Response to UK Government proposals around mandating community benefits
Foundation Scotland’s response to the DESNZ working paper on Community Benefits and Shared Ownership for Low Carbon Energy Infrastructure.
Many of the funds that Foundation Scotland administers are related to community benefits from low carbon technologies. Currently community benefits are a voluntary payment made by developers, working to good practice principles
Earlier this year the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ, UK govt) published a working paper on the introduction of legislation for Scotland, England and Wales that would mandate community benefits (i.e. make the payment of community benefits at a certain level compulsory, as well as creating fixed fund administration functions) and enforce existing legislation that can be used to mandate shared ownership.
Mandation would be a very significant policy change in relation to community benefits and if implemented, has implications for the communities in receipt of community benefits and how Foundation Scotland works alongside those communities.
Scotland has the most evolved landscape of community benefits practice in the nations that would be covered by this legislation and Foundation Scotland is the most experienced community benefits fund administrator in the UK.
Rooted in this experience, Foundation Scotland submitted a detailed response to the paper, which closed in mid July. You can read a summary of our response and recommendations here.
If you would like to discuss this more with us, you can contact our Policy & Practice Manager Suzy Mercer on suzy@foundationscotland.org.uk