A study examined poverty trends in Scotland. Scotland's child poverty rate (measured after housing costs) was among the lowest in the United Kingdom. But there had been no progress in reducing the number of children affected, which had remained the same for three years.
Source: Peter Kenway, Tom MacInnes and Guy Palmer, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Scotland 2008, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: JRF Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2008-Nov
The Scottish Government published a framework aimed at tackling poverty and income inequality . It set out the key actions required by government and its partners – such as the strengthening of income maximization work, launching a campaign to raise awareness of statutory workers' rights, and supporting people who found it hardest to get into jobs or use public services. It also called for the United Kingdom government to transfer responsibility for personal taxation and benefits to Scotland, simplify the tax credits scheme, and promote the greater availability of childcare vouchers.
Source: Achieving Our Potential: A Framework to tackle poverty and income inequality in Scotland, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Summary | SG press release
Date: 2008-Nov
The Scottish Government announced a set of measures to tackle fuel poverty. There would be an integrated package of: energy, benefits, tax credit, and tariff checks for a wide range of people; standard insulation measures provided free for those most vulnerable to fuel poverty; and enhanced energy efficiency measures – including central heating, renewable heating systems, and insulation for hard-to-treat homes – for low-income families living in homes with the lowest energy efficiency. This would replace the Central Heating and Warm Deal programmes.
Source: Press release 19 November 2008, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: SG press release | Scottish Parliament report
Date: 2008-Nov
A report examined the nature of credit unions, and considered the extent to which they offered an alternative model to mainstream financial services. It mapped out the challenges and risks faced by Scottish credit unions, and how these challenges and risks could be addressed.
Source: Donal McKillop and John Wilson, Credit Unions in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Nov
An advisory group recommended ways in which the Scottish Government could improve progress towards its target of eradicating fuel poverty as far as was reasonably practicable by 2016, within the available public resources.
Source: Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum, Towards 2016: The future of fuel poverty policy in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Oct
The Scottish Government announced that all school pupils in primary school years 1-3 (aged 5-7) would be entitled to free school meals following successful pilot schemes. The system would be rolled out from August 2010.
Source: Press release 2 October 2008, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400) | Jane MacLardie, Chris Martin, Lorraine Murray and Kate Sewel, Evaluation of the Free School Meals Trial for P1 to P3 Pupils, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: SG press release | Evaluation report | CPAG press release | UNISON press release | NASUWT press release | Voice press release | Scotsman report | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report said that increasing pressure on household budgets caused by steep rises in everyday living costs was making it harder for those in Scotland with money problems to repay their debts.
Source: Scots in Debt: An analysis of debt in Scotland 2004-2008, Consumer Credit Counselling Service (Scotland)(020 7636 5214)
Links: Report | CCCS press release
Date: 2008-Sep
A report presented the findings from a qualitative evaluation of the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents pilot in Jobcentre Plus districts in Scotland and Wales. Staff felt that the pilot offered lone parents the support needed to address multiple barriers to entering employment: but there was a need to 'fine tune' some of the elements to make them more appropriate to claimant needs.
Source: Sarah Jenkins, Extension of the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents Pilot to Scotland and Wales: Qualitative evaluation, Research Report 499, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2008-Jun
The government and Scottish Executive responded to two reports by a committee of MPs on poverty and child poverty in Scotland.
Source: Poverty in Scotland and Child Poverty in Scotland: Responses by the Government and the Scottish Executive to the Committee's Second and Third Reports, Second Special Report (Session 2007-08), HC 525, House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs third report | MPs second report
Date: 2008-Apr
A report said that child poverty could be costing Scotland as much as £1.75 billion a year. Child poverty resulted in increased public spending across health, education, housing, social services, and youth justice.
Source: Donald Hirsch, Estimating the Cost of Child Poverty in Scotland: Approaches and evidence, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Apr
A report described a qualitative research project in Glasgow which examined the effects of poverty on women's lives.
Source: Rachel Jury and Lauren Bianchi (eds.), Heat Or Eat? Women's experience of poverty in Scotland today, Poverty Alliance (0141 353 0440)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report used data from the 'Growing up in Scotland' study to explore the contribution of specific measures of advantage and disadvantage in relation to a number of specific health-related behaviours for parents and children. The data demonstrated clear inter-relationships between age of mother at the sample child's birth, family type (eg being in a couple family or being a lone parent), socio-economic classification, household income, and area deprivation.
Source: Paul Bradshaw and Claudia Martin with Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Exploring the Experience and Outcomes for Advantaged and Disadvantaged Families, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that an estimated 250,000 children in Scotland were living in poverty. More needed to be done to meet the target of halving child poverty by 2010. The report highlighted the complexity of the benefits system, and said that the poorest children were not being helped by means-tested benefits such as tax credits. However, greater progress had been made in tackling poverty in Scotland than in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Source: Child Poverty in Scotland, Third Report (Session 2007-08), HC 277, House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Feb
A report presented some of the main initial findings of a focus on Scotland's families in the second survey of the Millennium Cohort Study. A further report concluded that the lower apparent poverty rate suggested by the initial analysis was an 'artefact of the data', explicable by differences in the characteristics of the MCS families concerned.
Source: Shirley Dex (ed.), Millennium Cohort Study: A User Guide Focussing on Families in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only) | Shirley Dex (ed.), Millennium Cohort Study: Exploration of Some Distinctive Results for Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report (1) | Report (2)
Date: 2008-Jan
The Scottish Government published a discussion paper on how economic growth could be harnessed to make Scotland wealthier and fairer. It set targets to increase the overall income and the proportion of income earned by the three lowest income deciles as a group by 2017; and to narrow the gap in participation between Scotland's best and worst performing regions by 2017.
Source: Taking Forward the Government Economic Strategy: A Discussion Paper on Tackling Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation in Scotland, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Discussion paper | SG press release
Date: 2008-Jan
