This year’s Scottish Budget lands at a time when the evidence on collaboration and partnership impact is clearer than ever, and it underlines both the opportunity and the risk in current spending decisions.
The targeted commitments around child poverty and community wellbeing are positive, but they do not yet amount to the scale of preventative, place-based investment that the latest collaborations and partnerships impact work shows is needed. Borders Community Action’s recent round of engagement evidence locally highlights that sustained, flexible funding into community-led collaboration delivers better outcomes, yet this Budget still leaves real uncertainty about stability for many third sector organisations.
It is encouraging to see multi-year funding commitments emerging for some programmes. Yet, we continue to call for meaningful progress on Fair Funding, a principle long promised but yet to be fully realised across all areas of government investment. Without genuine stability and long-term resourcing, the third sector cannot plan or deliver preventative, community-led work effectively.
Prevention and early intervention are not optional extras; they are the foundation of a resilient public health system. For investment to make a difference, it must reach the people and places it’s intended for – not be lost within layers of administration or short-term processes.
Here in the Borders, we see powerful examples of collaboration between communities, charities and the public sector every day. The third sector continues to be responsive and flexible, and in rural communities, the first point of contact for most people but to continue this fundamental role, we must be resourced and trusted to do so. Investing in local organisations is not just the right thing to do; it’s a strategic necessity for sustainable change.
We look forward to continuing to work alongside our partners to ensure that commitments made at the national level translate into real impact locally.
For more information, see the TSI Scotland Network Manifesto document.
