Provision of Feedback for Anti-Poverty Task Force's Tackling Poverty Strategy 2024-2030
Perth and Kinross Council · 30 October 2024
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL 30 October 2024 PROVISION OF FEEDBACK FOR ANTI-POVERTY TASK FORCE’S TACKLING POVERTY STRATEGY 2024 to 2030 Strategic Lead - Strategic Planning, People and Performance (Report No. 24/299) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 To provide final comment and endorsement to the Anti-Poverty Task Force on their draft Tackling Poverty Strategy prior to approval by the Anti-Poverty Task Force on 14 November 2024. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that Council provide feedback and comments to the Anti- Poverty Task Force on their draft Tackling Poverty Strategy prior to approval by the Anti-Poverty Task Force on 14 November 2024. 2.2 Endorse adoption by the Anti-Poverty Task Force of the social contract developed by the Poverty Strategy Commission1 which states: • No one should be in deep poverty: Society should provide a financial safety net for those out of work or on low incomes, covering basic needs and supporting social and cultural participation. • Those unable to work should not be in poverty: People who can’t work due to health issues, disabilities, or caregiving responsibilities should have a decent standard of living. • People should try to increase their earnings: Those who can work but are unemployed or underemployed should be supported to access opportunities to find work and increase their income. • Low earners should not be in poverty: Workers with low earnings should have their incomes supplemented by benefits to ensure a reasonable standard of living for them and their families. And endorse the additional clause added by the Anti-Poverty Task Force noted below: • The Anti-Poverty Task Force members should invest in partnership co-ordination to streamline service provision by adopting the “no wrong door” approach enabling greater collaboration to the benefit of those in need. Ensuring efficiency, and effective use and deployment of collective resources which can be deployed for poverty alleviation and building sustainable livelihoods 1 Poverty Strategy Commission which is independent and non-partisan and is concerned with helping policy makers and the public understand and take action to tackle poverty. The Commission is hosted by the Centre for Policy Studies and is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundations and Jon Moulton and Stuart Roden.
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2.3 Renew the Council’s commitment to the Anti-Poverty Task Force as a convening body and a vehicle for collaboration with the public and private sectors, the third sector and communities around early intervention and prevention and undertaking a “no wrong door” approach by: - • Helping to secure extra resources and support for those in deep poverty. • Providing an integrated approach to the use of resources to support those unable to work due to health, disability, or caregiving, to help them achieve a reasonable standard of living. • Supporting job seekers and those wanting to work more hours by helping them gain necessary skills, knowledge and employment • Assisting low-income individuals facing financial difficulties to achieve a reasonable standard of living. • Encouraging businesses to offer fair work and good jobs. 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Summary Information • Section 6: Conclusion • Appendix: Tackling Poverty Strategy 2024-2030 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 Following a recent review of the Community Planning Partnership’s Local Outcomes Improvement Plan 2022- 2032 their priorities were refined and a place-based approach was agreed. The priorities are:- • Poverty • Mental wellbeing • Skills, learning and employability 4.2 This links with the 7 priorities set out with the Council’s Corporate Plan. All 7 priorities have key links to mitigating and addressing poverty whether this is through enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential; developing a resilient, stronger and greener local economy or supporting and promoting physical and mental wellbeing to name but a few. In relation to tackling poverty the plan outlines key overarching actions: - • Prevent and mitigate the impacts of poverty for children living in Perth and Kinross • Mitigate cost of living pressures for households experiencing or at risk of poverty • Maximise income from benefit entitlement and concessions for households • Promote and encourage local employers to follow the principles of the Scottish Government Fair Work Action Plan, including the real Living Wage and Scottish Business Pledge
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4.3 In addition to the local context the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires Perth & Kinross Council and NHS Tayside to publish a Local Child Poverty Action Report (LCPAR) and this is reported to the Scottish Government each year. The Council and NHS has deepened and broadened its interventions to mitigate poverty affecting our communities and families over the last 5 years. There has been a commitment to tackling poverty and these are outlined within the latest Local Child Poverty Action Report. 4.4 The Anti-Poverty Task Force was established in 2022 in response to the cost- of-living crisis and to address the levels of poverty across Perth and Kinross. It draws members from Perth and Kinross Council, NHS Tayside, Perth City Leadership Forum, Perth Citizens Advice Bureau, Perth & Kinross Association of Voluntary Service (PKAVS), Giraffe, Growbiz and Letham4all. The Anti-Poverty Task Force commissioned the development of a Tackling Poverty Strategy to be informed by broad consultation across the key stakeholders and communities of Perth and Kinross. Over the past four years, our member organisations have focused on providing strong crisis support during the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of- living crisis. This strategy aims to further bring partners together from various sectors to tackle poverty and help people move from crisis support to sustainable livelihoods 4.5 The Community Planning Partnership will provide overall governance with responsibility for delivering on the strategic priorities sitting with the following: - • Poverty – Anti-Poverty Task Force • Health and Wellbeing - group under development Employment – Local Employability Partnership 4.6 Perth & Kinross Council and NHS Tayside retain the joint statutory obligation to take action to reduce child poverty and to report on what measures were taken or are planned each year to address or mitigate child poverty. The Council and NHS Tayside agreed a Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026 which is currently being implemented. The Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022- 2026 aligns with the Anti-Poverty Task Force’s proposed Tackling Poverty Strategy. The Tackling Poverty Strategy has a broader remit covering all sections of the population irrespective of age. 5. SUMMARY INFORMATION 5.1 Despite being a relatively affluent area, Perth and Kinross has around 30,000 people who live below the poverty line and of these some 27,200 are in deep or very deep poverty. 5.2 The strategy has been developed through significant consultation and engagement with a range of partners, elected members, community groups, people with lived experience and the public.
