Fairness and child poverty annual report

FEWER CHILDREN were in poverty in Dundee in the last 12 months according to new figures but there is still some way to go to meet the city’s ambitious 2030 targets.

In all four measures of child poverty the city performed better than in the benchmark year of 2016/17, with decreases of between three and six percentage points in children experiencing relative, absolute and persistent poverty as well as combined low income and material deprivation.

John Alexander leader of Dundee City Council said: “It is encouraging to see that fewer and fewer children year on year are experiencing poverty in our communities, but there is still a long way to go in the next six years to meet the ambitious targets we have committed to.

“That is why as well as looking back, this report also lays out the next steps in our fight against poverty on three broad fronts – income from employment, costs of living, and income from social security and benefits in kind.”

Work is progressing against the backdrop of the current situation in Dundee, where the rate of children in relative low-income households after housing costs at the end of March 2021 was 22.5%.

The city is setting itself the ambitious goal of matching the Scottish Government’s overall national target of reducing child poverty to less than 10% of children living in relative poverty.

Councillors will be told that inevitably the deepening cost of living crisis and the on-going health, social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will make these challenges even greater.

In a combined Fairness and Local Child Poverty report, to be considered by the council’s policy and resources committee on Monday (November 21), on-going work including the Dundee Food Insecurity Network, the Discover Work service, the Fuel Well scheme and the Parental Employment Support fund are highlighted.

The 60-page report notes that the successor to the series of Fairness Commissions, the Fairness Leadership Panel, is now at the heart of driving the Dundee Partnership’s efforts to reduce poverty for children, families and communities.

It is a collaboration between people with lived experience of the impact of low incomes and representatives of influential bodies and groups, which will focus in the next 12 months on the local implications of the national factors driving child poverty.

Further work is underway on the costs of food and fuel, access to benefit and debt advice required in the face of the cost-of-living crisis, and the reshaping of local employability services to support people towards jobs that offer incomes that will help them to escape poverty.

Following a Dundee Partnership Cost of Living summit held in the city last month, a follow-up meeting is to take place on November 23 where key agencies and organisations from across the city already co-ordinating a range of initiatives to support people, will continue to develop additional ways to help.

Areas of focus include food, heat and energy, clothing, advice and information.

Councillor Alexander added: “The commitment of everyone involved has been tremendous, and I know there is great work going on to help people in urgent need.

“We’ve got national agencies, local agencies, charities, colleges and universities, the business sector and more all working in partnership.

“The purpose of this follow-up summit is to keep up the momentum – to assess the progress so far and identify any areas for further work in our collective support for the city.

“We want to make sure that we are doing everything possible. By working together, I firmly believe that we can help citizens across all of our communities who are wrestling with this unprecedented crisis.”

General advice on support available from the council and its partners during the cost of living crisis is available at https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/costofliving

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