The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Social Justice ...a Scotland where everyone matters - Annual Report 2002

Every Community Matters

Our Vision

A Scotland in which every person both contributes to, and benefits from, the community in which they live.

The challenges facing communities

• Scotland has some of the most disadvantaged communities in the UK. The most needy communities are often found in Scotland's cities and areas of high population.
• People in rural communities can also be disadvantaged and have to deal with isolation from services and jobs.
• Communities also include marginalised groups such as minority ethnic groups or disabled people.
• Some communities suffer from higher rates of unemployment.
• Many communities are affected by drug misuse, which affects not only the drug user but also their family.
• Communities may suffer from crime, including drug-related crime or vandalism.
• Some communities suffer from poor housing affecting the health and the wellbeing of residents.

Our long-term targets are to:

• Reduce inequalities between communities.
• Increase residents' satisfaction with their neighbourhoods and communities.

Every Community Matters - case study

Mary Louise Kelly and
John Moreland

Easterhouse is probably one of the most well-known housing estates in Scotland - if not the UK - but sadly its fame has not always been for the right reasons. Over the years the Glasgow estate has attracted more than its fair share of headlines as a parade of politicians and pundits have highlighted its problems of poor housing , unemployment and poverty.

But that was then and the new Easterhouse is a million miles away from its past image of a deprived urban ghetto. That is not to say that there are still not problems - unemployment is still too high, drug misuse is still all too prevalent and two-thirds of residents depend on housing benefit. But the good news outweighs the bad. Damp crumbling flats have been replaced by attractive affordable new homes, the local further education college John Wheatley College provides training and learning opportunties for people of all ages, and since 1996-97 the number of unemployed people has fallen by more than one third. Much of this change is down to the success of the Greater Easterhouse Partnership. Since 1997 this social inclusion partnership has been working to transform Easterhouse from a run-down council estate to a desirable city suburb.

The Greater Easterhouse SIP is one of eleven such partnerships in Glasgow, each working to deliver create tomorrow's Glasgow. As Jim Coleman, chair of the Greater Easterhouse SIP, explains: "Our partnership is at the forefront of co-ordinating change. It is committed to working with local people to improve opportunities and local facilities to bring about lasting change".

One of Easterhouse's most exciting new projects in recent years is the ?9.3 million Cultural Campus. This arts and leisure facility promises to be one of the most innovative schemes of its kind in Britain. Bringing together Easterhouse Arts Factory, Easterhouse Swimming Pool and John Wheatley College the Campus will provide the catalyst for the creative industries and enable local arts groups, such as the Easterhouse Samba Band, to develop. As Jim Coleman says: "Everyone should have access to the arts. We are delighted that our funders have responded to our vision for developing the arts and lifelong learning in such a positive way."

The Cultural Campus is not the only major initiative co-ordinated by the Partnership. Work on a ?60 million private investment in the Garthamlock area started in September this year - this will mean 800 new homes for Easterhouse. A ?65 million investment to create the Auchinlea Retail and Leisure Park will create up to 1,000 jobs over the next two years. And work will soon start on a ?3.3 million initiative to extend and refurbish Easterhouse Health Centre to create a 21st-century Primary Care campus.

But it is not just large capital projects which have brought new hope to the area. The Partnership, working with other organisations including John Wheatley College, has developed a three-year Community Learning Plan that will promote lifelong learning for Easterhouse residents. There is no question about the energy and commitment that the Greater Easterhouse Partnership brings to its job of transforming the estate, and with another five years of its funding still to run, the SIP will no doubt bring more benefits.

And the transfer of Glasgow's council housing to the not-for-profit Glasgow Housing Association will see millions of pounds invested in Easterhouse's worst housing. By 2006 every home in the estate - and the city - will have central heating and new windows, and by 2010 all the houses will have new kitchens and bathrooms. The 1950's dream of a modern housing estate on the east edge of Glasgow may have turned sour in the 60s and 70s, but thanks to the hard work and commitment of people such as Jim Coleman and the rest of the SIP board, Easterhouse can now look forward to a very bright future.

What we are doing

Jobs

• The Employment Zone in Glasgow is providing individual tailored support for the long-term unemployed. Two thousand two hundred people secured sustained employment through the zone.
• West Dunbartonshire has introduced the UK's first full-time mobile Action Team for Jobs office, providing services to the most excluded parts of the area. There are Action Teams in six of the lowest employment areas in Scotland. So far they have helped more than 2,000 people into work.
• The Executive's Training for Work (TfW) programme for unemployed adults provides a range of training opportunities to help them return to work. It is working towards providing basic and Information & Communication Technology skills to all TfW participants.