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A series of consultation events and feedback sessions were held which included an Anti-Poverty Task Force Planning Day, sessions with the locality planning groups in Highland Perthshire, Coupar Angus and Letham, sessions with community anchor organisations and other interested parties. There was a public consultation which resulted in 89 responses. Elected members had the opportunity to take part in the consultation with the Elected Members Feedback Session in and the Anti-Poverty Task Force Development Day. The consultation and engagement identified key main issues, and these are detailed within the report. In summary these are: • Employment – There are insufficient jobs to go round (100 people for every 82 job vacancies), a concentration of employment in low paid sectors (social care, retail and hospitality) and seasonal employment which provides unstable incomes. • Childcare - Accessing affordable childcare which meets the needs of working parents has been reported as a major barrier to employment. • Transport – Accessing affordable transport which enables people to get to and from work and appointments with healthcare and other service providers was a problem outside of Perth city. • Emergency food and cash-first approaches – People reported that it was important to have a choice of access points for income maximisation, debt and benefits advice; that cash first approaches were in the main preferred, but not always. • Children and families – We heard that people find it hard to access the range of services and support they need, and they would prefer a one door approach. • Housing – There is a lack of access to affordable housing, especially in rural areas – and for families who want to live near each other or near their workplace. • Rural challenges – the high cost of living in a rural area was mentioned by many who cited higher food, fuel, transport and housing costs. • Health and wellbeing – the link between poor mental health and poverty was made very strongly in the consultation, and a wider offer of health and wellbeing services which was joined up with income maximisation and employability services was identified as key to the success of the strategy. 5.3 The strategy acknowledges the significant anti-poverty mitigation actions that have taken place as well as the ongoing work and encourages all organisations in Perth and Kinross to do what they can to: • Address the rising cost of living and developing cash first approaches and food security • Increase income from employment by improving access to childcare and transport as well as skills development and training • Maximise income from Social Security and other benefits • Reduce stigma and promoting available support. • Address the housing and rural challenges being faced by communities • Support the health and wellbeing of communities to enable communities to live life well.
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5.4 Key areas for specific action to address what we heard through the consultation and engagement process include: • Establishing a group involving people with lived experience to build trust and to become actively involved in the review of the customer journeys to services and support. • Delivering joined-up services that work together effectively to deliver a no wrong door approach with joint planning and working with partners and communities at a locality level. • Creating robust referral pathways into and between services. • Reviewing our spending with a view to integrating and devolving budgets to enable local decision making where appropriate. • Further developing our place-based approach through our multi- disciplinary working using an evidence-based approach to tackle poverty and inequality issues at a local level. 5.5 Enabling people to secure fair employment remains the most effective means of lifting people out of poverty and a key thrust of the Tackling Poverty Strategy will be to support people who can work, to gain access to employment and to the skills which enable them to sustain and progress in employment 5.6 Following approval of the strategy a refreshed co-ordinated action plan will be developed in which all Anti-Poverty Task Force member organisations will be invited to share the detail of actions they will take, the focus areas for their interventions and the outcomes that they seek to deliver and how these will be measured. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 This is an opportunity for committee members to provide some final comment on the strategy and provide an endorsement prior to its submission to the Anti-Poverty Task Force. 6.2 The governance arrangements to oversee the delivery of the strategy will be the responsibility of the Anti-Poverty Task Force who will then report to the Community Planning Partnership. 6.3 Internally the Council’s contributions to the delivery of the strategy will be reported to the Poverty Theme Board and reported through the Council’s Annual Performance Report as well as the Local Child Poverty Action Report.
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Author Name Designation Contact Details Margaret Lynch Child Poverty Project Officer 01738 475000 ComCommitteeReports@pkc.gov.uk Approved Name Designation Date Greg Boland Strategic Lead – Strategic Planning, People and Performance 21 October 2024 APPENDICES Appendix 1 - Poverty Strategy
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes / None Community Plan / Single Outcome Agreement Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial None Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment None Strategic Environmental Assessment None Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) None Legal and Governance None Risk Yes Consultation Internal Yes External Yes Communication Communications Plan None 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 Mitigating Child Poverty will address the outcomes identified in the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan by the Community Planning Partnership Levels of poverty in Perth and Kinross. Corporate Plan 1.2 Mitigating Child Poverty will: • address the following priorities in Perth and Kinross Council’s Corporate Plan • Tackling Poverty • Children and young people grow up safe, respected, well-educated and ▪ confident in their ability to realise their full potential • People and businesses are increasingly able to prosper in a local economy which supports low carbon ambitions and offers opportunities for all. 2. Resource Implications 2.1 There are no resource implications arising directly from this report.
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3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 Proposals that have been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EqIA) are assessed as not relevant for EqIA. Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.2 Proposals have been considered under the Act, and no further action is required as it does not qualify as a PPS as defined by the Act and is therefore exempt. Sustainability 3.3 Not applicable. Legal and Governance 3.4 Not applicable. Risk 3.5 Tackling Poverty is an organisational priority and as such mitigating actions are also monitored through the Council’s risk profile. 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 All relevant officers have been involved in the development of this Poverty Strategy. External 4.2 Significant consultation was undertaken to develop the strategy as detailed in the appendix of this report. 5. Communication 5.1 None. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS 2.1 None.