Policy blog

Each Autumn, Committees at the Scottish Parliament prepare pre-budget reports to share with Scottish Government Ministers ahead of the December Budget. Each one is packed with recommended commitments. Like colleagues across the sector, over the last few months the policy team at... Read more

Are you involved in procurement already or looking to learn more about it? Then register now and come along to our procurement webinar on 24 November, 3-4pm. Featuring an expert panel, this is a great chance to learn more and ask important questions on what’s working well and... Read more

We know that charities, social enterprises and community groups make Scotland a better place, and that’s why SCVO’s mission is to develop a confident voluntary sector in Scotland. But our mission is also about promoting this vibrant sector to engage at UK level when opportunities... Read more

Susan Smith explains the link between COP26 and Trustees Week Read more

The past 18 months have seen SCVO's policy team move our policy focus to issues impacting the voluntary sector's operating environment. This means that much of what we do now and well into the future will be relevant to most Scottish organisations. It also means that we need to... Read more

Issues around human rights are always key, but the focus in the news on incorporation of the UNCRC, Westminster’s plans to overhaul the Human Rights Act, and SCVO’s appearance in front of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee brought them to the front of my... Read more

The creation of a National Care Service is potentially one of the biggest changes to public services for decades. In the course of its development, the critical roles played by voluntary organisations in both delivering and complementing public services must be recognised... Read more

My first community development job was in Drumchapel so seeing the devastation wrought by the recent flooding to people living there was deeply saddening. With a spate of wildfires across the world forming the backdrop to the pandemic it sometimes felt over the last year that the... Read more

Like many I keep hearing or reading about how the pandemic we’ve all lived with for the past 18 months has fostered different and sometimes even better partnerships within and across sectors. As we recover from the covid-19 crisis we must spend time to learn from the impact of... Read more

Introduction As my colleague Sheghley posted at the end of June, SCVO wanted to learn more about the sector's use of the furlough scheme. In order to do so, we asked organisations to complete a short survey about their use of the scheme and any potential implications for their... Read more