Author: TSI Scotland Network

New voting rights for people with lived experience who sit on Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) comes into force on 1 September 2026.

The change applies to current and future elected lived experience representative members of the IJB. This includes:

• Service users – People who use services and can share what it is like to receive care
• Unpaid carers – People who support family members, friends or neighbours. They understand the day-to-day reality of care
• Third sector representatives – People from charities and voluntary organisations who work closely with communities

These members will have the same voting rights as IJB members representing the NHS Health Board and local authority.

People with lived experience have been clear in their ask for voting rights on IJBs. This change represents a positive step towards improving and enhancing participation in local decision-making, recognising that people with lived experience bring valuable knowledge and can be more meaningfully engaged in shaping decisions that impact the design and delivery of their services.

This change means their voices will carry equal weight alongside NHS and local authority representatives when key decisions are made.

By 1 September 2026, IJBs must:

• Engage with their local legal teams to understand the implications of the Order
• Review how voting and meetings will work

Updated guidance, due to be published by 1 September 2026, on gov.scot will outline best practice on how to implement these changes while keeping clear accountability and effective decision-making.

This document aims to provide funders and funding applicants with guidance on what full cost recovery is, why it matters, and what it means in practice.

Read our response in full below.

We are pleased to share the TSI Scotland Network Manifesto ahead of the Scottish Parliamentary elections, which sets out a clear and constructive set of priorities for strengthening Scotland’s communities, improving outcomes for citizens, and supporting a more resilient and sustainable third sector. Scotland’s 32 Third Sector Interfaces work at the heart of localities across the country, supporting charities, community organisations, social enterprises and volunteers to play their fullest role in social and economic wellbeing.

The manifesto draws on the lived experience, insight and local intelligence gathered daily by TSIs in every local authority area. It highlights where collaborative action between national and local government, the third sector, and other system partners can deliver meaningful progress—particularly in prevention, early intervention, public service reform, volunteering, fair funding, health and social care, the economy, climate action and rural delivery.

We believe this is a timely moment to reassert the value of community-led approaches, to invest in the critical infrastructure that supports local resilience, and to ensure that the voices of citizens and community organisations shape decisions that affect their lives. The proposals outlined in the manifesto are designed to complement existing national commitments, while offering practical, place-based solutions tested in communities across Scotland.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss any aspect of the manifesto further. Please get in touch with us at tsinetwork@tsi.scot

The TSI Scotland Network is a body of expert charities that support, develop and advocate for the third sector and social enterprise and that also make it easier for people to volunteer with a focus on inclusion.

There are 32 Third Sector Interfaces – or TSIs – across Scotland; one in each local authority area.

The TSI Scotland Network is supported to carry out its main functions by the Third Sector Unit of Scottish Government with a grant contribution towards core costs for every TSI.

TSIs have insights and expertise grounded in the daily realities of supporting citizens, organisations, enterprises and communities across Scotland: on the third (or voluntary) sector, on social enterprise and other forms of inclusive and democratic business models, on volunteering, community wealth building, commissioning and procurement – to name just a few.

TSIs are therefore an essential partner for local and national government and our community planning partners across virtually every area of public policy and the economy; increasingly collaborating to innovate design for public service reform, for tackling child poverty, for reversing the declines in population health.

Many of the critical challenges and opportunities facing Scotland involve the Third Sector, Social Enterprise and Volunteering.  Our members and stakeholders therefore need all our political parties – in advance of the Scottish Parliament election – to make a firm commitment to take decisive action on:

Public Service Reform:

• Invest directly in Third Sector across public policy areas to ensure prevention and early intervention services are protected and to reduce long-term demand on public services.
• Ringfence and extend funding for Third Sector Interfaces to ensure they can strengthen third sector engagement with service re-design, collaborative commissioning and system leadership as part of the PSR agenda.
• Co-produce a new vision for Health & Social Care in Scotland with a clear, empowered role for TSIs and our sector.

Reducing the national inequalities in Volunteering:

• Champion reform of UK DWP rules on volunteering to maximise our shared health, wellbeing and employability outcomes for Scotland: removal of declaration requirements, inclusion of volunteering in the new ‘Right to Try Guarantee’, and the extension of Access to Work so that 280,000 Scots on benefits can take part.
• Invest in what works for delivering Volunteering for All, by reversing the real-terms reduction in Scottish Government TSI grant funding; investing in our programmes and services that make volunteering easier and more inclusive.

