Campaigners call for Scottish community wealth fund

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Joining forces, members of the Scottish Community Coalition on Energy (SCCE) and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) have written to Scottish government Energy Minister Stephen Gethins calling for the creation of a community-centred wealth fund.

Josh Doble, director of Community Land Scotland, a partner of the SCCE, said: “It would improve public support for the transition to clean energy and build more resilient and fair economic development.”

The call comes after a new Audit Scotland report challenged the Scottish government to be more transparent on how it was spending the £755 million generated by ScotWind, its firesale of rights to build and operate offshore wind farms.

The finance watchdog warned that it was not clear how the £96m of that fund already spent had been used to support the transition to net zero, “nor is it clear how the Scottish government intends to use remaining ScotWind funds.”

Urging ministers to “stop raiding” the ScotWind coffers and set up a “strong, dedicated wealth fund that uses the millions raised from offshore wind farms to benefit all Scots,” SCCS’s Amanda Grimm said: “The fund should support projects like community-owned wind turbines, community-operated bus services or community-owned pubs, hubs and office spaces, which all plough profits back into their villages, towns and cities, creating wealth and opportunities for local people.”

The Scottish government said: “We are currently reviewing the good practice principles for community benefits from offshore renewable energy developments following a public consultation.

“We will also be working on the programme for government commitment to deliver a ScotWind Wealth Fund by the end of this parliament.”