SWBG blog
Bella Caledonia Article: Ambitious (for women) in Scotland?
Last week’s Programme for Government rightly identified tackling the cost-of-living crisis, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and sustaining community cohesion as crucial to reducing division and creating social stability.
Gender Budgeting: What it is, why it’s needed and how it can be used
Budgets can seem abstract, removed from people’s everyday lives; in reality, they shape them. For example, they affect how we are able to access everyday services such as the doctors, care support, childcare, schools or public transport. Decisions made about budgets, including where and how much money is invested, impact access to and the quality of these services.
Understanding the Scottish Budget Process and how to Engage with it
At the Scottish Women’s Budget (SWBG) we work towards changing the way that public spending decisions are made. Our work shows that it’s critical to recognise the different challenges women and men face when budgets are allocated.
Questions for Political Parties Ahead of the Scottish Parliament Election + Their Answers
Women we work alongside developed questions that have been shared with all the mainstream political parties standing for election on 7 May.
Final reflections from the Women's Economic Empowerment group
This year’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Group has been meeting regularly since October 2025. This has allowed the group to follow the budget process in Scotland. As part of this, they reviewed:
Whose priorities are considered when local governments allocate budgets?
One of the first things we discuss with the Economic Empowerment Group is that budgets reflect a government’s priorities. It was therefore interesting to hear those introducing local government budgets articulate this so clearly. Phrases such as “this budget sets out what matters to the people” and “our priorities are shared priorities with the people of...” were frequently used.
Video: Invisible in Plain Sight
Too often, women’s lives are invisible in policymaking, leaving them invisible in plain sight.
What does £7.6 million mean? Reflections on stage 1 and stage 2 of the 2026-27 Scottish Budget Bill
Our Economic Empowerment group met last week to consider Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the Scottish Budget bill, the final legislative step in the Scottish Government’s annual budget process.
How good was this year’s Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment? The Women’s Economic Empowerment Group share their views
At the latest meeting of our Women’s Economic Empowerment Project, we explored how the Scottish Government considered equalities within its budget-setting process, particularly in relation to its duties under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
Does the Draft Scottish Budget Meet Women’s Needs? The Women’s Economic Empowerment Group Discuss
The women’s economic empowerment group met after the Cabinet Secretary presented her budget to Parliament last week. The discussion focused on whether they felt their needs and the needs of women reflected in the budget decisions taken.
Reaction to the Scottish Budget 2026-27
This blog will be updated over the coming days as we take time to go through the budget documentation.
Women’s Voices on Pre-Budget Scrutiny: Perspectives from the Women’s Economic Empowerment Group
In the run up to the introduction of the Scottish budget for 26-27, our Women’s Economic Empowerment group looked at the pre-budget scrutiny undertaken by two parliamentary committees: the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee.
Women’s Voices on the UK Budget: Reflections from Our Economic Empowerment Project
In this blog, our Training Lead, Heather Williams, shares the reflections of the women who are taking part in our second Economic Empowerment project.
Labour’s second budget, did the Chancellor get it right?
Blog by Sara Cowan, Director, and Carmen Martinez, Policy and Engagement Lead
Don´t let the wind blow our mandala
In this powerful blog, Arantxa Garcia de Sola — a member of the project’s Steering Group — reflects on her experience contributing to the newly published report on Poverty and Inequality in Aberdeen.
Voices from the Front Line - researching social care workers' experiences in Scotland
In this blog SWBG Training and Participation Lead, Heather Williams, reflects on our recently published research Voices from the Front Line: Social care workers in Scotland.
Beyond Scotland: what does childcare look like elsewhere?
Over the past year, the Scottish Women’s Budget Group has been exploring different aspects of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)-(2)-220.png)
policy in Scotland: from affordability to flexibility (or lack thereof) of services, to the economic impact of investing in childcare (both in the short and long term). While these webinars have touched on some international examples of best practice, the last event of the series sought to address a question left untouched: what does childcare look like elsewhere? The webinar heard from speakers from Canada, France and Estonia.
Reflecting on the Scottish Draft Budget 2025-2026
While it’ll take some time to go through all the budget documentation, including equality impact assessments, and delve into the detail of the Equality and Fairer Scotland Statement, our first take on the budget is that it offers glimmers of hope for women who are feeling the crunch of years of rising prices. Yet more still needs to be done to invest in care and raise further revenue to support public services.
Responding to news of the delay of stage 2 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill
The delay announced by the Minister for Social Care may not come as a surprise to anyone. The process for developing the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill has lost sight of the vision shared by those who use care services and carers in the development of the Independent Review on Adult Social Care.
Edinburgh Integration Joint Board Grants Programme
Heather Williams, Training Lead at the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, discusses the latest proposals made by Edinburgh Integration Joint Board on their Grants Programme
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