Scottish Campaign on Rights to Social Security

Tackling poverty is a national mission with its very heart in our local communities. The Scottish Government shares the same objectives as The Poverty Alliance as we prepare for Challenge Poverty Week 2021. We want to improve the life chances of people living in poverty and we want to be part of the discussion about … Read more

Challenge Poverty Week has come at a grimly apt time this year, with the shameful cut to Universal Credit kicking in later this week and the most severe cost of living crisis in years looming. This is a stark reminder of how much work there is to do – but it must also be a … Read more

Challenge Poverty week comes at a time when far too many people are experiencing a perfect storm of austerity and cuts. Fuel prices are surging at the same time as National Insurance costs are increasing, and furlough support is ending. To make matters worse, the UK government is choosing this moment to cut Universal Credit payments by over £1000 a year.  Almost every day I hear from constituents who are feeling stretched. They can see … Read more

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