SDF makes joint response to anti-poverty consultation
16 July 2008
SCOTTISH Drugs Forum has linked up with Alcohol Focus Scotland and the Scottish Poverty Information Unit to submit a response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on tackling poverty, inequality and deprivation.
Key recommendations from the joint response include:
- Tackling high unemployment levels, poverty and financial exclusion among people with drug and alcohol problems should be a priority of the new Fairer Scotland Fund – a three-year funding programme totalling £435 million to address poverty and unemployment through Community Planning Partnerships.
- Increasing the use of ‘community benefit clauses’ within local regeneration programmes to undermine illegal economies by offering meaningful job opportunities to those recovering from a drug problem. Community benefit clauses are legally binding and ensure that those awarded contracts must employ a certain percentage of local people.
- Ensuring an accurate national picture of all kinship carers is developed to avoid a postcode lottery system of kinship payment that may exacerbate child and pensioner poverty levels in Scotland.
You can download the full response here (Word 389kb) or (PDF 168kb)