Introduction
Since devolution in 1999, we have been committed to tackling poverty and disadvantage through our Social Justice Strategy. In partnership with the UK Government we committed ourselves to ending Child Poverty and, in addition, our Strategy was supported by a number of targets (the social justice milestones). Five years on we now want to build on the milestones and focus on the most important issues that we need to tackle through our own activities in order to overcome poverty in Scotland.
Latest News
- The Scottish Executive's new Multiple and Complex Needs initiative was announced on 8th September and aims to improve public services for those with multiple and complex needs - some of the very hardest to reach in society who may not have benefited from recent improvements to service delivery because they find it difficult to access services and/or to maximise their own benefit from them. For more information please see the MCN Information leaflet and associated press release.
- The latest report from the social inclusion strand of the British Council into disability and employment is now available online at: http://www.british-irishcouncil.org/documents/BICdisabilitiespaper23Feb.pdf. The report to the Social Inclusion Ministers of the British Irish Council administrations details the work carried out by them and the lessons learned on disability and access to employment, education and training between April 2004 and the end of 2005.
- The Executive has recently published a new employability framework and a strategy for reducing the number of children who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), which will drive delivery of CtOG targets A and B respectively. Workforce Plus aims to reduce the number of people on workless benefits in 7 key areas by 30,000 by 2007 and 66,000 by 2010, while More Choices, More Chances aims to reduce the proportion of 16-19 year olds who are NEET. Further information on both strategies are available through the relevant target pages below.
- Scottish statistics on income poverty, as measured by the Households Below Average Income Survey, were published on March 9, 2006 and are available online.
- For further information on Households Below Average Income in Scotland, the definitions used and the new Child Poverty Measure, please see the HBAI Fact Sheet (available in both word and PDF format).
- A major European conference on social inclusion, The Round Table on Social Inclusion, was held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, 17-18 October 2005. The event was held as part of the UK Presidency of the European Union, and began on the annual United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. More information, including the conference report, is available online.
Our Aims
Our Partnership Agreement ( Partnership for A Better Scotland) committed us to Closing the Opportunity Gap. Working across all Departments and portfolios we aim:
- To prevent individuals or families from falling into poverty;
- To provide routes out of poverty for individuals and families; and
- To sustain individuals or families in a lifestyle free from poverty.
Objectives
Six Closing the Opportunity Gap objectives were launched on July 12, 2004:
- To increase the chances of sustained employment for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups - in order to lift them permanently out of poverty
- To improve the confidence and skills of the most disadvantaged children and young people - in order to provide them with the greatest chance of avoiding poverty when they leave school;
- To reduce the vulnerability of low income families to financial exclusion and multiple debts - in order to prevent them becoming over-indebted and/or to lift them out of poverty;
- To regenerate the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods - in order that people living there can take advantage of job opportunities and improve their quality of life;
- To increase the rate of improvement of the health status of people living in the most deprived communities - in order to improve their quality of life, including their employability prospects; and
- To improve access to high quality services for the most disadvantaged groups and individuals in rural communities - in order to improve their quality of life and enhance their access to opportunity.