Tag: Poverty

April was busiest month ever for UK Food Banks

  • The Trussell Trust reports a soaring 89% increase in need for emergency food parcels during April 2020 compared to the same month last year, including a 107% rise in parcels given to children
  • The number of families with children receiving parcels has almost doubled compared to the same period last year
  • Food banks in the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) report a 175 per cent  increase in need for the same period
  • A coalition of charities, including Child Poverty Action Group  (CPAG), The Children’s Society, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), StepChange and Turn2us, is calling for funding for local authorities in England to ensure grants are quickly distributedto help people stay afloat as part of a temporary Coronavirus Emergency Income Support Scheme.

As the impact of coronavirus continues to unfold, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network are reporting their busiest month ever, with an 89 per cent  increase in emergency food parcels given to people across the UK in April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

The figures include a 107% increase in parcels going to children compared to last year. The number of families with children receiving parcels has almost doubled compared to the same period last year.

Independent food banks are seeing similar increases, with IFAN reporting a 175% increase in need for emergency food parcels given out in the UK during April 2020 compared to the same month last year.

A coalition of charities, including the Trussell Trust, IFAN, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Children’s Society, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, StepChange and Turn2us, is urging the UK government to act quickly in providing a stronger lifeline to people to prevent many from being swept into destitution.

Measures brought in by the government, including the Coronavirus Jobs Retention scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and changes aimed specifically at people on low incomes, have helped some people stay afloat.

But these new figures warn far more people are needing  food banks’ help than at this time last year, with little sign of slowing. With these schemes set to wind down over the coming months and other measures proving to be insufficient, the charities say further action is urgently needed to ensure no one is left behind during this crisis.

The coalition says a first step should be to make sure local authorities in England have enough funding to provide emergency cash grants so money can be put directly into people’s pockets quickly. An increase in funding to local authorities in England would help bring the government response on this type of support closer to that of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This is one part of a temporary Coronavirus Emergency Income Support Scheme proposed by the coalition to ensure everyone has enough money in their pockets for essentials during this crisis.

The scheme would include:

  • Increasing benefits that go to families to help with the costs of raising children
  • Extending the suspension of benefit deductions to include advance payments – the loans offered to cover the five-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment
  • Lifting the benefit cap to ensure this support scheme benefits everyone

Chief executive of the Trussell Trust Emma Revie says: “We have been seeing rises in food bank need for the past five years but this 89% increase – with the number of families coming to food banks doubling – is completely unprecedented and not right.

“People need to be able to put food on their table. The government must put urgent support in place to ensure people already struggling to keep their heads above water can stay afloat. We have outlined what we need our government to do – it’s in our power to protect one another, we’ve seen it during this health crisis, and we need it to continue during this economic one.”

Coordinator of the Independent Food Aid Network Sabine Goodwin says:  “Our food bank figures paint a grim picture of what is unfolding across the UK and the numbers of people having to resort to emergency food parcels to survive.

“But the solution to the escalating food insecurity crisis has never been the provision of charitable food aid. Everyone needs to be able to afford to buy food and the bare essentials. Our joint call details how this can start to be achieved and we urge the Government to act swiftly and decisively to reverse this devastating trend.”

Child Poverty Action Group ‘s chief executive Alison Garnham says: “Today’s figures are grim.  No parent wants to depend on charity to feed their own child but it is clear that food banks are becoming the only option for a growing number of families whose finances have all but collapsed because of Covid-19. 

“Struggle is turning to real hardship. The Government has quickly put in place unprecedented and very welcome schemes to support family finances in the wake of Covid-19, but too many households are falling through the gaps.  An uplift in children’s benefits should be the priority now to shield children from poverty and its lifelong effects.”

Chief executive at The Children’s Society Mark Russell says: “It’s a tragedy that double the number of families are having to rely on foodbanks to feed their children, and a situation which could be prevented with more action to stop children from going hungry.

“The Children’s Society wants to see significant extra investment in local welfare assistance so councils can provide much needed emergency support. We recently found more than half of councils (63%) were forced to reduce spending on these schemes between 2015 and 2019 yet more people than ever need the help they can provide.

“No child should face destitution as a result of this pandemic. The Government must step up and protect vulnerable children and families.”

Policy and partnerships manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation JRF Iain Porter says: “It’s just not right that the number of families turning to food banks continues to climb so steeply.

“We all want to help each other weather this storm, but these figures show the government support provided so far is still not providing a lifeline to families in crisis who are not able to afford the essentials.