Health

• The 500,000 initiative between the Daily Record and the Scottish Executive - Scottish Communities Against Drugs - is helping over 50 local anti-drugs projects to meet local needs and priorities.
• Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) have been allocated extra resources to tackle drug misuse in their communities. They are working with Drug Action Teams and local communities to plan strategies. This should include sports programmes as a diversion from drug related activity.
• Drug Action Teams are continuing to involve local agencies to publicise the risks of drug taking, and promote awareness of services and facilities which tackle drug misuse. These range from local to nationwide initiatives.
• "Know the Score", an Executive backed initiative, tackles drugs misuse through education and information. Scotland's major commercial radio stations have joined the campaign, and are keeping up a steady stream of drugs-related information, education, and news items.
• The appointment of Public Health Practitioners in every Local Health Care Co-operative has created a new focus for improving the health of local communities. They are key local leaders and are already developing strong links with local partner agencies and communities to take forward local initiatives to improve the health of communities.

Crime

• Communities that Care is a long-term intervention programme funded partly by the Scottish Executive. The programme is tackling youth crime and its effects and causes such as school failure, drug abuse and school-age pregnancy. There are five projects in Scotland - Edinburgh South, Edinburgh Leith, Glasgow Cranhill and Ruchazie, Newbattle & Gorebridge, and South Lanarkshire.
• The small core of youths offending over 10 times has grown by 5%. We are aiming to reduce the frequency and seriousness of offending and re-offending behaviour through community-based programmes. There are already good local examples such as:
• Freagarrach, Stirling and Falkirk: overall rate of offending decreased by 20%-50% compared with the previous year.
• New Directions, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire: offending behaviour reduced by 75%.
• Breaking the Cycle, East Lothian: Police cautions led to nine out of 10 young offenders not re-offending.
• Our Refuge Development Programme is committed to building new refuges, and adapting, extending and upgrading existing ones, for victims of domestic abuse. The funding will provide additional refuge spaces in some areas and in others, such as Orkney, will provide the first- ever refuge spaces in the area.

Fuel Poverty

• The Central Heating Programme is providing free central heating, insulation and advice to Scotland's most vulnerable households: those whose health or general wellbeing may be at risk from cold and damp housing.
• By 2006, 70,000 householders in the private and social rented sector will have benefited from the Central Heating Programme.
• Our Warm Deal is providing home insulation grants for low-income households and pensioners. We have exceeded our target with already over 135,000 homes benefiting. The Warm Deal will result in potential average savings in fuel bills of ?95 for owner-occupiers and ?62 for local authority tenants.

Housing

• Transfer of local authority housing stock to community ownership delivers a step change in investment, will create tenant empowerment by involving them in decision-making, and provide a solution to housing debt.
• We have met our target of providing 20,000 new houses for affordable renting or low-cost owner occupation.
• The Rural Development Programme funds have increased to provide 1,266 new rural homes in 2002-03. A further 1,360 new and improved rural homes will be provided by the National Housing Programme by the end of 2003.
• Since 1999, 18,044 new or improved homes have been funded through Communities Scotland, meeting the pledge to provide 18,000 affordable homes during the first three years of the Scottish Parliament.
• Last year, in urban and city Social Inclusion Partnership areas, Communities Scotland funded over 1,600 new homes designed to "Secured by Design" standards.
• Last year, Care and Repair schemes helped more than 4,350 older people to improve their homes, bringing the three-year total to nearly 10,000.
• Promoting sustainable development and energy efficient homes tackles both fuel poverty and adverse environmental impact. Over the last three years Communities Scotland has seen the proportion of new housing it funds, that meets challenging energy efficiency standards, ¹⁷ rise from 37% to 96%.

Volunteering

• The Active Communities Strategy is increasing rates of volunteering, particularly targeting those groups less likely to volunteer. Projects funded include Older People Volunteering, Young People in Rural Areas and Black and Minority Ethnic Volunteering.
• We are working to get more volunteers from SIP areas, more retired volunteers and more disabled people. We are also looking at better matching volunteers and promoting the benefits of volunteering.

Digital Inclusion

• The Public Internet Access Points Initiative is helping achieve universal access to the web by creating at least 1,000 new access points in areas of Scotland where public Internet access is poor.
• The Digital Communities Initiative pilot has created two pilot "digital communities". The effects of digital access are being monitored in terms of opportunities provided by developing new ways of accessing learning, work, shopping and leisure.
• We are connecting all Scottish schools and libraries to the Internet, providing access to e-mail for all teachers and pupils, doubling the number of modern computers in Scottish schools, and increasing ICT skill levels of both pupils and teachers.

