RC Community Benefits Portal Proposal (Community Wealth Building)- AM reviewed 26 05 26
Renfrewshire Council · 26 May 2026
Back to Economy and Regeneration Policy Board — 26 May 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Economy and Regeneration Policy Board On: 26th of May 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Renfrewshire Council Community Benefits Portal Proposal (Community Wealth Building) 1. Summary 1.1. This report sets out a proposal to enhance the delivery of local community benefits through the creation of a web-based Renfrewshire Community Benefit Portal. 1.2. Managed and resourced by the Council’s Economic Development team, the portal would streamline processes and improve transparency by more effectively matching local requests for support with supplier obligations. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 Board members are asked to: • Note the role and benefits of community benefits portals. • Agree in principle to the development of a Renfrewshire Council Community Benefits Portal, delivered and managed locally by the local authority and hosted on the Council’s website. • Note that regional and collaborative models (including the GCR Hub) remain under consideration, but that a local portal represents a proportionate and deliverable first step. • Note that further updates on the Community Benefits Portal will be reported to a future board. ___________________________________________________________________
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Renfrewshire Council has a long-standing and well-established approach to securing community benefits through procurement activity. Community benefit clauses are embedded within contracts and are monitored through existing governance and reporting processes. However, experience across Scotland has demonstrated that traditional community benefit delivery models can limit community visibility, engagement and access, particularly for smaller community and third-sector organisations who may be best placed to articulate local need. Community benefits portals have emerged nationally as a practical solution to this challenge. 3.2 Community benefits are a key mechanism through which public sector procurement delivers additional economic, social and environmental value for communities. Increasingly, local authorities and anchor institutions are adopting Community benefits portals to improve transparency, equity of access, and alignment between supplier commitments and community need. 3.3. Across Scotland, this has become standard practice. Of 32 local authorities, 25 (almost 80%) now operate a published community benefits portal. 3.4 This paper proposes that Renfrewshire Council develops its own locally managed community benefits portal, delivered and overseen by the Council’s Economic Development team. This would provide the core benefits demonstrated elsewhere in Scotland, while retaining local control, local targeting and local accountability, fully aligned with the Council’s community wealth building (CWB) ambitions. ___________________________________________________________________ 4. What is a Community Benefits Portal 4.1. A Community benefits portal is an online platform that creates a transparent, structured link between: • Community organisations who submit requests for support aligned with local needs; and • Suppliers delivering public contracts who commit to fulfilling those requests as part of their contractual community benefit obligations. 4.2 In practice, a portal: • Publishes live, approved community benefit requests. • Allows suppliers to align commitments with identified local priorities. • Enables public reporting on commitments made and benefits delivered. • Provides a consistent and auditable process managed by the Council.
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PUBLIC • Shows impact and reach alongside activity, improving visibility of who benefits from community benefits, where delivery takes place, and how this contributes to positive outcomes. Benefits to Communities 4.3 Community benefits portals provide significant advantages for local communities, including: • Transparency: community benefit opportunities, requests, and outcomes are visible and publicly accessible. • Equity of access: Smaller community and third-sector organisations can participate through a clear and open process, rather than relying on informal networks. • Better targeting of need: requests are shaped by communities themselves, ensuring relevance and impact. • Increased confidence and trust: a published, managed system reduces perceptions of inequity or inconsistency. 4.4 Evidence from councils already operating portals shows improved engagement from community organisations and more meaningful, place-based outcomes achieved. Benefits to the Council and Suppliers 4.5 For the Council and its suppliers, a portal: • Supports fair, transparent community engagement within our procurement practices. • Provides clarity and structure for suppliers delivering community benefits. • Strengthens monitoring and reporting. • Reduces duplication of funding support and minimises ad-hoc matching activity. • Demonstrates the Council’s leadership in community wealth building delivery for better local outcomes. 4.6 The use of community benefits portals is now a well-established public sector approach, with many successful Scottish local authority examples in place, including Stirling Council, Perth & Kinross Council, North Ayrshire Council, and major anchor partners such as NHS Boards and Public Health Scotland. ___________________________________________________________________
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PUBLIC 5. Proposed Approach – A Renfrewshire Council Community Benefits Portal 5.1 It is proposed that Renfrewshire Council develops a locally managed community benefits portal, delivered and overseen by Economic Development, working collaboratively with the Council’s Procurement team, Connected Communities team and Engage Renfrewshire (3rd sector interface). The portal would be hosted on the Council’s website. 5.2 Key Features of the proposed portal: • Requests submitted by eligible community and third sector organisations. • Clear eligibility criteria and governance. • Approval and moderation by Council officers. • Public visibility of requests, commitments and completed benefits. • Integration with existing community benefit monitoring and reporting. 5.3 A Renfrewshire-managed portal would: • Retain local control over priorities and targeting. • Align directly with local place-based outcomes. • Build on existing relationships with communities and suppliers whilst establishing new networks. • Ensure accountability sits clearly with the Council 5.4 Experience from other local authorities indicates that: • Portals can be established and managed largely within existing resources. • Clear eligibility criteria and operational processes mitigate risk. • Existing contract management processes support delivery and monitoring. 5.5 The Economic Development team would work collaboratively with key Council and community stakeholders on a detailed implementation plan, governance framework and guidance document which would be developed prior to launch. ___________________________________________________________________ 6. Key Considerations and Resource Requirements 6.1 From a community perspective, consideration of future participation in a regional portal such as the GCR Community Benefits Hub may offer additional advantages. In particular, a regional platform can increase visibility of community needs beyond the Council’s own contracts, allowing local community and third-sector organisations to potentially benefit from larger regional, city-region and anchor-led projects that would otherwise sit out with Renfrewshire’s direct procurement activity.