“As a rapid first step, increasing funding to councils for emergency cash grants would provide a lifeline to those most at risk of hardship. Alongside this, we need emergency investment in the social security system, such as targeted benefits to families with children, to prevent more families from reaching crisis point as we continue to weather the storm.”

Welfare benefit expert at Turn2us Anna Stevenson says: “Foodbanks do a fantastic job getting immediate practical support to people in their communities, however it shouldn’t be left to charities to do the job our social security safety net should be doing.

“The coronavirus has affected so many of us financially, this must be the catalyst for the government to build upon the steps it has already taken to make sure everyone can afford to put food on the table and not just survive, but be able to thrive.”

Grave concerns over low income familes: charities write to First Minister

‘Families that were already more likely to experience poverty – such as lone parent families – are being particularly impacted, and are being pulled deeper into poverty.’

Dear First Minister,

As a broad coalition of national organisations, community groups, academics, trade unions and faith groups who share a concern for the wellbeing of families across the country, we are writing to you today to express our grave concern.

The coronavirus crisis is putting low income families under financial strain which risks long term consequences for Scotland’s children.

We have all welcomed your government’s commitment to ending child poverty, the leadership that you have shown in setting the 2030 child poverty targets, and the continued prioritisation of the Scottish Child Payment as a key policy supporting these ambitions.

It is vital that the coronavirus crisis does not undermine these goals. That is why we have also warmly welcomed the significant support already provided by the Scottish Government in response to the crisis, including through the Wellbeing Fund and additional investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund.

We have appreciated the opportunities many of us have had to engage with your Ministers and officials to help inform your government’s response.

However, despite this support, and uplifts to UK benefits, families across Scotland are struggling to stay afloat.

Families that were already more likely to experience poverty – such as lone parent families – are being particularly impacted, and are being pulled deeper into poverty.

This is particularly true as women are more likely to be experiencing poverty, have disproportionate responsibility for caring for children and account for 91% of lone parents. Women’s poverty is inextricably interlinked with child poverty.

It is clear that progress on tackling child poverty is being put at huge risk.

An out of work family with two children is still being left with an income 20% below the poverty line, a poverty line that in itself is well below the income the general public believe is needed for a minimum socially acceptable standard of living.

The families that many of our organisations work with are reporting increased financial stress and associated anxiety, loneliness, and more complex mental health problems. The charitable hardship funds many of us operate have come under massively increased pressure, with, for example, a 1400% increase in demand for Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund.

In the face of this increased hardship our organisations continue to call for the UK Government to take action to ensure that UK social security system protects people from poverty.

However, we believe that where any level of government can do more to loosen the grip of poverty then it must.

We therefore believe that the time has come to build on the existing investments made by your government and the emergency provision provided by children’s charities and others, and provide a direct financial boost to all low income families. The £10 per week Scottish Child Payment will be a vital lifeline, but will not start to be delivered until next year. Families need a lifeline now to help them weather this storm.

We call on you to use every tool at your government’s disposal to deliver an emergency package of financial support to all low income families – a package we believe should amount to at least the equivalent of £10 per week per child.

Options for delivering such an emergency package that we have identified include the following:

  • Using Best Start legislation and payment systems to introduce new or increased payments of Best Start Grants.
  • Investing further in the Scottish Welfare Fund to provide a new coronavirus crisis grant for all low income families, whilst retaining and boosting the capacity of the existing Fund to support all those facing income crisis.
  • Increasing School Clothing Grant payments.
  • Topping up benefits that go to families to help with the costs of raising children – many organisations have called on the UK Government to increase child benefit, the child element of Universal Credit, and child tax credit in response to the crisis. The Scottish Government also has the powers to top up UK benefits.
  • Using local government powers to provide payments to advance the wellbeing of children, for example under s22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 or via financial support under the power in s20 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.  These could be used to provide equivalent financial support, particularly to families with no recourse to public funds.

Additional targeted support could include:

  • Increase the value of Best Start Foods.
  • Providing a crisis grant for families awaiting their first Universal Credit payment.
  • To support families impacted by the two-child limit, by making additional direct payments to families affected. Larger families were at increased risk of poverty even before the current COVID-19 crisis.
  • To further increase the Discretionary Housing Payment budget, and direct local authorities to target additional funds towards those affected by the benefit cap. By increasing the DHP budget, those households impacted by the benefit cap can receive the additional support they need.

We understand that to identify the most effective delivery option, judgements will need to be made based on organisational capacity within local authorities and Social Security Scotland, and the ability to engage and work with UK agencies. It may well be that a combination of the options is needed to deliver this quickly.

Whatever approach is taken the overriding priority must be to use the powers and structures available in Scotland to give an immediate cash boost to all low income families to support them through the current crisis.

