Blogs from The Poverty Alliance and guests.
Sarah Stocks, of Northern Star Associates, was commissioned by the Poverty Alliance – as part of the Get Heard Scotland initiative – to collate learning and practical approaches to include people with lived experience of poverty in local policy development. Here, she writes on the key insights contained in the resultant report: The people who … Read more
On a visit to a practice in Muirhouse last year, I was asked if I could estimate how many dementia patients they had on the books. Muirhouse Medical serves over 17,000 patients it’s striking to learn that those with dementia number fewer than 100. The reason for this comes down to poverty. The harsh reality is that people there are … Read more
Dr Laura Robertson is a Research Officer at the Poverty Alliance, and co-authored a new report – commissioned by Transport Scotland – on people living on low incomes’ experiences of public transport in Scotland. Across Scotland families and young people on low incomes are being priced out of using public transport due to high costs and lack of reliable, accessible transport. That’s the key … Read more
Neil Cowan, Policy and Campaigns Manager at the Poverty Alliance, writes on the need for the new Scottish Government to make solving poverty their priority. Election campaigns are big on commitments, on vision, and on rhetoric. The Scottish Parliament election campaign just passed was no different, with promises of recovery, transformation and renewal. But too often after elections … Read more
Tackling poverty has always been a priority for the SNP, as part of our ambitions to build a fairer, more equal country. In the last Parliament we introduced ambitious statutory targets to reduce child poverty and established the Poverty and Inequality Commission through our Child Poverty Act. Our ‘Every Child, Every Chance’ plan outlined our … Read more
Covid-19 has highlighted and entrenched inequalities within our society, so it is vital that the next Scottish Parliament is completely focused on recovery. Fully reopening our economy and getting people back to work is the first thing we need to do to tackle poverty. Next, we must address all the drivers of poverty and ensure … Read more
This is not a normal election. This is a pandemic election. Scotland’s deepest inequalities have been laid bare, and lessons of unity and pulling together have rung out. That is why this election I’m offering solutions not only for recovery from Covid-19, but also for the kind of future society I want to build – … Read more
I could begin by stating that COVID-19 has exposed the deep-rooted flaws in our economic and social security systems, but this would be clichéd and inaccurate. The pandemic only exposed these flaws to those who had previously been able or willing to ignore them. For those with lived experience of poverty, there was no great … Read more
The pandemic has torn through all our lives. Scottish Liberal Democrats will put recovery first. Our offer is a liberal one. We want every individual to achieve their potential. Poor mental health prevents people from getting on in life. I’ve talked about the links between mental health and poverty since I was first elected. There … Read more
Mollie McGoran MSYP explains why the Scottish Youth Parliament support the #EveryoneAboard campaign to extend free bus travel to under 25s and those on low-income benefits Hi! My name is Mollie McGoran! I’m a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament representing Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and I am also the Convener of the Transport, … Read more
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