Fair Funding:

• Adopt and promote a national standard for multi-year funding such as that adopted by the CPIB, that is genuinely multi-annual rather than indicative, to embed best practice in funding programmes for third sector organisations across all areas of Scottish Government.
• Where possible funding should be devolved directly from Scottish Government and distributed by third sector intermediaries such as TSIs.
• Strengthen partnership working with the Third Sector through a new Covenant as elsewhere in the UK, alongside the Verity House agreement with CoSLA.

Economy:

• Restore the dedicated Minister for Community Wealth Building.
• Strengthen Community Wealth Building legislation by recognising TSIs as local anchor institutions and improving public sector commissioning and procurement requirements.
• Recognise the important role third sector plays in employability as both an employer of scale (133,000 employees, 5% of the Scottish workforce) and in supporting person-centred, place-based employment support as part of a locally-relevant mixed economy of provision.

Climate:

• Resource and build capacity for Community-Led Climate Action – Scotland’s Just Transition relies on local groups leading change. Without sustained investment, grassroots capacity—especially in rural and island areas—is undermined. Targeted seed funding, such as through Climate Action Networks, has shown success and should be expanded.
• Ensure a Just Transition through Community Engagement – Climate policies risk deepening inequalities if poorly designed. Costs of retrofitting, transport gaps, and digital exclusion can harm vulnerable groups. Early and meaningful participation builds trusted, relevant solutions. Community insight on resilience and adaptation must be embedded in climate governance, in line with the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
• Embed Community Voices in Climate Governance and Policy – People on low incomes are disproportionately affected by climate change and have fewer resources to adapt and recover to the impacts. Codesigning solutions alongside those communities are crucial to creating meaningful change.

Rural:

• Facilitate whole-system approaches to rural services, ensuring health, housing, transport, and economic policy are aligned and meaningfully resourced.
• Insist on greater levels of community benefit from major developments and renewable energy projects to be made available based on evidence of need and not solely on geographical proximity to a development.
• Co-produce a rural connectivity strategy, spanning transport, digital access, and workforce development.

We welcome any conversations to discuss this further. Please direct communications to TSI Network Development Manager Tia Manavis at tia.manavis@tsi.scot.

Pegs Bailey reflects on the importance of relationships and trust in delivering public services, and the importance of investing in training and skills to do this work well.

I am losing count of the conversations I have had, and academic papers I have read, which talk about the critical role of relationships and trust when it comes to delivering public services.

It is a truism we experience daily.

I have watched important cross-sectoral projects nosedive because a key individual went on long-term sick, and great ideas take off because of a change in leadership.

I have seen projects fly on the back of golfing pals having a chat on the course. And I have seen them crash because of inter-organisational narratives of mistrust.

And of course, when you talk to people who have received support from public services it is almost always the quality of the relationship and trust with a key person which is the thing they say made the most difference.

Scottish Government’s Public Service Reform Strategy, the Scottish Approach to Service Design and multiple policy agendas (employability included) all talk about collaboration, integration and engagement with communities and citizens. All of which rely on relationships and trust.

This is the reality we are all working in, but somehow these qualities, and the skills needed to support them, are rarely factored into our systems, structures and training.

I wonder if this is because we tend to think of relational working as being either innate or all ‘a bit fluffy’.

In my experience it is the exact opposite.

Working in a relational and trust-building way can be tough. It requires us to pay attention to what we are bringing to the table, not what others need to do differently. It asks us to notice where our own ego might be getting in the way, or where we are slipping into habitual stories of ‘them’ and ‘us’.

To work relationally we need to be able to turn towards the uncomfortable and sometimes hidden narratives which are driving behaviours in our organisations and ourselves. We need to be willing to have difficult conversations with our partners when things have gone wrong, and to receive feedback from others when we could have done better ourselves.

Crucially we also need to reach out BEYOND those we find it easiest to work with, so that we are connecting with as many relevant perspectives as possible.

None of this is fluffy, or easy.

It is hard, uncomfortable and even scary at times. Collaboration and building relationships and trust across divides requires more than good intentions, it takes skill and personal strength.

BUT when people work in ways which centre these skills then it genuinely saves money and improves efficiency, effectiveness and integration of services.

So what can we do about it?

At a structural level there are some simple actions. We can:

• value meeting in person and failing that…
•  take time in online meetings to get to know one another through allowing time for the ‘coffee break moments’ to happen
• host meetings in ways which allow all to feel ownership of the agenda and contribute without fear or favour

We can also think about how we fund and plan our projects so that the time to build relationships of trust are factored in to both delivery and evaluations.

