Army of advocates fighting for more change
YOU’VE heard of the CAB, but what about CWB? Community Wealth Building (CWB) focusses on building and retaining value in the local community and has been delivered worldwide.
It is very similar to the Citizens Advice ethos of advocacy and providing advice to retain and enhance citizen rights. Our 80-year-old service has a lot to offer a community-based economic development strategy for Scottish communities.
However, there has been little work around how greater advocacy for local change, advice on how to best mitigate current systems, alongside more involved citizens help prevent detriment, and therefore play a generative role in fairer communities.
There is a clear role for CABS to make the economy, society and environment fairer. They can increase well-being through early intervention via the involvement of citizens in delivering advice and advocacy for communities. Locally based advocacy by volunteers can also make systems fairer from the ground up.
The CAB network could add real value to the fair markets or just economy dimensions in terms of the delivery and use of community wealth. Our advocacy aim could also make systems fairer by design, implementing the prevention and early intervention ethos of the Christie Commission.
Last year we commissioned independent analysis of the value
Analysis of our advice found that the network was worth up to £245m in net benefits to Scottish society
of our advice which found that the network was worth up to £245 million in net benefits to Scottish society. This includes preventative spend. For example the savings generated for health services by people avoiding negative outcomes associated with choosing between heating their homes and feeding their families, as well as the impact on the economy of money being unlocked for people.
Our volunteer-led service with twin aims of advocacy and advice could do the same for prevention and reduction of negative outcomes.
For example, Scottish CABS gave out just shy of 75,000 pieces of employment advice last year and our advisers saw some really concerning cases during that time but also struggled to meet demand and offer person-centred advice and support.
A pilot in the South of Scotland has already demonstrated the potential for joint work with fair work employers and business support agencies, providing training to small employers as a Fair Work and Human Rights initiative, upskilling bureau volunteers to support citizens and supporting existing fair work employers to continue to improve and collaborate. Getting local advocates to campaign and highlight the systems needing change will secure and retain community wealth.
We feel there is a real opportunity to deliver a Scottishbased approach including advice and advocacy for social change in the Community Wealth Building legislation set to go through the Scottish Parliament.