10 Downing Street

Campaigners tell Downing Street to #ScrapTheCap

Anti-poverty campaigners will go to Downing Street today (Tue 22 Mar) to tell Chancellor Rishi Sunak to end the ‘unjust’ benefit cap, on the same day that new polling revealed a majority of the UK public want to see the policy scrapped. Last week, more than 100 campaign groups, trade unions, faith groups and health … Read more

‘Put money in our pockets’ to tackle child poverty

Cash-first payments to support families should be at the heart of the Scottish Government’s efforts to end child poverty, according to a new report that outlines the views and experiences of grassroots organisations and people living on low incomes in Scotland. As a contribution to the development of the Scottish Government’s new Child Poverty Delivery … Read more

Scrap the Cap campaign logo

More than 100 groups unite to tell the Chancellor to scrap the cap

Anti-poverty campaigners from across the UK have come together with trade unions, faith groups and health organisations to urge Chancellor Rishi Sunak to scrap the ‘unjust’ benefit cap. The benefit cap blocks households from getting all the help they need from the social security system. In Scotland, more than 6,000 households are affected, losing out … Read more

The Poverty Alliance submit evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee on the Scottish Attainment Challenge 

Dr Laura Robertson, Senior Research Officer at The Poverty Alliance provided the below evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee in February 2022. The poverty-attainment gap: the context  The attainment gap in Scotland starts in the early years and widens as children and young people move through the education system. From the early … Read more

Poverty Alliance responds to Ofgem’s announcement on energy price hikes

People on low incomes across the country are being caught up in a rising tide of hardship, with the cost of living crisis combining with an inadequate social security system to pull them deeper into poverty. Today’s Ofgem announcement threatens to turn this rising tide into a flood, as more people are forced into impossible … Read more

New CPG inquiry launched into poverty-related stigma 

MSPs have today (Wednesday 26th January) launched a call for evidence on the impact of poverty-related stigma, after being told by experts that negative and discriminatory attitudes towards people living in poverty are continuing to blight the lives of people across Scotland.  The Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Poverty, which brings together MSPs from all … Read more

Tackling poverty for good mental health

Shari McDaid, Mental Health Foundation, and Peter Kelly, The Poverty Alliance. Today we are proud to launch a new partnership between The Poverty Alliance and Mental Health Foundation.  Together we will carry out an ambitious research and policy programme to address poverty as a fundamental driver of mental ill health. We will conduct research along … Read more

Campaigners call for end to benefit cap as survey shows widespread hardship 

Anti-poverty campaigners have today launched a new campaign calling on the UK Government to scrap the benefit cap, after a survey of people on low incomes and charities found that the policy is causing widespread harm and hardship.  The campaign, called Scrap the Cap, is being coordinated by the Poverty Alliance and is being supported … Read more

Scottish Parliament MSP Offices

Poverty Alliance responds to Scottish Government budget

Responding to the Scottish Government’s budget, which was published today, Peter Kelly (Director, Poverty Alliance), said: “Today’s Scottish Government budget contains a number of welcome commitments. Doubling the Scottish Child Payment from April, as we and so many others across Scotland campaigned hard for, will help stem the rising tide of poverty across the country. … Read more

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