Researchers examined the operation of the Fairer Scotland Fund and the continued support needs of community planning partnerships in tackling poverty and deprivation under an outcome-based framework. The focus on outcomes and strategic approaches was widely seen to have improved partnership working. (The Fairer Scotland Fund was established in 2008, replacing seven previous funds targeted at tackling deprivation in Scotland.)
Source: Andrew Fyfe, Katy MacMillan, Tara McGregor and Steven Reid, Informing Future Approaches to Tackling Multiple Deprivation in Communities: Beyond the Fairer Scotland Fund, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2009-Nov
An article examined the policy background to the Scottish Government's Working for Families Fund, which offered support to disadvantaged parents seeking to move into, within, or towards employment, education, or training.
Source: Sue Bond, Ronald Mcquaid and Vanesa Fuertes, 'Getting disadvantaged parents into employment: the Working for Families Fund in Scotland', Local Economy, Volume 24 Numbers 6 and 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Nov
A study explored the attitudes of disadvantaged consumers in Scotland to switching energy supplier. Many struggled to even understand their energy bills, and believed that there were too many barriers to switching.
Source: Andrew Faulk, Switching Off: Attitudes to switching energy suppliers among disadvantaged consumers, Consumer Focus Scotland
Links: Report | Consumer Focus press release
Date: 2009-Nov
The 2009 report was published on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. The Index divided Scotland up into more than 6, 000 small geographical areas called 'datazones', which were then ranked using 38 indicators of deprivation across the following categories – income, employment, health, education, geographic access to services, housing, and crime.
Source: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation: 2009 General Report, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report | SG press release | SNP press release | New Start report
Date: 2009-Oct
An article examined the extent to which social justice had informed social policy-making in Scotland since devolution. Focusing on the issue of anti-poverty policies, it explored the ways in which the dominant policy approaches of the Scottish Government had reflected an 'uneven and tension-loaded' balance between the enduring legacies of Scottish social democracy and the influences of neoliberal economics.
Source: Gill Scott and Gerry Mooney, 'Poverty and social justice in the devolved Scotland: neoliberalism meets social democracy?', Social Policy and Society, Volume 8 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Aug
An article examined the degree to which Scotland differed from the rest of the United Kingdom over levels of entrenched poverty. Not only did Scotland have greater entrenched poverty, but the changes in mobility since the 1990s had impacted on Scotland to a lesser degree than the rest of the UK.
Source: Carlo Morelli and Paul Seaman, 'Devolution and entrenched household poverty: is Scotland less mobile?', Social Policy and Society, Volume 8 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Aug
A report made recommendations for legislative and non-legislative measures aimed at addressing debt problems in Scotland. The Scottish Government said that it would bring forward amendments to the law on bankruptcy and repossession.
Source: Debt Action Forum, Debt Action Forum: Final Report, Accountant in Bankruptcy (0845 762 6171)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A report said that the average amount of personal debt among citizens' advice bureaux clients in Scotland was £20,193 – an increase of 50 per cent over the previous five years – and that the average person in debt had 6 individual debts. For every £1 of income they were earning each month, those surveyed had £28 of debt, and many of them had gone without essentials like food and electricity to try and pay off their arrears.
Source: Morag Gillespie, John McKendrick, Louise Dobbie and Fiona McHardy, Drowning in Debt, Citizens Advice Scotland (0131 550 1000)
Links: Report | CAS press release
Date: 2009-Jun
Statistics were published on poverty and income inequality in Scotland for 2007-08. Overall, levels of poverty and income inequality remained fairly stable between 2004-05 and 2007-08. Between 2006-07 and 2007-08 the proportion of individuals in relative poverty in Scotland remained at 17 per cent of the population The proportion of children in relative poverty fell from 21 to 20 per cent of children in Scotland.
Source: Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland: 2007/08, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | Summary | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-May
A report by a committee of MPs expressed disappointment that ring-fenced funding for credit unions from the Scottish Executive had been reduced. Provision of 'low-cost, responsibly-lent' finance was crucial to mitigating the debt crisis that caused misery in parts of Scotland.
Source: Credit Unions in Scotland, Second Report (Session 2008-09), HC 218, House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A report said that approximately 21 per cent of children in Scotland were living in poverty. Despite progress over the previous decade in reducing child poverty – reductions were greater in Scotland than in other parts of the United Kingdom – levels had remained stable since 2004-05 and were fairly similar to the rest of the UK.
Source: Stephen Sinclair and John McKendrick, Child Poverty in Scotland: Taking the next steps, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | JRF press release | Community Care report | Guardian report | New Start report
Date: 2009-May
A report by a committee of MSPs said that the Scottish and United Kingdom governments needed to work together to tackle child poverty. Collaborative efforts to improve issues such as access to affordable childcare, flexible working, and benefits take-up would help to lift children out of poverty. It also called for Scottish Government policies to be assessed for their impact on poverty.
Source: Report on Child Poverty in Scotland, 10th Report 2009, SP Paper 267, Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A briefing paper examined the nature and level of personal debt in Scotland, and policy responses to it, in the context of the global credit crisis.
Source: Sarah Harvie-Clark and Richard Hough, Personal Debt, Bankruptcy and Homes, Briefing 09/25, Scottish Parliament (spice@scottish.parliament.uk)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2009-Apr
Researchers examined whether the experience of poverty was distinctive in rural Scotland, and if so how.
Source: EKOS Ltd, The Experience of Rural Poverty in Scotland: Qualitative research with organisations working with people experiencing poverty in rural areas, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2009-Mar
