The Scottish Government has set out its plans to tackle child poverty.
Tackling child poverty is complex. The Government has provided some detail of its plans in the Best Start, Bright Futures - Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026.
There is a big emphasis in this plan on fair work as a route out of poverty and improving income from work is part of that. As Best Start Bright Futures states: "Work offers a sustainable route out of poverty for many families and has a strong role to play in a balanced approach to tackling poverty."
We are looking at how the Scottish Government is working with local authorities, employers and other partners. We want to understand how they are supporting parents find suitable jobs or move into better paid work.
Key themes of the inquiry include:
We know that some families face greater barriers than others. The Scottish Government has identified six ‘priority groups’. We are keen to get a more detailed picture of issues specific groups face and what might work to support them. The priority groups are as follows:
We realise that different solutions may be needed in different parts of Scotland and we would like to understand how needs and required approaches might differ in rural and urban areas.
We also want to focus on how best to support parents to increase their income from employment. We recognise that this is only part of the picture, but we want to hear about issues around in-work poverty, why some parents are working less than they would ideally like to and how the Government policy could help turn this around.
On Tuesday 23 August 2022 we visited Rutherglen to hear some initial views on this issue. What we heard is summarised in the following note:
Read a note of the visit (233.8KB, pdf) (233.8KB, pdf) (234KB, pdf) posted 07 September 2022
The Committee asked for views from Local Employability Partnerships. We received the following 5 responses:
Falkirk Council, 18 July 2022 (114.8KB, pdf) (114.8KB, pdf) (115KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
Midlothian Council, 19 August 2022 (104.6KB, pdf) (104.6KB, pdf) (105KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
Glasgow City Council, 26 August 2022 (108KB, pdf) (108KB, pdf) (108KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
East Renfrewshire Council, 13 September 2022 (98.5KB, pdf) (98.5KB, pdf) (98KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
Perth and Kinross Council, 14 September 2022 (120.4KB, pdf) (120.4KB, pdf) (120KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
On 13 January 2023, the Committee undertook a visit in North Ayrshire where it met with Local Employability Partnership members, delivery organisations, parents and employers. What we heard is summarised in the following note:
Read a note of the meeting (197.5KB, pdf) (198KB, pdf) posted 30 January 2023
On 19 and 20 January 2023, the Committee visited Benbecula and Uist where it met with local infrastructure organisations and service delivery partners, parents, employers and teachers.
Read a note of the meeting (122.6KB, pdf) (123KB, pdf) posted 07 February 2023
Read the responses the Committee received to its call for views on Citizen Space.
We gathered information from Local Employability Partnerships and attended a focus group on employability programmes hosted by the Glasgow Local Employability Partnership.
In January 2023 we undertook visits to North Ayrshire and Uist.
The Committee ran a national call for views to hear the views of people across Scotland and was interested in hearing the views and experience of individuals, employers and organisations who provide support.
Hold evidence sessions
Report findings