THE statistics never lose their shock value. One in five people in Scotland live in poverty. The incomes of the richest 10 per cent in Scotland are greater than those of the bottom 40 per cent put together. In 2015-16, at least 133,730 people used foodbanks, which was a new record. In other words, poverty is on the rampage in Scotland - and we are still not doing nearly enough to tackle it.
We do know that at least some action is being taken, including the establishment of the Poverty and Inequality Commission, which meets for the first time today. But the setting up of organisations, and the commissioning of reports, are not enough on their own – indeed, they can give the impression of action that does not really exist. That is why 37 organisations with an interest in poverty have used the first meeting of the commission as an opportunity to write to the party leaders and spell out where policy-making is falling short.
The letter, whose signatories include Oxfam, the Church of Scotland, Shelter and Barnardo’s, is pretty blunt. Extreme inequality is predicted to get worse, it says, but the concentration of money at the top of Scottish society is holding back efforts to tackle poverty. It goes on to suggest that Scottish politicians will have to scale up their action if any progress is to be made. The letter is a call for change, and quick.
The letter should also serve as a reminder of how little has been done to tackle poverty in Scotland. As Jamie Livingstone, the head of Oxfam Scotland, points out on these pages, on the issue that could make the most difference – taxation – there has been very little action indeed. The Scottish Government’s poverty tsar Naomi Eisenstadt said, for instance, that council tax needs profound reform to make it more progressive – instead, the Government tweaked it and left the regressive option in place. Elsewhere, there has been virtually no action at all to promote a fairer tax system, particularly from the UK Government which has failed to act against the rich who dodge tax.
The letter also points out that work is not necessarily any protection from poverty, especially for men and women working to zero-hours contracts, and yet we still do not have a living wage in the UK that truly reflects the real costs of life. The expected decision by the Scottish Government that it will scrap the one per cent cap on public sector pay rises as part of its legislative plans will help a bit, although the government has still shown absolutely no willingness to consider any changes to universal benefits, as Ms Eisenstadt has said it should, so they can be targeted at the poorest in society.
All of this amounts to a scandal of poverty which the authors of today’s letter say must be addressed urgently. As the letter points out, not all the powers needed to take action rest in Scotland, but there are levers that the Government could pull. Today’s announcement of the new programme is a chance to pull those levers – we hope and expect that the Government will do so.
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