Where we are now
PB practitioners refocused their activities in 2024/25, based on the needs of the sector within the reduced funding available. This period has also seen increasing budget pressures on already stretched local authorities, public bodies and community organisations.
Anecdotal feedback suggested that a range of factors were affecting the number of local PB processes and the capacity of practitioners to engage in good practice and practice development opportunities.
The PB Scotland team identified that we required further information and evidence on PB processes and practitioners’ experiences to assist in informing future development and investment in supporting PB in Scotland.
Current PB activity
Current public sector budget savings means that some local authorities and other public bodies may be finding it increasingly difficult to find money for PB.
Those who spoke to us said that while there are still some areas where there is mainstream PB activity, the level of activity and services/departments which are engaging in PB are not always consistent from year to year. Respondents identified that there is an increased risk with largescale budget cuts that any mainstream PB processes are perceived by communities as the council ‘outsourcing’ the difficult decisions.
Contacts we have engaged with through this process told us that PB in some local authorities is currently more commonly focused more on small pots of money, grants and discrete projects rather than mainstream budgeting decisions.
There are some good examples of work underway or planned of Community Planning Partnerships, Health and Social Care Partnerships, and councils devolving budgets to locality areas. Here, PB processes are a way to engage the wider community and those with lived experience of the services involved to better understand the issues and prioritise spend.
However, one Health & Social Care respondent who had previously run successful PB processes reported they were unable to continue with the programme due to their internal financial pressures.
In many cases this has resulted in investment in local groups and communities which would otherwise have been spent on authority wide initiatives or posts. Examples include:
Alcohol & Drug Partnership devolved budgets
Budgets to support community led action plans
Ward level community regeneration funding
