This summer, the Improvement Service will launch a social media campaign to spotlight the work local authorities do to tackle child poverty in Scotland.
In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and with ever-rising inflation, it is more important than ever to support those who are most at risk of experiencing poverty. According to the latest official statistics, 24% of children were in relative poverty in Scotland between 2019 and 2022. It is the ambition of the Scottish Government to bring this number down to 18% by next year and 10% by 2030. Local action on tackling child poverty is going to be crucial in reaching these national targets.
The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires local authorities and regional health boards in Scotland to produce joint Local Child Poverty Action Reports (LCPARs) on an annual basis detailing ongoing and planned action to tackle child poverty at the local level. At the Improvement Service, we work with local authorities and health boards to support the development of LCPARs by acting as child poverty champions, sharing and promoting good practices, and working to ensure local reports are an effective lever for tackling child poverty in Scotland.
We have used sources such as the LCPARs from 2021-2022 to draw out some interesting examples of local action that we think deserve their moment in the spotlight. We will post one a day on social media in the coming weeks, providing a glimpse into the wide range of anti-poverty work that local authorities are carrying out across Scotland. If you want to find out more, you can find all the reports on our web page.
We will launch our campaign on Wednesday 5 July. Keep an eye on our socials @improveserv and LinkedIn over the coming weeks and don’t forget to use the hashtag #SummerSpotlight if you are sharing!
If you would like to find out more about the support we offer, visit our web page here and join our Knowledge Hub group.