Scottish Government
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Tackling poverty and inequality
Delivering a successful, fairer Scotland.
It is vital that all Scotland’s people benefit from Scotland’s increasing sustainable economic growth, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday.
Ms Sturgeon highlighted measures detailed in yesterday’s budget statement that she believes will help tackle inequality and deliver a more prosperous and fair society. These include:
• Driving investment in affordable housing of over £390 million to deliver 6000 affordable homes and £125 million of additional financial support for the housing sector.
• Continuing the social wage commitments including free prescriptions, concessionary travel and free personal care
• £79 million to support improvements in domestic energy efficiency through the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS).
• Free school meals for all P1 to P3 children worth around £330 for each child
• £81 million to maintain funding that will mitigate the most harmful impacts of the UK Government’s welfare reforms.
• Continuing to freeze the council tax with our partners in local government, saving the average household around £1,200 by the end of this current parliament.
Ms Sturgeon said:
“Supporting economic growth, improving opportunities in the labour market and tackling poverty and inequalities, constitute this Government’s approach to creating a more prosperous and fair society. But our efforts are being undermined by the UK Government’s welfare reforms.
“We want to support our most vulnerable, encourage people into the workplace and work towards making Scotland a more equal country to live and work. We want to break generational cycles of poverty to ensure that Scotland is one of the best countries in the world for children to grow up
“We are also maintaining our increased support for welfare reform mitigation at £81 million in 2015-16, including funding to fully mitigate against the Bedroom Tax and support for the Scottish Welfare Fund.
“Investment in housing boosts the economy, improves the energy efficiency of housing stock and reduces fuel poverty. We will invest over £390 million in 2015-16 to deliver 6,000 affordable homes, of which 4,000 will be for social rent.
