SCVO has provided an assessment of the impact of the spending decisions outlined in the Draft Budget on third sector organisations and activities. It comments “despite the headline points that present this Budget as one designed to empower Scotland’s people, there appear to be no direct spending proposals to develop community engagement or empowerment through the Government’s work at a local level or its agreements with local government. This suggests to us that this is not a direct priority for Government spending at this time. This is unfortunate as empowering communities can help to deliver both higher levels of well-being and lower government spend.”