 

"The new legislation gives us an excellent opportunity to build on the strong foundations already in place and work even more closely with our partners to ensure communities across Fife benefit from investment, employment opportunities and economic growth." 

The report also highlights ongoing work to support social enterprises, co-operatives and employee-owned businesses, alongside efforts to strengthen how the social value generated through council spending is measured and reported. 

In the coming months, the council and its partners will begin developing Fife's first statutory community wealth building action plan, setting out how they will work together to maximise local economic, social and environmental benefits for communities across the Kingdom.