Mark McKeown

From a Scottish perspective, however, it exposes a familiar fault line in UK policy. Devolution means that, in its current form, the approach largely stops at Hadrian’s Wall. As a result, those of us seeking to elevate awareness around philanthropy in Scotland, with the ultimate goal of generating greater levels of charitable giving, may look on with some envy as England builds its own distinct route to achieve this goal.

What do the elements of this new approach in England include? Two developments sit at its heart. The first is the creation of the Office for the Impact Economy (OIE) and the second is the launch of a national strategy to grow place-based giving across England. Together, they signal an attempt to move from fragmented initiatives towards a more systemic, partnership-driven model of social investment.

The OIE, established in late 2025 within the Cabinet Office, is intended to act as a coordinating “front door” between government and the wide range of actors involved in social impact, mainly philanthropists, investors, businesses and civil society organisations. Rather than creating new funding streams in isolation, the OIE is designed to align existing efforts, drive cross-government strategy and build partnerships capable of unlocking significantly greater flows of capital towards social outcomes.

Beneath this, the concept of an “impact economy” is key. It seeks to blur the traditional boundaries between public spending, private investment and charitable giving, bringing them together in pursuit of shared social goals. In practical terms this means encouraging investors to consider social as well as financial returns, supporting charities to participate in outcome-based funding models and enabling government to work more fluidly with external partners. The OIE is intended to embed this thinking across Whitehall, making social impact a core consideration rather than simply a niche policy area.

Running in parallel is the new place-based giving strategy, set out in the April 2026 publication Our Place to Give. This initiative responds to a clear problem, that although figures from the Charities Aid Foundation UK Giving Report indicate that around £14 billion is donated to charity annually in the UK, that funding is heavily concentrated in urban areas, particularly in the south. The strategy aims to redirect philanthropic capital towards neglected communities by strengthening local giving environments.

This approach is intended to connect donors more effectively with local organisations, building stronger partnerships between philanthropy and public bodies and unlocking additional investment through mechanisms such as match-funding. In practice, this includes establishing regional networks, appointing philanthropic ambassadors, and embedding giving conversations into financial advice. The emphasis is not simply on raising more money but on ensuring that it flows to places where it can have the greatest impact.

Whilst there has been some comment that the framework around the place-based giving strategy is less extensive than it might be, its creation, and that of the OIE, represent significant achievements and those involved are to be congratulated, whether they are civic figures, policy and research institutes, funders, intermediaries or recipients. The framework is, though, explicitly framed around England, as policy areas such as local government, community development, civil society and aspects of economic development are devolved under the UK’s constitutional settlement. As a consequence, UK government initiatives in these areas are typically designed for England only, even when the underlying challenges such as geographic inequality, uneven philanthropic distribution and constrained public finances are shared across the UK.

For Scotland this creates a challenge. Scottish institutions such as community foundations, social enterprises and local authorities are already deeply engaged in place-based approaches and social impact. They are, however, largely outside the scope of a new, high-profile UK policy architecture that aims to mobilise significant additional capital and coordination capacity.

There is therefore a risk of divergence not just in policy design but in access to networks, influence and funding. The OIE is intended to serve as a central convening point for investors and philanthropists. If its practical focus remains England-focussed, Scottish organisations could find themselves less visible to the very actors the policy is designed to mobilise. Similarly, the infrastructure being built to support place-based giving such as shared learning networks, match-funding mechanisms and advisory ecosystems, may develop quickly in England while Scotland evolves more incrementally.

Scotland is, therefore, in danger of missing an opportunity. The logic underpinning these reforms is not uniquely English. Scotland faces many of the same structural challenges such as persistent regional inequality, pressure on public services and the need to unlock new forms of capital to support inclusive growth. Indeed, Scotland’s strong traditions of community action and social enterprise arguably make it an ideal environment for an ambitious impact economy agenda.

The case, then, is not for simple replication but for deliberate adaptation. A Scottish equivalent to the OIE could provide a focal point for aligning government, philanthropy and investment around shared priorities. A national framework for place-based giving could build on existing community foundations and local partnerships, scaling what already works and connecting it more systematically to sources of capital.

More broadly, there is an opportunity for Scotland to position itself at the forefront of this agenda within a devolved context, demonstrating how impact-led approaches can be integrated with distinct policy priorities and institutional arrangements. This would require leadership, coordination and, crucially, a willingness to engage openly with private and philanthropic capital as partners in delivering public outcomes. There is already a groundswell of support for such a move within the part of Scottish civic society which has a focus on elevating the profile of charitable giving. Work done by the Centre for Social Justice Foundation and the University of St Andrews Centre for the Study of Philanthropy and the Public Good, amongst others, indicates a willingness to engage with the detail on how this might be achieved north of the border.

The UK government’s recent moves represent a significant and welcome shift in how social impact is understood and delivered. For Scotland, the question is not whether these developments apply direct, but whether to respond with equal ambition. The challenge for the new government at Holyrood, elected this month, should be to build a more connected, better-resourced framework capable of tackling deep-rooted social challenges at scale, one of which Scotland can be proud.

Mark McKeown is philanthropy legal director at Turcan Connell