Opportunities to embed a rights based approach
There have been opportunities for the Scottish Government,The issue of access to food sits across a range of Scottish Government policy portfolios and key groups,to be a priority for the Scottish Government.,long term, ingrained inequality e.g.,[xxv] One of the key drivers in implementing any newly devolved powers must be to tackle the inequality
https://scvo.scot/p/6695/2014/11/10/briefing-scottish-government-debate-on-human-rights
Summary
SCVO welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the impact of welfare reform.,Unable to Afford the Basics
As we outlined in our briefing on the last welfare reform debate, the picture,See SCVO’s response to the recent DWP sanctions review.,The Scottish Welfare Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments
All actions taken by the Scottish Government,SCVO responded to the Scottish Government consultation on the planned legislation for the Scottish Welfare
https://scvo.scot/p/3797/2014/03/13/parliamentary-debate-the-impact-of-welfare-reform
work for the Scottish Government, whilst economic inequalities lead to poor economic outcomes, by moving,The Scottish Government has moved someway against this through its National Performance Framework[xxxvii,[xvii] WORKING FOR THE FEW: Political capture and economic inequality, Oxfam briefing note (2014).,[xxv] Carers Legislation – Consultation on Proposals – January 2014, Scottish Government (2014), p2.,[xxxvi] See, for example, Scotland’s Economic Future Post-2014 Submission to the Scottish Government
https://scvo.scot/p/4705/2014/05/07/an-economy-for-all-report-economyforall
It is also not clear if the Scottish Government will make the case for further powers to be devolved,,) is a Scottish Government funded job creation programme.,Finally, a debate about welfare provides an opportunity to be open and honest about inequality in Scotland,A frank debate about the nature of poverty and inequality in Scotland is long overdue.,/collections/work-programme-statistics--2 [xxxii] SCVO briefing - Job creation and internship programmes
https://scvo.scot/p/2912/2013/12/16/2912
Yet, this extremely unequal gender impact has not been reflected in the Scottish Government’s work to,Changing the Debate
SCVO and the wider third sector have long argued that the debate about welfare must,The negative debate about welfare and the resultant policies and approaches only further cement the inequalities,In a recent submission to a parliamentary debate on human rights, SCVO argued that current and future,[ix] A real step change can only happen, however, when inequality becomes the primary purpose of Government
https://scvo.scot/p/8956/2015/04/30/response-to-welfare-reform-committee-inquiry-on-women-and-welfare
As we have outlined in previous briefings[i], the Scottish Welfare Fund is a final safety net for tens,[vi] Furthermore, excluding this category of applicant works against the strong Government focus on tackling,reflected concerns amongst parliamentarians about the Scottish Government not being able to include,References
[i]http://www.scvo.scot/long-form-posts/welfare-funds-scotland-bill-stage-1-debate/ [ii]http,/long-form-posts/welfare-funds-scotland-bill-stage-1-debate/#Anchor7 [vi] CPAG Scotland, Welfare Funds
https://scvo.scot/p/8050/2015/03/02/welfare-funds-scotland-bill-stage-3-briefing
Scottish Government has recognised the link between inequality and the strength of Scotland’s economy,SCVO addressed this issue in our briefing for MSPs ahead of the Scottish Government’s ‘Boosting the Economy,SCVO urges the Scottish Government to look at other ways in which we can help improve the lives of those,References
[i] http://www.scvo.scot/long-form-posts/scvo-briefing-scottish-government-boosting-the-economy-debate,website: http://www.scvo.scot/long-form-posts/scottish-labour-health-inequalities-policy-review-scvo-response
https://scvo.scot/p/7604/2015/01/19/scvo-briefing-scottish-government-tackling-inequalities-debate
In a recent Scottish Parliament debate Graham Simpson, Conservative MSP for Central Scotland, said: ‘,and policies in a bid to make themselves look focused on inequality.,I recently attended my first Third Sector Forum since joining SCVO.,We need to make sure the ‘fairness’ agenda leads to greater equality, a focus on human rights and tackling,SCVO has started some of this thinking by producing a briefing for the Government debate.
https://scvo.scot/p/12781/2016/06/29/what-exactly-do-we-mean-by-fairness
This motion misses these points completely; government debates which are meant to identify how we collectively,tackle inequality and poverty miss these points too.,Tackling Gender Inequality
There is a significant gender element in all of the issues raised above; policy,References
[i] Carers Legislation – Consultation on Proposals – January 2014, Scottish Government (2014,[ii] Independent and Scottish Green Party Debate: An End to In-work Poverty - SCVO briefing [iii] SCVO
https://scvo.scot/p/10257/2015/09/30/scvo-briefing-scottish-labour-employment-debate