Community Regeneration

• The Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF) will improve the quality and/or quantity of local services in deprived areas in Scotland through the support of pilot programmes or pathfinders. The areas within 12 local authorities, with above average levels Income Support recipients, were identified with local communities and linked to social justice targets. These are Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, Dundee, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, Argyll & Bute, Dumfries and Galloway and Western Isles. All BNSF pathfinders will be monitored and evaluated and emerging lessons shared with other stakeholders.
• We are funding local authorities to improve the quality of life in our communities. This will be directed towards delivering real improvements to the local environment and quality of life. For example, tackling graffiti and vandalism, promoting anti-litter campaigns, home and community safety and improving local roads and footpaths, as well as providing cultural and sporting opportunities.

What we will do

• Increase childcare support in disadvantaged areas (see Children's section).
• Invest in new approaches to neighbourhood management, tackling anti-social behaviour and poor quality of the environment and helping local people build strong safe communities. This will include a network of neighbourhood wardens across Scotland, with up to 50 schemes.
• Accelerate the reclamation of vacant and derelict land in Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and Dundee.
• Extend-drug treatment services and provide an integrated spectrum of services for drug users to help them put their drug problems behind them.
• Rollout drug testing and treatment orders and set up more drug courts to provide effective alternatives to prison for drug users.
• Put in place a number of initiatives to tackle youth crime and help enhance community safety. This will include the identification and dissemination of the most effective community-based projects with links to the youth justice agenda.
• Introduce bridging pilot schemes for 16-17 year-old offenders.
• Achieve universal access to the Internet by 2005.

Trend

No change: The claimant count unemployment rate has fallen by more than a quarter (over
4 percentage points) but the gap is static.

Chart 24: Unemployment rates in the worst areas and the Scotland average

Source: Claimant Count: Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland

Trend

Some improvements: There is some evidence of a decrease in the misuse of drugs. Overall, reported use of any controlled drug within the past 12 months has gone down from 9% in 1996 to just under 7% in 2000 (latest data available). Levels of reported drug use among 16-25 year olds have fallen, particularly for males. Levels among young people of school age remain stable. Levels of injecting drug use and sharing rates also remain stable.

Chart 25a: Reported use of drugs by 12-15 year olds

Source: Office for National Statistics (1998) and National Centre for Social Research (2000)

Chart 25b: Reported drug use in the last 12 months - adults aged 16-59

Source : Scottish Crime Survey
Note : the incidence rate is fairly small and therefore care should be taken when looking at changes between years and across age groups and gender.

Chart 25c: New problem drug users attending services - reported injecting and sharing behaviour

Source: Scottish Drug Misuse Database
Notes: In 1999-00, for the first time, the figures excluded data from needle exchanges (to improve the validity of comparisons between health board and local authority areas). The 1998-99 data was also revised to exclude the needle exchange information. Data not available from non-medical services in Ayrshire and Arran, for the 6 months to end March 2001.

Trend

Not available: but overall crime rates are falling. The total number of crimes per 10,000 people fell from 851 in 1999 to 823 in 2001. The current data source does not measure the crime rates below local authority level.

Table 26 : Crime rates in local authority areas

Source : Central recorded crime statistical collection: Scottish Executive
Note: Total crimes is not the sum of the crimes against person, crimes against property and crimes relating to drugs. Crimes against the person include the offences petty assault and breach of the peace.

Trend

Improvement: We have met our Programme for Government target by providing 20,000 new houses for affordable renting or low-cost owner occupation directly benefiting our most disadvantaged communities. There has been a continuing increase in owner occupation and a slight decrease in overcrowding. The Central Heating Programme and the Warm Deal are improving the quality of previously fuel poor households.

Chart 27a: Trends in Tenure: End of Year Estimates

Source: Scottish Executive

Chart 27b: Overcrowding - proportion of households in accommodation below, or equal to and above, bedroom standard

Source: Scottish House Condition Survey: Scottish Homes; Scottish Household Survey, Scottish Executive

Trend

Broadly constant. There have been changes to the survey since the baseline year of 1999, when 19% of adults said they regularly volunteered. The level in 2001 is 25%, a small decrease on previous year.

Chart 28 : Percentage volunteering by gender and age

Source: Scottish Household Survey

Trend

Not Available: The questions used to gather information on internet access were significantly revised in 2001. Therefore the estimates for 2001 are not comparable with those for 1999 and 2000. Our public internet access points scheme is creating over 1000 new facilities right across Scotland that provide low cost access to the web.

Chart 29 : Percentage of adults with internet access from anywhere

Source: Scottish Household Survey

« Previous | Contents | Next »