Real social mobility relies on actually using the tools we already have, says Jennifer Tempany, the co-founder of Powering Futures, which prepares the workforce of the future for the jobs of the future

LATELY, I’ve noticed more organisations talking seriously about social mobility.

At first, I wondered if this was just another corporate fad. However, social mobility isn’t a buzz phrase; it is one of the biggest levers we have to change lives and strengthen our economy.

If we get it right, the benefits will ripple across our society for generations.
Too often, however, social mobility is confused with small projects for those furthest from the workplace. These matter but they touch only small numbers. Real social mobility is about something bigger: opening access for the many who never get the chance to step onto the ladder in the first place.

Talent is everywhere but opportunity is not. That gap is what holds Scotland back.
When funding comes up, it usually boils down to tight budgets and education or long-term development rarely makes the cut. Waiting for Government alone will not deliver the change Scotland needs. We need to think differently about how resources are generated and used – and that means making far better use of social value and community benefit commitments.

Today, Scotland’s wind farms provide more than £25 million a year in community benefit funding. If all projects met the Government’s recommended level, that figure could be £88 million: a significant pot of opportunity hiding in plain sight.

However, too often, money sits........

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