ANNEX A
MEASURE OF POVERTY
1. We remain committed to the widely accepted
measure of poverty (household incomes below 60% of the median).
However, it should be recognised that the Scottish Government's
focus is on raising the income of the lowest earning 30% of the
Scottish population. This is wider than those classed as "poor",
all of whom fall within the bottom two income deciles. This wider
focus will allow us to address to some extent the phenomena whereby
a number of citizens have been lifted from just below to just
above the poverty line, while possibly still experiencing hardship.
2. We note the Committee's concerns around the
degree to which the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation captures
the extent of poverty in rural areas. The Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation is designed to identify areas of concentrated multiple
area deprivation, rather than capture the extent of poverty. Work
is underway within the Scottish Government to improve the understanding
of rural poverty, including:
i. A commitment to the annual publication of
poverty figures broken down into rural and urban areas with agreement
from the Office of National Statistics.
ii. The commissioning of qualitative research
into the different experiences of people in poverty in rural areas
and urban areas.
iii. Developing sub-Scotland income statistics,
through the Scottish Household Survey.
iv. Dedicating a section of our Measuring Poverty
in Scotland Event on 11th June to the discussion of rural poverty,
to uncover what else needs to be done.
v. Holding a consultation event on the Scottish
Government's Anti-Poverty Framework in a remote and rural Community
Planning Partnership area to discuss the specific nature of the
challenge remote and rural Community Planning Partnerships face.
3. The Scottish Government is following closely
academic efforts to define a "living wage" and will
consider the implications of that work for policy as it develops.
Agreement across the UK on a definition of "severe poverty"
may be worth pursuing and this is also something which Scottish
Government officials will pursue with their colleagues in the
other administrations.
ADULTS OF WORKING AGE WITH NO CHILDREN
4. The Scottish Government agrees with the Committee's
view that Government policy should also seek to support adults
of working age with no children as they try to move out of poverty.
We believe that the UK Government's decision to abolish the 10p
rate of income tax is detrimental to adults of working age without
children. The Scottish Government's Solidarity Target is intended
to increase the income of the lowest 30% of earners in Scotland.
This includes adults of working age with no children and so is
wider than the UK child poverty targets, to which the Scottish
Government is also signed up. Details of our approach will be
set out in our forthcoming Anti-Poverty Framework.
COORDINATION OF POLICY
5. The Scottish Government continues to work
with Whitehall Departments to attempt to coordinate policy approaches
to often difficult, cross-cutting issues where possible. This
includes through the Four Country Group on Child Poverty established
at the instigation of the Scottish Government, which brings together
officials from the devolved governments and the Child Poverty
Unit in the Department for Children Schools and Families.
6. The Scottish Government is also keen to build
more effective links with the Department for Work and Pensions
around issues such as benefits uptake campaigns and reforms to
Housing Benefit; and to ensure that the DWP engages with the Scottish
Government early in the policy development phase, when changes
to DWP policy are being considered which will impact on Scotland
and on devolved policies and services. In this regard we would
emphasis the positive benefits which would accrue when the DWP
does not attempt to adopt policies which rigidly adhere to a "one
size fits all" approach across the UK.
LOCAL DISCRETION
7. The Scottish Government welcomes the Committee's
conclusion that consideration should be given to providing greater
flexibility to local government in the provision of services aimed
at reducing poverty. The Scottish Government's concordat with
COSLA set out the terms of the new relationship between these
tiers of Government. While the Scottish Government continues to
set the direction of policy and outcomes, it will stand back from
micro-managing service delivery and move away from ring-fenced
funding thus reducing bureaucracy and freeing up local authorities
to innovate and respond to local circumstances. The Scottish Government
believes that this local level freedom to innovate, with effective
learning networks in place, will lead to the development of more
effective approaches than would monolithic models mandated from
the centre. As a result of this approach the Scottish Government
had replaced seven separate funding streams aimed at tackling
poverty and deprivation with a single Fairer Scotland Fund worth
£435 million over 2008-11. This will give Community Planning
Partnerships a more strategic and integrated investment stream
and greater flexibility to direct resources towards achieving
priority outcomes and "bending" mainstream spend towards
tackling poverty, inequality and deprivation.
ENGAGEMENT WITH THOSE LIVING ON LOW INCOMES
8. We note the recommendation that all policy
on poverty is informed by the views of those living on low incomes.
This is in line with existing Scottish Government policy on consultations,
where those affected by policy changes should be involved in the
development of the policy. The Scottish Government has asked the
Poverty Alliance to carry out a series of grassroots engagements
with those experiencing poverty to inform the development of the
Scottish Government's Anti-Poverty Framework. Scottish Government
officials have also been meeting with any interested parties to
discuss the development of the Framework, a process which will
continue until the end of June.
BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT
9. A central plank of meeting the Solidarity
Target will be continuing to encourage individuals into employment.
We recognise that continued progress will be dependent on addressing
barriers to employment and this is an issue the Scottish Government
continues to address through the delivery of the "workforce
plus" employability framework and the deployment of the Fairer
Scotland Fund, which ahs a specific employability remit.
10. On the specific question of childcare, it
should be noted that the Early Years and Early Intervention joint
Scottish Government and COSLA policy statement identified as a
key action:
"provide high quality, reliable childcare that
can give those furthest from the employment confidence to take
initial steps towards employability".
11. Much work has already been done in recent
years to realise this goal, for example through the £50 million
"Working for Families" programme which has seen 13,385
parents (up to 31 December 2007) parents helped towards employment.
12. The Scottish Government is now working with
COSLA to specify how childcare provision can support routes to
employment as a way of lifting families out of poverty. This will
be reflected in the Scottish Government's Early Years Framework,
due for publication in the autumn.
RURAL POVERTY
13. We note and share the Committee's concern
regarding various aspects of rural poverty, and will build on
the evidence discussed in paragraph 2 to ensure that the Anti-Poverty
Framework is sensitive to the differing circumstances and needs
across urban and rural Scotland.
FUEL POVERTY
14. The Scottish Government welcomes the Committee's
recommendation that greater coordination is required between the
UK Government, the Scottish Government, the energy companies and
Ofgem to tackle fuel poverty. We accept the Committee's analysis
that fuel poverty has three main causes: low income; high fuel
prices; and poor energy efficiency. Of these, the UK Government
has control over income (through the tax and benefits system)
and energy prices, while the Scottish Government has a role with
regard to energy efficiency. A "joined up" approach
to tackling fuel poverty across all three areas would be welcomed
by the Scottish Government. The Minister for Communities and Sport
wrote to Hilary Benn and John Hutton last November about the need
for Ministers from across the UK to work together on fuel poverty
issues and calling for the UK wide Ministerial Fuel Poverty Group
to be reconvened. The Minister raised this issue again at the
Fuel Poverty Summit on 23 April.
CHILD POVERTY IN SCOTLAND
15. We share the Committee's view of the importance
of breaking the cycle of generational poverty. The "Early
Years and Early Intervention" joint Scottish Government and
COSLA policy statement states that:
"We have always known the earliest years of
life are crucial to a child's development. However, it is increasingly
evident that it is in the first years of life that inequalities
in health, education and employment opportunities are passed from
one generation to another. The early years framework signals local
and national governments' joint commitment to break this cycle
through prevention and early intervention. In short we aim to
give every child in Scotland the best start in life."
16. The Early Years Framework will be published
in the autumn of this year. Taken with the development of the
Scottish Government's Anti-Poverty Framework with its explicit
focus on income inequality, this will go some way towards articulating
the Scottish Government's approach to the challenge of inter-generational
poverty and inequality.
17. The Scottish Government is also supporting
research, with Save the Children, into Scotland's poorest children
to develop our understanding of severe child poverty in Scotland
in order to better target interventions for he most vulnerable.
This is in recognition that more information is required on the
circumstances of these children before appropriate, tailored policy
responses can be developed.
ILLEGAL AND IRRESPONSIBLE LENDING
18. The Scottish Government agrees that a range
of stakeholders, including the UK and Scottish governments and
local authorities, need to collaborate to tackle debt issues and
financial inclusion more generally.
19. Regulation of consumer credit is a matter
reserved to the UK Government. We expect the Consumer Credit Act
2006 (which is now almost completely implemented) to create a
fairer and more transparent credit market. It will enhance consumers'
rights and redress by empowering them to challenge unfair lending
and by providing more effective options for resolving disputes.
20. On financial literacy, the Scottish Curriculum
for Excellence aims to provide a seamless education from age 3
to 18 and is taking a fresh look at what is being taught in schools.
We want to ensure that that all young people can be successful
learners, effective contributors, confident individuals and responsible
citizens. Learning and Teaching Scotland (the Scottish Government's
curriculum advisory body) has recently released draft "learning
outcomes" for Social Studies. Pupils are to be taught how
to manage budgets and to reconcile that they may not always be
able to afford things that they want. The draft learning outcomes
for Social Studies sit alongside draft guidance for teachers on
promoting numeracy across the curriculum which, among other things,
is intended to help pupils manage money and plan their finances.
This approach reflects our strategy of early intervention to prevent
later problems. However, we acknowledge that some individuals
are already in a debt management crisis, and we continue to support
the provision of information and advice which can help them resolve
that.
| 
