Memorandum submitted by the Scottish Executive
Thank you for your letter of 2 July regarding
your Committee's on-going inquiry into poverty in Scotland. As
you can appreciate, much has happened since the then Communities
Minister, Malcolm Chisholm MSP, wrote to you in September last
year, least of all the change in Administration here in Scotland,
so I am only too happy to provide you with an update of the written
evidence submitted by Mr Chisholm.
Annex A to this letter provides you with updated
and revised official statistics about poverty and deprivation
in Scotland, as derived from the revised Households Below Average
Income (HBAI) 2005-06 publication published at the end of May
this year by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Further
details of the official revised statistics on poverty in Scotland
can be obtained at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/178539/0050827.pdf
The Scottish Government is only too well aware
of the widening inequalities in our society as well as the fact
that we have been failing individuals and families living in poverty
for too many years. This Government is determined to right this
wrong, and to rectify a situation that condemns far too many of
our citizens to a life they simply don't deserve.
In seeking not just a wealthier but also a fairer
Scotland, it is of vital importance that we strive to improve
the life chances of all people and target the causes of poverty
by providing greater access to jobs and nursery provision, enhancement
of skills and better health and public services. Tackling these
inequalities will undoubtedly be a massive challenge, but that
is one challenge the Scottish Government is determined to deliver
on. That is why we have committed ourselves to sharing the UK
Government's long term target to eradicate child poverty
by 2020.
In Scotland, as you know, the 2005 target was
achieved ahead of the rest of the UK, one quarter of the journey
complete. But with one in four children in Scotland still living
in poverty we know that there is much more to do. This Government
then is determined to continue efforts to tackle poverty by investing
in and supporting deprived and vulnerable children and their families.
That is why we have moved quickly to set out our determination
to tackle all of these issues and make "early years"
a national priority. We want every young person to be healthy,
safe, achieving, nurtured, and active.
The Scottish Government is aware that poverty
is about more than a lack of decent income but very much also
about wellbeing—ill health, educational achievement, access
to services, and maximizing opportunities in the labour market
for parents. Policies across the Government work together therefore
not just on improving incomes but on addressing all aspects of
wellbeing across our society and we will continue to work to maximize
the impact that these policies have and ensure they are effectively
joined up at national and local level. By developing policies
that reflect our overarching strategic principles of making Scotland
a Wealthier and Fairer, Healthier, Safer, Smarter and Greener
nation, we will be taking meaningful steps towards tackling poverty
and deprivation.
We will, for example, develop an Early Years
Strategy to inform our work on strengthening the focus on improved
outcomes for children and we are also piloting a scheme to provide
universal free school meals. Moreover, we will deliver a new Skills
Strategy and have already established a Ministerial Task Force
on Health Inequalities to agree priorities for cross-cutting Government
activity that will achieve measurable outcomes in reducing health
inequalities. Practical measures will be identified to reduce
the most significant and widening health inequalities in Scotland.
Furthermore, we are currently reviewing our existing policy commitments
in the area of poverty and deprivation and will make clear what
our priorities are in the coming months.
I shall, of course, be happy to provide oral
evidence to the Committee in due course and provide more detail
about these policy development if you think this would be useful
to your deliberations.
Nicola Sturgeon MSP
Deputy First Minister & Cabinet Secretary for
Health and Wellbeing
7 August 2007
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