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PUBLIC 6.3 Regional and collaborative approaches to community benefits delivery, including the Glasgow City Region (GCR) Community Benefits Hub, continue to be explored as part of wider strategic considerations. However, the development of a local portal does not preclude future regional participation. Instead, it: • Establishes a strong local foundation. • Builds organisational capability and readiness. • Ensures immediate benefits for Renfrewshire communities. 6.4 This proposal should therefore be viewed as a proportionate and deliverable first step, with flexibility for future integration where appropriate. 6.5 The successful establishment and ongoing operation of a Renfrewshire Council Community Benefits Portal will require clear operational oversight to ensure that it is effective, accessible and well promoted. This will be achieved through the use of current community economic development resources, maximising capacity within available resources. The portal will be hosted on the Council’s website. 6.6 The portal is intended to support one specific element of community benefits delivery, namely the coordination of financial and non-financial (in-kind) community engagement benefits arising from live contracts. All other elements of community benefits delivery, including employability, skills and training and business development will continue to be supported through the well-established Community Benefits Forum. 6.7 It is proposed that an existing Community Economic Development post within the Council is redesignated as Community Benefits Officer, providing lead responsibility for the coordination and day-to-day operation of the portal. The role will act as the main point of contact for suppliers and community organisations, oversee the submission and assessment of community benefit requests in line with agreed criteria, and support suppliers to identify appropriate community benefit commitments linked to live contracts. 6.8 Additional support will be provided through the Economic Development team resources already in place, including Communities Funding Officers, Social Enterprise Development Officers, and established collaboration with Engage Renfrewshire and Connected Communities, ensuring effective third sector engagement and inclusive access to the portal. 6.9 This approach helps ensure the portal is well supported and managed in a proportionate way, giving confidence that community groups are guided appropriately, supplier interest is actively encouraged, and community benefits are delivered in a fair, consistent and positive way for local communities. ___________________________________________________________________
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PUBLIC Implications of the Report 1. Financial – Financial implications for the Economic Development team are mitigated by delivering the Community Benefits Portal through the effective use of current staffing and partnership resources, avoiding additional costs while maximising existing capacity in line with Best Value principles 2. HR & Organisational Development – HR implications are minimal and mitigated through the redesignation of an existing post and delivery within current staffing arrangement 3. Community/Council Planning – There are no implications 4. Legal- The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act 2026 became legislation on 26th March 2026 with the ministerial statement and policy guidance are expected to follow. 5. Property/Assets- There are no implications 6. Information Technology – A Community Benefits Portal will be hosted on the Council’s website and developed in collaboration with website and digital teams to ensure appropriate governance, compliance with GDPR and data protection requirements, and adherence to accessibility standards. 7. Equality & Human Rights- There are no implications 8. Health & Safety- There are no implications 9. Procurement - The Community Benefits Portal would be delivered and managed by the Economic Development team. Operation of the portal would align with the principles set out in the Council’s Procurement Strategy and comply with the Sustainable Procurement Duty under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. 10. Risk- There are no implications 11. Privacy Impact- There are no implications 12. COSLA Policy Position- COSLA strongly supports community wealth building and promotes its delivery across Scotland through legislation and partnership working, positioning local government as a key anchor institution to help ensure wealth generated locally benefits local communities. 13. Children’s Rights - There are no implications 14. Climate Risk - There are no implications ____________________________________________________
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PUBLIC List of Background Papers Economy and Regeneration Board, 26th May 2026 “Renfrewshire Council Community Benefits (Community Wealth Building) Economy and Regeneration Board, 26th August 2025 “Renfrewshire Council Community Benefits (Community Wealth Building) ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Morag Doig, Community Wealth Building Coordinator, Renfrewshire Council Email: morag.doig@renfrewshire.gov.uk