1 Introduction
1. The UK Government's policy for combating poverty
is characterised by ambitious targets, particularly for the reduction
of child poverty. There is evidence to suggest that policies such
as the minimum wage have had a positive effect in reducing poverty
in Scotland. Nevertheless, there is still more work to be done.
Under the Government's favoured measure (those with a household
income under 60% of median earnings) almost one million people
in Scotland are living in poverty, a figure that represents just
under a fifth of the population. It is estimated that there are
250,000 children in Scotland living in poverty.[1]
2. The Scottish Affairs Committee last reported on
poverty just over seven years ago. We stand by our predecessors'
statement in that Report, that "it is diminishing for everyone
concerned to be part of a community within which some people are
forced into sleeping on the streets, enduring squalid and unacceptable
living conditions or existing on an entirely inadequate income."[2]
3. The Committee announced its present inquiry in
May 2006 with the aim of exploring the extent of poverty in Scotland;
the contributing factors; the impact of Government policy on poverty;
the availability of affordable money and the activities of loan
sharks. The scope of the inquiry encompassed poverty in both urban
and rural areas of Scotland. The inquiry examined the effectiveness
of Government policy and its co-ordination with that of the Scottish
Executive.
4. We began taking evidence in December 2006 by making
a series of visits to rural communities to see at first hand the
difficulties they experienced. This was followed by a series of
oral evidence sessions which explored aspects of poverty ranging
from child poverty and the different challenges of urban and rural
settings to fuel poverty and debt. The Committee held further
formal evidence sessions in Dundee and Glasgow as well as engaging
in informal discussions with organisations and individuals involved
in the fight against poverty. We also received written evidence
from a large number of bodies and organisations, which directly
informed the conclusions of this Report. Lists of oral and written
evidence can be found at page 48. We are grateful to all those
who contributed to this long-running inquiry.
5. The breadth and scope of this inquiry were extensive.
We have therefore decided to publish our Report on Poverty
in Scotland in two volumes. This Report focuses on issues
surrounding the definition and measurement of poverty and the
effectiveness of Government policy in both rural and urban communities.
We devote particular attention to the problems of fuel poverty
and debt, which, our evidence suggests, cause significant suffering
for many Scots.
6. In the course of the inquiry, the Committee received
considerable evidence on the subject of child poverty. Time and
again, we heard evidence that "In our supposedly meritocratic
society, the most reliable predictor of living in poverty is to
be born in poverty".[3]
The reduction of child poverty is the aim of high-profile Government
targets, whose success or failure will affect not only those currently
living in poverty, but generations to come. We have therefore
decided to produce a separate Report on this important subject,
which we expect to publish shortly.
7. Throughout this Report, we have assessed the extent
to which people living in poverty are provided with sustainable
routes out of their situation. People should not be lifted out
of poverty, simply to fall back some months later. Nor should
we as a society accept a strategy of helping those in poverty
to just 'scrape by', or, as one witness termed it, of "educating
people to be poor."[4]
A piecemeal approach to the eradication of poverty is unlikely
to be successful; what is needed is a coherent strategy.
1 http://www.poverty.org.uk/reports/scotland%202006%20findings.pdf
and Ev 291 Back
2
Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report of Session 1999-2000,
Poverty in Scotland, HC 59-I, para 223 Back
3
Ev 326 from Barnado's Scotland. Back
4
Q 264 Back
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