This will be an essential foundation on which to build the full package of financial, practical and emotional support needed to protect children’s wellbeing as we transition from the crisis to recovery, in line with the principles in your government’s Covid-19 Framework for Decision Making.

We are keen to work with you constructively to find practical and effective ways of achieving this, and look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

SallyAnn Kelly, CEO Aberlour

Paul Carberry, Director for Scotland, Action for Children

Martin Crewe, Director, Barnardo’s Scotland

John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland

Jackie Brock, Chief Executive, Children in Scotland

Mary Glasgow, Chief Executive, Children 1st

Satwat Rehman, Chief Executive, OPFS

Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland

Peter Kelly, Director, The Poverty Alliance

Claire Telfer, Head of Scotland, Save the Children

Tracey McFall, CEO, Partners in Advocacy

Dr Neil Henery, Director, Camphill Scotland

Clare Cable, Chief Executive and Nurse Director, Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland

Alistair Brown, National Director, Scottish Association of Social Work

Justina Murray, CEO, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs

Ewan Aitken, Chief Executive, Cyrenians

Martin Dorchester, Chief Executive, Includem

Janis McDonald, Chief Officer, deafscotland

Professor Ian Welsh OBE, Chief Executive, Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)

Prof Morag Treanor, Heriot-Watt University

Nancy Loucks, CEO, Families Outside

Matt Forde, National Head of Service, NSPCC Scotland

Ella Simpson, Chief Executive, EVOC

Duncan Dunlop, CEO, Who Cares? Scotland

Jimmy Wilson, CEO, FARE Scotland

Dr Anne Mullin, Chair, the Deep End Group Scotland

Craig Samuel, NAWRA representative Scotland

Jo Derrick, CEO, Staf

Dr Hayley Bennett, Social Policy Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh

Prof Adrian Sinfield, University of Edinburgh

Claire Burns, Director, CELCIS

David Thomson, Destiny Church

Dr Hartwig Pautz, Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland and co-lead of the UWS-Oxfam Partnership

Mike J Kirby, Scottish Secretary, UNISON

Professor Mhairi Mackenzie, Professor of Public Policy, University of Glasgow

Nick Bailey, Professor of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow

Graeme McAlister, Chief Executive, Scottish Childminding Association

Colin Flinn, Chief Executive, Royal Caledonian Education Trust

Mark O’Donnell, Chief Executive, Royal Blind

Douglas Guest, Acting Director for Scotland, Home-Start UK Scotland   

Billy Watson, Chief Executive, Scottish Association for Mental Health

  Alan Thornburrow, Director, Business in the Community Scotland

Juliet Harris, Director, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)

Bernard Harris, Professor of Social Policy, University of Strathclyde

Janet Haugh, Chief Executive, Ypeople

Cath Morrison, Chief Executive, The Lilias Graham Trust

Dr Mhairi Crawford, Chief Executive, LGBT Youth Scotland

Pat Rafferty, Scottish Secretary, Unite the Union

Professor Stephen Sinclair, Co-Director, Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit, Glasgow Caledonian University 

Professor John McKendrick, Co-Director, Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit, Glasgow Caledonian University

Professor Sharon Wright, Professor of Social Policy, University of Glasgow

Hugh Foy, Director of Programmes and Partnerships, UK Region Xaverian Missionaries

Professor Chik Collins, Rector (Vice Chancellor) of the University of the Faroe Islands

Shaben Begum, Director, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance

Dr David Walsh, Public Health Programme Manager, Glasgow Centre for Population Health

Emma Revie, Chief Executive, The Trussell Trust

Professor Steve Turner, Scottish Officer, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Kate Wimpress, Chair, SURF – Scotland’s Regeneration Forum

Angela Moohan, Chief Executive Officer, The Larder West Lothian

Nathan Sparling, Chief Executive, HIV Scotland

Neil Mathers, Chief Executive, Children’s University Scotland

Steven McCluskey, Chairperson, Bikes for Refugees

Margo Uprichard, CEO, The Louise Project

Clare Simpson, Manager, Parenting across Scotland

Ron Culley, Chief Executive, Quarriers

Jane Brumpton, Chief Executive, Early Years Scotland.

