ESES (Edinburgh and South East Scotland) Community Benefits Portal
ESES (Edinburgh and South East Scotland) Community Benefits Portal
The Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal (ESES CRD) is a £1.3 billion investment from the Scottish and UK governments to accelerate growth, create new economic opportunities, and meaningful new jobs that will help to reduce inequalities.
Key projects include cutting edge university research facilities in Edinburgh, a new Borders Innovation Park in Tweedbank, a Fife Industrial Estates Regeneration programme and the creation of 41,000 new homes across the six areas, including affordable and rental housing. Other projects include a Food & Drink Innovation Campus in East Lothian, improvements to Sheriffhall roundabout in Midlothian and increasing sustainable transport links in Edinburgh.
As well as creating thousands of jobs over a 15-year period, core to the Deal is that communities also receive additional positive outcomes through community benefits. “Community benefits” are the method by which local communities and good causes are encouraged to receive additional social value from the supply chain of businesses delivering publicly funded contracts and developments.
Guidance for requesting community benefits
There is no definitive list of what can be requested under the banner of community benefits. Established examples may include guaranteed local apprenticeships or school visits on local construction projects, use of local businesses in supply chains, improvements to public parks or donating excess materials to local causes. Whilst continuing to promote these sorts of community benefits, an open-minded approach is being taken to encourage other types of requests – including from organisations and communities who are less familiar with community benefits as a whole.
Who can make a community benefit request?
- Registered Charities or Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs) with the Office of the Scottish Charity Register (OSCR)
- Registered Charities or Charitable Incorporated Organisations (IOs) with the Charities Commission for England & Wales (so long as the community benefit is undertaken within the 6 ESES local authority areas)
- Community Interest Companies with an asset lock
- Community Benefit Societies with an asset lock
- Constituted, not for profit and voluntary organisations
- Social Enterprises
- Churches and faith-based organisations for secular activities
- Schools, pre-schools, nurseries
- Universities and colleges
Please note that informal groups or collectives of residents may still be able to submit requests - either in partnership with one of the above organisations, or by contacting info@esescommunities.org.
How do I add my organisation to the interactive map?
Please visit the ESES Communities webpage and follow the registration instructions. You can find the interactive map here
Further information
For more information about community benefits, please visit the FAQs webpage.