I have recently been re-inspired by Brene Brown’s work on trust and BRAVING from 2016 which is well worth 10 minutes out of your day.

BUT fundamentally, it is no good telling people to collaborate if you don’t give them skills to do it well.

If we are serious about improving collaboration, value for money and effectiveness, then it is time we got serious about investing in relational skills at all levels of our organisations.

Luckily there are lots of different learning we can build on and be inspired by out there. I have popped some links to work I am aware of below.

Welsh Government Mindfulness, Neuroscience and Behaviour Change Programme for growing skills collaboration (available below)

Leadership Academies run by Columba 1400 across Scotland

Thempra run a variety of quality courses on co-production and relational leadership.

Thistle Foundation Good Conversations Training for both frontline and strategic work

If you are interested in having a conversation about how we grow relational skills across all elements of public services in Scotland then please get in touch via my linked in page – this is a conversation I feel we need to keep having.

The third sector plays a vital role in maximising the impact of public service reform. To meet this potential, we call for structural changes that empower community-led solutions, recognise the vital role of volunteering, and invest in the skilled facilitators and leaders needed to build capacity and drive cross-sector collaboration.

TSI Scotland Network welcomes the Programme for Government’s recognition of the Third Sector, including the reference its role in public service reform and to Social Enterprise in Improved Communities – Community Wealth Building.

We also welcome the Fair Funding trials, particularly the focus on multi-year funding and using the early prevention-focus of the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. Direct investment in community-led groups is essential, and must be matched with long-term financial assurance.

However, we are concerned by the absence of any direct commitment to investing in volunteering especially at a time of significant national decline in volunteer participation across critical services for children, young people, and health.

We support the shift toward prevention-focused spending, with recognition that prevention doesn’t always sit within the scope of expensive service delivery models. It should be rooted in communities, and the focus and expenditure therefore should address community strengths and assets before re-building services.

In that context, the Network is looking forward to continuing to work with Government, collaborating and innovating across several of its key priority areas.

Commenting on the budget, a spokesperson for the TSI Scotland Network, said the new Scottish budget was a great step forward in beginning the reinvestment process in our communities and valued local services. The commitment to developing plans to mitigate the two-child benefit limit underlines an approach from government that is based on fairness, justice and a commitment to eradicating child poverty.

“The budget narrative clearly supported our asks to invest in Public Service Reform combined with extra funds for social care and family support services as well substantial increases for our under-pressure NHS, housing and council services.”

“However, what is unclear is the method of investment in reform and change.  The old top-down models of investing in high tariff services will not meet the challenge of rising demand and an aging population.“

“For that we need to see the Scottish Government mandate the NHS and councils to collaborate with local communities and third sector organisations in commissioning and planning a fairly funded network of local services on a multi-year basis. Only then will be see a concerted shift in spend towards early intervention and prevention at a community level.” 

The spokesperson also noted that there remained concern over the lack of uplift in the Third Sector Infrastructure budget – which amounts to a real terms cut – as well as a lack of specific investment in Community Wealth Building.  As the budget is debated through Holyrood we would also like to see further detail on local climate action and consistent investment in employability programmes.

The TSI Scotland Network will continue to call on Government to ensure communities and a sustainably funded third sector are at the heart of public service reform. 

The Network has four main asks:-

Ask 1: Invest in collaborative third sector delivery models to support public sector reform

Ask 2: Fairer funding to enable the systems change the Scottish Government seeks

Ask 3: Direct funding to communities that is shaped by local people and groups

Ask 4: Support the TSI Scotland Network to lead on change and fund it to do so.

—ENDS—

Contact: To speak to a spokesperson who will be a Chief Officer from one of the 32 local TSIs please contact Takki Sulaiman in the first instance on takkisulaiman@argylltsi.org.uk or 07377 070387. 

Contd…//

Notes to Editors:

1. The TSI Scotland Network is a body of expert charities that support, develop and advocate for the third sector and social enterprise and that also make it easier for people to volunteer with a focus on inclusion. There are 32 Third Sector Interfaces – or TSIs – across Scotland; one in each local authority area. 
2. A more complete list of analysis and asks from the Scottish Government’s Budget published by the TSI Scotland Network on 26^th November 2024 is available from our website here.
3. Each TSI is funded in part by the Scottish Government to help the third and social enterprise sector in the following ways:
   • Build capacity
   • Be a source of knowledge, training and support
   • Connect partners
   • Represent the sector
4. The third, community and social enterprise sector is the third largest employer by sector and across Scotland employs 133,000 people who are committed to improving our communities.