Social Inclusion - Opening the door to a better Scotland: Strategy


		Publisher The Scottish Office, 1999

Social Inclusion - Opening the door to a better Scotland: Strategy Foreword The Government is committed to promoting social inclusion and equality of opportunity in Scotland. Our vision is of a Scotland where everyone enjoys the benefits of prosperity, and where everyone has chances to work and to learn. A Scotland where everyone's contribution is valued, and everyone can play their part in a modern, progressive democracy. A Scotland where those in difficulties are helped to get back on their feet, rather than being trapped in dependency or pushed further into the spiral of exclusion. Since May 1997, this Government has set in motion an unprecedented range of programmes to promote opportunity and to tackle head on the social exclusion and poverty suffered by too many people. Others in Scotland have striven for many years to the same ends. If, collectively, we are to meet the challenge we have set ourselves, we need to ensure that the action we take is comprehensive and coherent; that it is rigorously evaluated; and that we continually develop new ideas and innovative solutions. These are the aims of the programme of work set out in this document, the Social Inclusion Strategy. The preparation of this strategy has been steered by the Scottish Social Inclusion Network under the chairmanship of my Ministerial colleague John Sewel, and I am grateful to members of the Network for their help in its development.

Scotland now stands on the threshold of a new future, with its own Parliament and with the right to make its own decisions. A window of opportunity exists, to consolidate the commitment to social justice which permeates political and civic thought in Scotland, to harness the efforts of many to the greater good of all, and to establish social inclusion as a common, central goal of Scottish society.

DONALD DEWAR

Introduction
1. This document sets out a framework for the further development of social inclusion policy in Scotland. It has been informed and is supported by the Scottish Social Inclusion Network, and it has built upon the views, comments and concerns expressed by those responding to the consultation paper 'Social Exclusion in Scotland'.	The Scottish Social Inclusion Network was formed in the summer of 1998, to improve co-ordination between relevant agencies and to help the Government to develop its approach to promoting social inclusion. The Network consists of representatives of Government and other national public and private sector organisations, alongside individuals with direct experience of tackling social exclusion.

2. Social exclusion can take many forms. The Prime Minister has described social exclusion as "a short-hand label for what can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health and family breakdown." Social exclusion is complex: its causes are connected, and its effects themselves become causes of further exclusion; for example, poverty is both a key cause of social exclusion and a key effect. Action to promote social inclusion therefore needs to be both comprehensive and co-ordinated: it must address the full range of issues facing an individual, a family or a community.

3. Many people across Scotland are engaged in action to promote social inclusion, working with individuals, families and communities to identify routes out of exclusion, and pathways into inclusion through employment, education, housing, or healthcare. So, for example, the Personal Adviser who is working with people on the New Deal to secure employment; the volunteer street-worker who is supporting homeless young people to find secure housing; a health visitor working with teenage mothers; the social worker who is making sure the needs of a vulnerable child are addressed; or the teacher who is giving extra attention to a pupil who is struggling to pick up basic literacy skills: all are making a contribution to the chances people in Scotland will have to be included in society. Sometimes this action will have an immediate effect; sometimes, as with the teacher and pupil, the benefit may be greatest in the long-term, once the child has successfully gone on to higher education or employment.

4. Many different agencies and organisations are engaged in promoting an inclusive society. Central Government, its agencies, and public bodies like Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Homes all direct and fund programmes which contribute to promoting social inclusion. At a more local level, local authorities and the services they enable or provide, for example through their Education or Social Work departments, play a key role, as do the National Health Service, Local Enterprise Companies, and Further and Higher Education institutions. The great range of voluntary sector and community activity provides essential and irreplaceable support to many vulnerable people in Scotland. And community groups and organisations across Scotland are committed to taking action to improve the areas in which they live, both through the direct organisation of services like credit unions, playgroups, or community-based housing associations, and through their determination to influence service providers.

5. At no stage, however, has all this activity been harnessed together in pursuit of common, explicitly stated objectives. It is essential that the action taken by the various agencies across Scotland should "fit together" to form a truly comprehensive and coherent programme to promote social inclusion. Those agencies, including Government, should seek to ensure there are no gaps or conflicts between their programmes, and to identify and make the most of beneficial links - synergies - between programmes. Most importantly, action should be based on a clear understanding of "what works" and what more can be done; and we should continually check that the action that is taken forward is having the intended effect.

6. Understanding and experience of "what works" in tackling social exclusion is shared among many different individuals and organisations across Scotland. This expertise should be harnessed to the full. In addition, the very individuals and communities who are vulnerable to exclusion must be brought into the picture. Government and others should not and cannot sit at the centre and plan people's lives. Individuals and communities should be supported to express their needs and aspirations and to influence decisions made on their behalf.

