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Response to Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill consultation


January 2024

The Commission responded to a call for views from the Scottish Parliament Social Justice and Social Security Committee as part of its scrutiny of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.

Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission consultation response – Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill

Response to Pension Age Winter Heating Payment consultation


January 2024

The Commission responded to the Scottish Government consultation on its plans for the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission consultation response – Pension Age Winter Heating Payment

Poverty and Inequality Commission Biodiversity Report 2021-23


The Poverty and Inequality Commission has published its Biodiversity report for 2021-2023. Under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, all public bodies in Scotland are under a statutory duty to further the conservation of biodiversity when carrying out their responsibilities. Public bodies are required to report every three years on the actions which they have taken to meet this biodiversity duty.

Download the Commission’s Biodiversity Report 2021-23

Learning from the Commission’s Experts by Experience Panel


22 December 2023

In August 2021, the Commission established its first Experts by Experience Panel made up of 19 people from across Scotland with lived experience of poverty. The Panel was developed to embed participation in the work of the Commission and to ensure that those with lived experience of poverty were engaged in all aspects of the Commission’s work. The Panel ran for almost two years, until June 2023.

The Commission has produced a learning report that details the purpose, process and context of the Commission’s approach to establishing and working with the Panel. We hope that the learning will improve participation work within the Commission and also prove useful for others engaged in, or seeking to develop, participatory processes with experts by experience.

In the report, you will find details of:

  • The Commission’s objectives in establishing the Panel.
  • The context in which the Panel was established and embedded.
  • The Commission’s approach to embedding the participation of the Panel in its work, including principles, design, methods and approach to learning.
  • Details of the activities that the Panel took part in.
  • The impact of the Panel on Panel members, the Commission and Scottish Government.
  • Reflections on and key learning from the Commission’s work with the Panel.

Download the full report, including a summary here
(PDF, 48 Pages, 1.12 MB)

Download a summary of the report here
(PDF, 8 Pages, 595 KB)

Download the visual summary from the report here
(PDF, 3 Pages, 302 KB)

Supplementary Documents

Panel Terms of Reference

The Panel worked with the Commission to develop Terms of Reference. This outlined the purpose of the Panel, the details of membership, the roles of Panel members and the Commission, and ways of working.
Panel Terms of Reference_2021-23 (.docx, 45kb)

Panel Group Agreement

The Panel worked with the Commission to develop a Group Agreement. This outlined how Panel members, members of the Secretariat and Commissioners work together in a group context.
Panel Group Agreement_2021-23(.docx, 53kb)

Further Survey Results

At the links below, you will find a summary of responses from Panel members and Commissioners to the questions asked in a series of surveys that have, along with other evidence, informed this report.

Poverty and Inequality Commission Intersectionality strategy


December 2023

The Poverty and Inequality Commission recognises that taking an intersectional approach is critical in tackling poverty and inequality in Scotland. Many of those who are in deepest poverty will experience overlapping discrimination and intersecting inequalities, and by trying to understand and respond to their experiences and needs we are more likely to be able to design policies and actions that meet the needs of everyone who experiences poverty.

The Commission is committed to working towards taking an intersectional approach to developing its advice and scrutiny. This strategy sets out how we will go about doing this.

Download our Intersectionality Strategy

Framework document


20 November 2023

This framework document sets out the relationship between the Scottish Government and the Poverty and Inequality Commission.

Download the framework document (pdf, 271kb)

How better tax policy can reduce poverty and inequality


16 October 2023

Tax affects us all, and determines much about the society we live in – including through its central role in funding public services in Scotland, and the importance of tax in political representation and democratic engagement.

The Scottish Government’s overall approach to tax and spend has been progressive, however there is scope to go significantly further. The Commission believes that this will be required if the Scottish Government is to be fiscally sustainable, and to deliver on its ambition to tackle poverty in all its forms.

The Commission formed a working group on tax to look in more detail around how taxation in Scotland can better tackle poverty and inequality. The Commission has published a report based on the work of the group. It recommends that the Scottish Government and its partners must:

  1. Ensure all land and property in Scotland is registered with a current and accurate valuation.
  2. Revalue properties subject to the current council tax, and immediately start work to design its replacement.
  3. Seek to devolve the necessary powers to set rates and bands of income tax for savings and dividend income for Scottish taxpayers.
  4. Improve public understanding of, and compliance with, devolved taxation.
  5. Broaden the tax base in Scotland by doing the work required to bring wealth into scope for future tax policy, and implement transparency measures on the profits of multinational companies.

Download the Commission’s report on how better tax policy can reduce poverty and inequality (pdf,  835kb)

Report Annex: Policy assessment criteria and summary comments (pdf, 197kb)

Tax polling conducted by Survation – summary results (pdf, 238kb)

Tax polling conducted by Survation – tables and demographic breakdown of results (Excel, 218kb)

 

Response to Human Rights Bill for Scotland consultation


October 2023

The Commission responded to the Scottish Government consultation on a Human Rights Bill for Scotland.

Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission consultation response – Human Rights Bill for Scotland

Response to Fairer Council Tax consultation


September 2023

The Commission responded to the Scottish Government and COSLA’s “Fairer Council Tax” consultation on increasing the council tax charges for higher value properties.

Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission consultation response – Fairer Council Tax

Poverty and Inequality Commission: Cost of living and advice services in Scotland


July 2023

The Poverty and Inequality Commission has published a briefing on advice services in Scotland and the cost of living crisis. The Commission and Experts by Experience Panel members carried out visits between August 2022 and March 2023 across a range of Local Authorities in Scotland. This briefing has a particular focus on speaking to advice services that are directly supporting their clients through the cost of living crisis.

Download: Poverty and Inequality Commission – Cost of Living Briefing – July 2023

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