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Poverty and Inequality Commission: Cost of living and advice services in Scotland
July 2023
The Poverty and Inequality Commission has published a briefing on advice services in Scotland and the cost of living crisis. The Commission and Experts by Experience Panel members carried out visits between August 2022 and March 2023 across a range of Local Authorities in Scotland. This briefing has a particular focus on speaking to advice services that are directly supporting their clients through the cost of living crisis.
Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission – Cost of Living Briefing – July 2023
Response to the council tax on second and empty homes and non-domestic rates consultation
July 2023
The Commission responded to the Scottish Government and COSLA’s consultation on giving local authorities the power to increase council tax on second homes and empty home.
The Poverty and Inequality Commission Annual Report 2022-2023
The report covers the period from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2023 and looks back at the work the Commission has carried out to take forward its strategic priorities. This has included looking at the progress that is being made towards meeting the child poverty targets, and establishing a working group on tax. It also sets out the how the Commission has spent its budget.
During 2022-23 the cost of living crisis has been a significant focus for the Commission. Over the year the Commission has been visiting frontline and community organisations across Scotland to find out more about the impact of the cost of living crisis, and has also provided advice to the Scottish Government on actions that could be taken in the short, medium and long term to support those most at risk due to the crisis.
Throughout the year our panel of Experts by Experience has worked closely with the Commission on all these issues and helped inform and influence the Commission’s decision-making using their knowledge and expertise.
Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission – Annual Report 2022-23
Poverty and Inequality Commission Child Poverty Scrutiny Report 2022-23
13 June 2023
The Poverty and Inequality Commission has published its Child Poverty Scrutiny Report 2022-23. The report sets out progress in 2022-23 towards meeting the child poverty targets.
The report finds that while increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per week undoubtedly represents significant progress, more action is required at a greater scale or Scotland will miss the 2030 child poverty targets.
In preparing the Scottish Government’s annual Child Poverty Progress Report, Scottish Ministers must consult the Poverty and Inequality Commission on the progress that is being made towards meeting the child poverty targets.
The Commission has worked with members of its Experts by Experience Panel to look in detail at what progress has been made in implementing some of the major commitments in the Scottish Government’s second child poverty delivery plan, Best Start, Bright Futures.
Download the Executive Summary (pdf, 970kb)
Download the full Child Poverty Scrutiny Report 2022-23 (pdf, 892kb)
The Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan: annual progress report 2022 – 2023 can be found here.
Experts by Experience Panel Response: Draft Regulations on the New Carer Support Payment
June 2023
The Poverty and Inequality Commission’s Experts by Experience Panel responded to a request from the Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS) for views on the Draft Regulations Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) 2023. Three Panel members with direct experience of care formed a working group to respond to the draft Regulations.
The Panel have been concerned about the pressure that unpaid carers face in the ongoing cost of living crisis. To explore this issue, a Panel member presented on their experience to other Panel members about the challenges carers face on a daily basis and what government could do to ease this pressure. The Panel have also met with Scottish Government officials working on carer policy and carer benefits, to hear about work that the Scottish Government is doing to support carers and give panel members the chance to tell officials what more they feel should be done.
Experts by experience response to the Adult Disability Payment mobility consultation
May 2023
The Experts by Experience Panel have noted that one of its key priorities is the relationship between disability and poverty and the impact that poverty has on disabled people. This is due to concerns that the Panel have that disabled people face lower rates of employment and higher costs of living and are more likely to be living in poverty. Due to this link to poverty, the Panel has taken an interest in issues such as eligibility conditions, access to benefits and the amount of disability assistance that is provided to disabled people.
You can read the submission that the Experts by Experience Panel made to the consultation that was carried out on the Adult Disability Payment Mobility component below:
Adult Disability Payment Mobility Review – Experts by Experience Panel Response
Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on young people across the UK: An evidence synthesis
March 2023
Between October 2021 and March 2022 the Poverty and Inequality Commission and the Social Mobility Commission commissioned this rapid evidence review from Learning and Work Institute on the impact of Covid-19 on young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds or at risk of poor social mobility. This report, analysis and findings were developed in collaboration with the Social Mobility Commission under the co-chairship of Sandra Wallace and Steven Cooper in 2021.
Download: Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on young people across the UK: An evidence synthesis (pdf)
Response by Experts by Experience Panel – Cost of Living Impact on Rural Communities in Scotland
February 2023
A working group of the Experts by Experience Panel of the Poverty and Inequality Commission responded to the UK Parliament Scottish Affairs Committee’s call for evidence on ‘Cost of living: impact on rural communities in Scotland.’
Read the Experts by Experience submission (February 2023)
Response to Scottish Government Equality Evidence Strategy Consultation
October 2022
The Poverty and Inequality Commission responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on its Equality Evidence Strategy.
Read the Commission’s response to the Equality Evidence Strategy Consultation (October 2022)
Poverty and Inequality Commission – Briefing on the cost of living crisis
October 2022
The Poverty and Inequality Commission has published a briefing on the cost of living crisis. The briefing draws on the Commission’s visits to community organisations between June and August, and discussions with the Commission’s Experts by Experience Panel.
Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission – Cost of living briefing