Building Healthier Communities Together: What Scotland’s New Reforms Mean for Argyll and Bute

31 October 2025

Two major policy frameworks launched in June 2025 are set to change how Scotland’s public and community sectors work together — and they could open up exciting opportunities for us here in Argyll and Bute.

The first, Scotland’s Public Service Reform Strategy, sets out how public services must evolve to meet rising demand and limited budgets. It’s not about cutting costs, but about doing things differently — working together across boundaries, investing in prevention, and designing services around people and places rather than institutions. The Scottish Government calls this “delivering for Scotland”, and it builds on long-standing ambitions from the Christie Commission to shift resources towards early intervention and collaboration.

The second, Scotland’s Population Health Framework, takes this further by focusing on what really shapes our health and wellbeing — not just hospitals and clinics, but our homes, jobs, communities, environment, and opportunities. It’s a ten-year plan to improve population health by tackling inequalities, supporting healthy living, and building stronger, fairer communities. Its five key themes — prevention, social and economic factors, places and communities, enabling healthy lives, and equitable access to care — all recognise that good health starts long before anyone needs a doctor.

Both strategies make a powerful statement that lasting change starts in communities. That’s where Argyll and Bute’s third, community and social enterprise sector can make a real difference.

Across our towns, villages and islands, community groups, charities and social enterprises are already helping people stay well, connected and supported. Whether through volunteering, social enterprises, heritage and cultural projects, or local wellbeing initiatives, these organisations deliver the kind of early intervention and preventative work that reduces demand on overstretched public services.

But while the vision is clear, what’s missing is a matching investment strategy. For too long, community-based prevention has relied on short-term or piecemeal funding, even though it saves public money in the long run. These two new national frameworks give us the policy foundation we need to make a stronger case for long-term, multi-year investment in community-led services.

For Argyll and Bute, the opportunities are significant. The Public Service Reform agenda encourages more local, joined-up approaches — exactly what’s needed in a rural and island region where communities already work creatively to fill service gaps. The Population Health Framework highlights the importance of place-based models, opening the door for local innovation around wellbeing, volunteering and early help. Together, they make a compelling case for piloting new approaches right here: ones that integrate health, social care, and community action at a local level.

By aligning our work with these national priorities — and by evidencing how community-led action improves wellbeing and reduces demand — Argyll and Bute can show what genuine partnership between the statutory and third sectors looks like in practice. We have some excellent case studies from the HSCP’s Living Well programme about what works well and how we work together to achieve change.

These reforms invite us to re-imagine how services are designed and delivered, not from the top down, but from the community up. With the right support and investment, Argyll and Bute could lead the way in demonstrating how prevention, partnership and place can deliver better outcomes — and a fairer, healthier future — for everyone who lives here.