Hazel Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Cornerstone

Anne F.Meikle, Convenor, Scottish Women’s Budget Group

Larry Flanagan, General Secretary, EIS

Douglas Hamilton, former Chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission

Emily Beardsmore, CEO, Light Up Learning

Virginia Radcliffe, CEO, Licketyspit

Roz Foyer, General Secretary Designate, STUC

Marie Ward, Chief Executive Officer, Cranhill Development Trust

Ian Bruce, Chief Executive, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS)

Jacqui Hardie, Executive Strategic Manager, Fife Gingerbread

Professor Mike Danson, Chair, CBINS (Citizen’s Basic Income Network Scotland)

Shona Blakeley, Executive Director, Women’s Fund for Scotland

Emma Jackson, National Director Scotland, Christians Against Poverty

Sharon Colvin, CEO, 3D Drumchapel

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT

Maragret Nakityo, Secretary, Afreshe

Traci Kirkland, Head of Charity, Govan Community Project

Rachel Sutherland, Bureau Manager, East & Central Sutherland Citizens Advice Bureau

Bishop Nolan, President, Justice and Peace Scotland

Jim McCormick, Associate Director for Scotland, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Russell Gunson, Director, IPPR Scotland

Frazer Scott, CEO, Energy Action Scotland

Anna Ritchie Allan, Executive Director, Close the Gap

Tim Frew, Chief Executive, YouthLink Scotland

Shruti Jain, Chair, Saheliya 

Marguerite Hunter Blair, Chief Executive, Play Scotland

Linda Tuthill, CEO, The Action Group

Rami Okasha, Chief Executive, CHAS

Irene Audain MBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Out of School Care Network

Rachel Adamson, Co-Director, Zero Tolerance

Dr Marsha Scott, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Women’s Aid

Dave Liddell, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Drugs Forum

Sharon McAulay, Project Manager, STAR Project

Danny Collins, National President, Society of St Vincent de Paul (Scotland)

Emma Ritch, Executive Director, Engender

Big Hearts: Gorgie charity opens new helplines

Big Hearts, the charity of Heart of Midlothian FC, is shifting their activity to focus on phone and online support, through new dedicated helplines launched today.

Over the past two weeks the Big Hearts’ team of nine staff has been working on alternative ways to maintain their vital work to local groups at a high risk of loneliness, poor mental health, complex family backgrounds and food poverty.

The new Big Hearts helplines are designed to provide regular support over the phone and use digital means to address people’s urgent needs – whilst ensuring the safety of all staff, volunteers and beneficiaries.

Based at Tynecastle Stadium, the charity supports more than 150 vulnerable adults and children on a weekly basis, through a range of programmes including the Kinship Care after school club, The Changing Room project and Football Memories for over 65s.

Craig Wilson, Big Hearts General Manager said: “On 13 March we decided to suspend all our face to face activity to ensure everyone’s safety. Our staff team has been working remotely, completing hundreds of calls to families, isolated adults and older people to assess their immediate needs and offer some guidance and support.

“After a couple of weeks working in this new setting, we are delighted to announce a new series of landline numbers that people can call for a confidential chat and some targeted support.”

Kinship Care Helpline: 0131 603 4927
Advice on parenting strategies, peer support & service referrals for local kinship care families.

The Changing Room at Hearts: 0131 603 4929
Mental health support, wellbeing info and regular peer support in partnership with SAMH.

Community Helpline: 0131 603 4928
Social connection & advice for beneficiaries and volunteers at risk of loneliness & poverty.

www.bighearts.org.uk

Dare you do the DARED Challenge?

A unique fundraising challenge event designed by school staff to support vulnerable children across Edinburgh and the Lothians is back for 2020.

A fundraising event that inspires school staff and individuals from across Edinburgh and the Lothians to lace up their running shoes in support of a leading children’s charity is back for 2020.

The DARED Challenge – Do A Run Every Day – encourages participants to complete either a 1 mile or 5km run every day throughout the month of June in support of West Pilton-based charity, Circle.

Devised in 2018 by Broughton High maths teacher, and keen runner, Mark Fletcher, the DARED Challenge has continued to grow and last year saw more than 150 school staff from across Edinburgh and further afield raise more than £14,000 for the charity.

This year, as well as again looking to school staff from across the region to support the event, Mark and his organising team are appealing for members of the public to get involved. Circle’s patrons, David Tennant and Arabella Weir, will be joining the campaign to recruit participants in the coming months.

David Tennant’s previous video statement can be seen here.

Alongside the fundraising element, the aim of the challenge is to encourage as many people as possible to enjoy the physical and mental benefits of daily exercise, as well as spending time with colleagues away from the desk and work. The choice of different distances enables both experienced and beginner runners to feel included and challenged.

Although the premise of the event was built on getting school staff and teachers exercising regularly, organiser Mark hopes that the health benefits that arise as a result of this type of challenge will inspire anyone – not just teachers – to get involved.