7. There is a need, then, for all those who have a contribution to make to promoting social inclusion in Scotland to come together, to agree action, and to develop new ideas. This idea underpinned the creation of the Scottish Social Inclusion Network, and it remains its purpose. In doing so, the Network must also connect with the many other organisations and individuals not formally represented on it, and ensure that they are engaged and committed.

The Vision
8. In developing this strategy, the Government and the Scottish Social Inclusion Network have agreed a 'vision' of social inclusion in Scotland. Our vision is of a Scotland in which:
every child, whatever his or her social or economic background, has the best possible start in life there are opportunities to work for all those who are able to do so those who are unable to work or are beyond the normal working age have a decent quality of life everyone is enabled and encouraged to participate to the maximum of their potential

9 To achieve this vision, it will be necessary, in particular:
to increase participation in the labour market to tackle poverty through both national and local action to ensure that every child entering primary school is ready to learn and to make best use of their school years to reduce, if possible to zero, the number of children who leave school unqualified or ill-equipped to cope with life to widen participation in and demand for lifelong learning to tackle specific barriers to participation individuals face, including ill health, low self-esteem, homelessness and drug misuse to eliminate discrimination and inequality on the grounds of gender, race or disability to reduce inequalities in health to ensure that decent and affordable housing is available to everyone to tackle inequalities between communities by empowering and regenerating deprived communities to support and encourage the contribution of business to the well-being of communities to promote a culture of active citizenship, in which self-development, participation in community and civic life and caring for our disadvantaged neighbours are key features

Action
10. A great deal of action in pursuit of this vision is already underway. The New Deals and the New Futures Fund are crucial to increasing labour market participation and tackling poverty. The Government is investing heavily in programmes to promote inclusion among school-age children, including New Community Schools, Early Intervention Schemes, Alternatives to Exclusion from school and family literacy. Younger children and their families will benefit from a major expansion in targeted support for vulnerable families with very young children, pre-school education and from the National Childcare Strategy. Major investment will create 40,000 new places in Further Education, supported by a new strategic framework. And the recent White Paper, 'Working Togethor for a Healthier Scotland', has set out a strategy for tackling health inequalities through a co-ordinted, inter-agency approach.		Action to promote social inclusion is described in more detail in the companion document, 'Social Inclusion: Opening the door to a better Scotland'.

11. The New Housing Partnerships will empower communities and provide much-needed investment to improve Scottish housing, and Social Inclusion Partnerships will tackle the problems of exclusion facing deprived communities and specific vulnerable groups. At a UK level, the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit will guarantee an income for a family with at least one wage-earner of Ł190 a week. All pensioners will be guaranteed a minimum income of Ł75 a week, or Ł116 a week for pensioner couples. And the National Minimum Wage will help ensure a decent income for those in work.

12. Government initiatives will have all the greater impact when they complement other initiatives taken by local authorities, health boards, other public sector agencies, the voluntary sector, and local community groups. There is a growing experience throughout Scotland, with a great variety of initiatives. For example, local authorities, together with police forces and other groups are setting up community safety partnerships to tackle crime and other causes of concern to local people.

13. The Scottish programme of action to promote social inclusion will stand alongside action at a UK level, for example through Welfare Reform. While the Network will primarily be concerned with action taken within areas for which the Scottish Parliament is responsible, it will seek to ensure that this action complements action at a UK level, and will contribute to a Scottish perspective in the development of UK policy.
14. If this programme of action is to achieve the greatest impact, we need:
to develop new ideas for action and support current good practice in key areas of social inclusion policy; to ensure that the success of the programme its effectively monitored and evaluated; and to ensure that action is effectively co-ordinated and integrated.

The remaining sections of this strategy set out a programme of work to achieve these 3 objectives, which the Scottish Social Inclusion Network will take forward. This programme is based around the work of 5 Action Teams.

Developing New Ideas for Action
15. The Government and the Network recognise that there is a need continually to develop new ideas for action and to support best practice in key areas of social inclusion policy. The Network has agreed 3 areas for priority attention: excluded young people; inclusive communities; and the impact of local anti-poverty action. Action Teams (including Network members and others, and directed by the Network) will, by 30 September 1999, prepare recommendations on what more could be done in these 3 areas. The Network will also maintain an over-arching interest in other areas relevant to social inclusion, and other subjects for priority action may emerge subsequently during the development of SSIN's work. The work on excluded young people in particular may provide a model for consideration of the problems facing other excluded groups at different stages in life.

16. Preparation of each of these 'priority reports' will include surveying available information and current activity; collecting views and proposals; and developing original recommendations and proposals for action. Each team will be asked to give specific consideration to issues of race, gender and disability and rural issues as part of their work. Teams will also be asked to identify any examples of policies or practices which exclude individuals or groups, as well as examples of good practice in promoting inclusion.

