Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, Tom Arthur, speaks about the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund in the North East of Scotland.

Many of you will know, the Scottish Government has a long history of supporting participatory budgeting (PB) as a tool for community empowerment, and as a means to build on wider support for participatory democracy in Scotland.

From the early establishment of the Community Choices Fund to more recent PB initiatives, I am proud to see the progress and impact PB has made in enabling communities to have a direct influence on the services that matter most to them.

As we continue to reflect on the outcomes of COP26 in Glasgow, I am delighted to see connections made between empowering local communities and creating greener, more sustainable places. There were many important messages that came from Scottish Government’s PB event during COP26. For me, one key message was that: given the opportunity, local communities can develop effective solutions that respond to local needs while also helping tackle wider societal issues, such as climate change. As we seek to fulfil our legal commitment to ending Scotland’s contribution to global climate change by 2045, and ensure that the journey to net zero is a truly national endeavour, it is imperative that communities are empowered to play their full part.

Green PB is one means through which that can be delivered.

In May this year, Richard Lochhead MSP, Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work, announced a ten year £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray, areas at the centre of our energy transition. This fund helps to diversify the regional economy away from carbon intensive industries and capitalises on the opportunities that the transition will bring. It will also seek to develop approaches which may be replicated or adapted in other parts of Scotland.

For this first year of the fund, £1 million will be allocated through PB. This will enable North East and Moray citizens to have a direct say on how money will be spent on projects contributing towards a just transition to net zero. The PB approach will serve to empower communities, especially those with little engagement on climate change, but who may be particularly vulnerable to its impacts. In allocating 5% of the JT Fund’s 2022-23 budget towards PB, I am proud to say that this is the largest portion of a Scottish Government Fund to be directly allocated through PB. It is intended that the JT Fund will continue to support PB in subsequent years.

To deliver the fund, I am happy to confirm that three Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) – Aberdeen City (ACVO), Aberdeenshire (AVA), and Moray (tsiMoray) - will manage and lead the initiative. These organisations have invaluable local knowledge, expertise and networks within their respective areas, making them ideally placed to lead the PB process. They will be provided with practical and technical support by North East Scotland’s Climate Action Network (NESCAN), and Money for Moray (M4M).

Delivery of the initiative is underway, and I thank all of those who attended and contributed to the JT PB workshop earlier in July, which helped to shape its design and focus. To continue this collaborative approach, I encourage you all to get involved, raise awareness, and ensure that as many people as possible can have their say on how these funds are spent. For more information, please contact SCDC, who are providing support to the North East partners.

As we begin to map the range of green PB activity more widely across Scotland, I am delighted to see the impact it is having globally, receiving both national and international recognition. Most recently, Scotland (on behalf of the UK) has been selected as one of the four hosts (alongside Spain, Portugal and France) in a series of European shared learning events on Green PB. From October to December, Scotland’s events will take place on 16th and 17thNovember in Edinburgh, presenting an opportunity to showcase the progress of PB, in supporting local projects aligned with our climate and environmental commitments.

We continue to work with COSLA to help local authorities reach the target of having at least 1% of their budget allocated through a PB process. PB remains a priority for the Scottish Government. It has now been over seven years since the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 was introduced, and in July this year, I launched a review of the Act, in line with our manifesto commitment, to ensure it remains fit for purpose. We will use the review to consider how we can give people even more of a say on things that matter to them locally.

There are exciting opportunities ahead for PB in Scotland. I look forward to seeing it progress and its impact to communities across the country.