Wealth can be health for future

A‘Community Wealth Building programme’set for North Ayrshire has been approved by the region’s council.

Focus of the work will examine how the council can do more to maximise the economic impact it has as a major employer, procurer of goods and services, the owner of significant assets and the delivery of a wide range of services and policies that impact on the local economy.

The approach has been pioneered by Preston City Council and runs as an alternative to austerity economics.

Their approach involved changing the way large public sector organisations use their procurement spend to retain more wealth in the local and regional economy, within the current framework of procurement legislation.

Councillor Alex Gallagher, Cabinet Member for Economy, said:“As a council we have a clear understanding of the economic challenges North Ayrshire faces, as demonstrated by our recently refreshed Economic Development and Regeneration Strategy and our commitment to working together to develop stronger communities.

“We want to find new ways of retaining wealth, enhancing economic growth and addressing poverty.

“The Community Wealth Building initiative in Preston has been hailed by many as a means of combatting central government austerity which is starving economies such as North Ayrshire of investment.

“This pioneering approach will allow us to review our processes and practices around procurement, so that local wealth is harnessed more effectively for the benefit of the local economy.”