17. The broad remits of these three Action Teams will be as follows:

Excluded young people: what more can be done in relation to excluded young people, with a particular emphasis on 16 - 21 year olds; the particular exclusion faced by young people not in education, employment or training; the experience of care leavers; young homeless people; young drug misusers; young disabled people; plugging gaps in service provision; developing preventive approaches

Inclusive communities: devolving decision-making to community level; widening community participation in decision-making processes; building community capacity; resourcing communities; developing the concept of 'active citizenship' through participation in voluntary and community activity, community and further education, sports and the arts; broadening participation to include young people and marginalised groups

Impact of local anti-poverty action: assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of local anti-poverty action including food co-operatives, credit unions, local exchange and trading schemes and fuel poverty initiatives; action to ensure correct entitlements to benefits are met; the potential contribution of labour market initiatives; contribution of the social economy

These recommendations will inform preparation of the 'Inclusion Plan' described below, which will include specific statements on how each of these areas will be addressed.

Evaluating Success
18. The Government and the Network recognise the need to develop a robust evaluation framework to monitor success in promoting a more inclusive society. A further Action Team will, therefore, by 1 July 1999, prepare a draft 'Evaluation Framework' for assessing the success of action to promote social inclusion. This will include specific objectives and indicators derived from the vision above. The Team should take account of indicators already used by Government and other agencies, but be prepared to develop and/or adopt new indicators; and should ensure that issues of race, gender and disability and rural isues are built into the draft framework.

Examples of areas where indicators need to be developed or improved include:
educational attainment among the least successful pupils in Scotland; the social, economic and environmental conditions of the most deprived communities in Scotland; the extent of poverty in Scotland.

19. After consultation on this draft, a final Evaluation Framework will be prepared, taking into account any additional issues arising from the work of the Action Teams, and will be published alongside the 'Inclusion Plan', described below. This framework will provide the basis by which the success of this Plan will be assessed. The Network will thereafter report on progress in tackling social exclusion, with reference to the evaluation framework, and will select subjects for further priority reports.

Joining It Up
20. The Government and the Network recognise the need to identify new ways of 'joining it up' at all levels. This strategy proposes to develop better co-ordination and integration of social inclusion programmes by
ensuring that community plans address issues of social inclusion; setting up an Action Team to explore barriers to 'making it happen' in practice; and the development in the longer term of an integrated social inclusion action plan.

Community Planning
21. Action at a UK or Scotland-wide level must effectively complement action taken at a more local level. The primary responsibility for local integration of action will rest with local authorities and their partners working within the community planning framework.

22. Scottish local authorities and their partners have been asked to develop and publish Community Plans. We expect that social inclusion objectives will be prominent in the vision for the local authority area set out in each Community Plan, and we propose that each Plan should specifically state what action each local partner is taking to promote social inclusion. Each Plan will also set out how local partners intend to ensure that action is effectively integrated at a service-delivery level, and appropriately reflects the expressed needs and aspirations of communities.

23. Each Plan should also set out how other local partnerships, including city-wide regeneration partnerships, Social Inclusion Partnerships and Rural Development Partnerships, are linked to the over-arching community planning partnership, and contribute towards the objectives of the Community Plan.

Making It Happen
24. The Government and the Network believe there is a widespread commitment within organisations and agencies to develop new ways of working to tackle exclusion. These can best be developed where there is a culture which provides for organisational flexibility; a sound understanding of the priorities of other organisations; a willingness to delegate budgets or decisions to more local levels; a willingness to take risks with innovative approaches, and an ability to understand problems from the community or client perspective.

25. We recognise, however, that there are also major challenges to establishing and maintaining such a culture. A fifth Action Team will, therefore, be established: this Team will consider examples of good practice, explore the opportunities presented by new organisational arrangements such as Local Health Care Co-operatives, Working for Communities Pathfinders and Social Inclusion Partnerships, and make recommendations about ways of overcoming professional, organisational, and cultural barriers to promoting social inclusion. The Team will report by 30 September 1999.

Inclusion Plan
26. The Network will, by 31 December 1999, prepare a joint statement of continuing and further action: an 'Inclusion Plan'. The aims of this process will be to ensure integration of action at both a national and local level, by identifying and addressing conflicts and gaps between programmes, and to build into programmes new action taking forward the recommendations of the priority reports.
27. The Network anticipates that, in preparing the Inclusion Plan, it will want to see statements of current programmes of national organisations and agencies like Scottish Homes and Scottish Enterprise, to allow gaps and conflicts to be addressed. A statement of the Government's programme of action on social inclusion is being published alongside this document as a first step in the development of this integrated plan.

Conclusion
28. This strategy identifies a vision for social inclusion in Scotland. It seeks to build on the wide-ranging programme of action underway to promote social inclusion in Scotland, by ensuring it is integrated, effective and well-informed. Our vision of the Scotland we all wish to create will not be achieved overnight. It will require a sustained effort over many years, and the commitment of the whole community of Scotland. But with determination, imagination and a readiness to embrace real social change, it can be achieved.

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