November 2018
The Poverty and Inequality Commission has published its advice today for the Scottish Government on addressing poverty during school holidays.
The Poverty and Inequality Commission was asked by the Scottish Government to consider whether there were actions in Every Child, Every Chance: The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018-2022 that should be developed in tandem in order to maximise their effectiveness. In particular the Commission was asked to consider the role of local authorities, social enterprise and the third sector in providing after school and holiday care and responding to school holiday insecurity.
In order to explore these issues Commissioners visited a number of holiday projects and members of the Commission had discussions with a number of voluntary organisations, local authority and COSLA officials, Scottish Government officials and other policy experts.
The Commission have made three primary recommendations to Scottish Government in relation to holiday provision and a number of further recommendations about issues that should be taken into account.
Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission advice on poverty in school holidays
For more information about the pressures that families can face during the school holidays and some of the benefits of holiday provision, watch this video produced by NHS Health Scotland looking at Inverclyde Council’s approach to holiday provision – https://bit.ly/2BkJkNI