Future Economy Scotland

Scotland has committed to community wealth building.

But ambition alone won’t deliver change.

Our new report explores what scaling up CWB really requires.

🎥 Watch @neilmcinroy.bsky.social from @democracycollab.bsky.social explain what comes next👇

⬇️ Report: www.futureeconomy.scot/publications...

🌱💷 Our recent report and evidence on peatland restoration and private finance was raised by @ariane-burgess.bsky.social during the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee.

🎥 Watch the clip below.
📗 Read the report in full: www.futureeconomy.scot/publications...

New polling: Majority of Scots support council tax reform Five times as many Scots support Council Tax reform as oppose it.

New polling has confirmed what many already knew: council tax is deeply unfair, and replacing it is popular.

Read our new blog by David Avern:

Five times as many Scots support urgent Council Tax reform as oppose it - Tax Justice Scotland Scotland’s political leaders are under intense pressure to replace the outdated and unfair Council Tax system.

Read the press release from Tax Justice Scotland with the full results here: taxjustice.scot/blog/five-ti...

Commenting on the polling, our Co-Director @lmacfarlane.bsky.social argues that Scotland needs a fair property tax system fit for the 21st century:

Tax Justice Scotland — backed by more than 50 organisations — is calling on all parties to:

🗑️ Abolish Council Tax and replace it with a fairer alternative.
🏠 Launch a national revaluation of property.
✊ Ensure the new system is local and protects those on low incomes.

The recent announcement of two new Council Tax bands for high value homes is a step forward – but does not go far enough.

The change affects fewer than 1% of households, and does not address the unfairness built into the system.

Just 2% want people in lower-value homes to pay proportionately more than people in higher value housing.

This shows near-total rejection of the unfair status quo.

If Council Tax is reformed or replaced, an overwhelming 83% want a fairer system.

This means people in higher-value homes either paying proportionately more than people in lower-value homes, or paying the same share.

NEW: Scotland’s political leaders are under new pressure to replace the unfair council tax system.

New polling from Tax Justice Scotland shows five times as many Scots back reform in the next Parliament as oppose it. 🧵

What next for community wealth building in Scotland? New legislation must be accompanied by practice, and networks and movements.

The Bill is an important step - but legislation alone won’t deliver Community Wealth Building.

Progress now depends on:
👉 Implementation
👉 Practice on the ground
👉 Building the networks & capacity needed to turn plans into real change.

Read the blog: www.futureeconomy.scot/posts/359-wh... 4/4

🛠️ It’s not a silver bullet, but it is a serious attempt to rebalance power in the economy, using the tools that already exist. 3/4

💸 By rethinking ownership, procurement and investment at a local level, Community Wealth Building challenges an economic model that systematically extracts wealth from communities. 2/4

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland’s Community Wealth Building Bill is about changing how the Scottish economy works - who owns it, who controls it, and who benefits from it. 1/4

Beyond Business-As-Usual: Policy Priorities for the 2026 Scottish Election Our bold, practical ideas to help Scotland rise to the scale of the challenges we face.

🗓️ 100 days to the Scottish election!

Our briefing, ‘Beyond Business-As-Usual’, sets out 11 priorities for the next parliament.

Which do you most want to see?

Why private finance alone can’t restore nature | NEB Digest The challenges and controversies around funding solutions to the nature crisis with private capital, and proposals for alternatives.

Read the latest edition of the @neweconomybrief.bsky.social

Why private finance alone can’t restore nature:
www.neweconomybrief.net/the-digest/w...

Restoring Nature to Deliver a Just Transition to Net Zero A holistic agenda for scaling up investment in woodlands and peatlands.

Great to have our work on private finance and nature featured in the latest @neweconomybrief.bsky.social showing that market-led solutions won’t save Scotland’s woodlands and peatlands.

📖 Dive into our findings👇 www.futureeconomy.scot/publ...

Delivering a Just Transition for Scotland’s Fossil Fuel Workers A plan for proactively transitioning the labour market for life beyond fossil fuels.

📖 Read more in our recent paper:

This week Donald Trump claimed the North Sea has “500 years” of oil and gas left.

Reality: UK oil & gas production is already in steep decline and is projected to fall ~90% by 2050.

New licenses won’t reverse geology.

Majority of Scots oppose new North Sea drilling research finds New research suggests more than half of Scots oppose new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, including close to 50 in the north-east

⚡️Scots are ahead of politicians - 57% oppose new oil & gas drilling.

3 in 4 under-35s want renewables instead.
Even in the North East, nearly half say no to new drilling.

People want clean energy jobs, not more delay.

Read more in @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2576468...

🇺🇸 US tariff hike threats are back in the headlines - and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland’s exporters are watching closely. 

Here’s our analysis from September on how US tariffs could affect Scottish trade: www.futureeconomy.scot/post...

Scotland’s Budget: Tough Choices Delayed, Not Avoided Our analysis of Scotland's Budget for 2026/27.

ICYMI: Scotland’s Budget: Tough choices delayed - not avoided.

The choice for the next Parliament is clear:
📈Raise more revenue, or
📉Accept damaging cuts and a return to austerity.

📊 Read our full analysis of Scotland's 2026/27 Budget: www.futureeconomy.scot/posts/388-sc...

Scotland’s Budget: Tough Choices Delayed, Not Avoided Our analysis of Scotland's Budget for 2026/27.

📊 Read our full analysis of this year's Budget on our blog:

The choice for the next Parliament is clear:

📈 Raise more revenue, or
📉 Accept damaging cuts and a return to austerity.

There are no more short-term fixes. Scotland can protect its social contract – but only if we’re willing to pay for it.

Sooner or later, Scotland’s politicians will need to have an honest conversation with the public.

If Scotland wants to maintain its proud social contract, most of us will need to pay a little more income tax.

The bigger picture is unavoidable. The Budget cut day-to-day spending this year by £480m, and spending plans are relying on £1.5bn of “efficiency savings”.

This is just to stand still – before improving the NHS, tackling poverty, or delivering net zero.

On spending, the new uplift to the Scottish Child Payment for under-ones targets families at highest poverty risk.

This is welcome, but affects relatively few children and won’t shift the dial on poverty alone.

Measuring Carbon Inequality in Scotland New data estimating the carbon footprints of high and low income households in Scotland.

Reform of aviation tax is welcome and long overdue. The new Private Jet Tax is a clear signal that those who pollute the most should pay more.

Our research shows that the richest households emit 11x more carbon from aviation than the poorest.

The new ‘mansion tax’ is similarly timid. Introducing two new council tax bands for homes over £1m is a small improvement – but amounts to tinkering with a broken tax.

Council tax remains deeply unfair and inefficient, and is still based on 1991 values for most households.

On income tax, the bottom two thresholds will increase by 7.4% while higher bands stay frozen for three years.

While the changes overall are progressive, raising lower thresholds benefits higher earners more than those at the bottom, because all taxpayers gain from the change.