He said: “Incorporating exercise into our daily lives has countless benefits to our physical and mental health. If we can do this while raising money for an extremely deserving cause, everyone’s a winner.”

Funds raised through the DARED Challenge will go directly to supporting Circle in its aim of improving the lives of children by strengthening families. The charity works at the heart of deprived communities across central Scotland, supporting the most disadvantaged children and families to improve their lives, promote their healthy development and reach their potential.

Participation in the DARED Challenge will help strengthen the charity’s family outreach work, help children and their families communicate, repair relationships and develop skills that enable them to lead more fulfilling lives.

Social inequality and poverty lead to some of the many reasons that a family may need the support of Circle including alcohol and substance misuse, imprisonment and young or lone parenting.

Many of the pupils in participating schools from previous DARED Challenges are supported by Circle.

Mark Kennedy, Chief Executive of Circle, said: “We are incredibly grateful to everyone who is taking part in The DARED Challenge as their dedication, passion and enthusiasm will directly enable Circle to continue our vital work supporting vulnerable children and families in Edinburgh and beyond.”

Early bird entry for the DARED Challenge is now open with participants able to choose to run one mile or 5km a day in June. Participation costs £10 per person. Participants are asked to fundraise a minimum of £50. Participants who do not wish to fundraise can pay an additional £20 to secure their position on the challenge.

Full details can be found here. 

State of Child Health – it’s not good

The RCPCH has today published State of Child Health 2020, the largest ever compilation of data on the health of babies, children and young people across all four UK nations.
The report shows that for many measures of children’s health and wellbeing, progress has stalled, or is in reverse – something rarely seen in high income countries.

Visit the State of Child Heath website

Across most indicators, health outcomes are worse for children who live in deprived areas. Inequalities in some outcomes have widened since the last State of Child Health report in 2017. Progress has also been seriously affected by deep cuts to local authority budgets – used to finance public health initiatives and community services.

The authors highlight that, even where there have been notable improvements in children’s health, the UK is often lagging far behind other countries.  For example, although there has been a fall in the number of emergency asthma admission rates across all four nations, the UK still has one of the highest mortality rates in Europe for children and young people with asthma.

Dr Ronny Cheung, Clinical Lead for RCPCH and co-author of the report, said: “Two weeks ago, the Marmot Review presented a stark picture about life expectancy in England. Now, our own report shows troubling signs for children and young people across the UK.

“The harsh reality is that, in terms of health and wellbeing, children born in the UK are often worse off than those born in other comparably wealthy countries. This is especially true if the child is from a less well-off background.

“Infant mortality is a globally-recognised sign of how well a country is looking after the health of its citizens. Throughout the world, the number of babies dying in their first year has been steadily falling for decades, as incomes rise and mothers and children receive better healthcare.

“Yet UK infant mortality rates have stalled, and in England they actually got worse between 2016 and 2017. For a high-income nation such as ours that should be a major wake up call.”

State of Child Health 2020 brings together 28 measures of health outcomes, ranging from specific conditions – such as asthma, epilepsy, and mental health problems – to risk factors for poor health such as poverty, low rates of breastfeeding, and obesity.

Community paediatrician and co-author Dr Rakhee Shah, said: “Investment in preventative health services must now be prioritised by the new UK Government.

“England has seen a huge decline in spending on local services and I see the results of that every day of my working life especially for my most disadvantaged patients. The cuts to services also have an impact on our NHS – people have fewer places to go to get advice, support, and stay well.”

The authors make a number of policy recommendations for each nation. These include:

  • Introduce a cross-departmental National Child Health and Wellbeing Strategy to address and monitor child poverty and health inequalities.
  • Restore £1 billion of real-terms cuts to the public health grant for Local Authorities.
  • Ensure future investment in public health provision increases at the same rate as NHS funding and is allocated based on population health needs.
  • Implement in full commitments from the prevention green paper, Advancing our health: Prevention in the 2020s.
  • Implement commitments to provide a Youth Investment Fund, with protection of the committed £500m funding.
  • Provide health-based support for children throughout education, including funding for increased numbers of school nurses and school counsellors.
  • Provide renewed investment in services for children and families, which support the child’s school readiness.
  • Ensure that health visiting services are protected, supported and expanded with clear and secure funding.

President of the RCPCH, Professor Russell Viner, said: “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us if we’re to get a grip on the state of child health in the UK. This report is the only one of its kind to zoom out and look at the full picture and it’s not a pretty sight. On many vital measures we risk lagging behind other European countries.

“There some positive signs – teenage pregnancies have fallen hugely, Scotland is leading the way on reducing youth violence, and we’ve made huge strides in the treatment of conditions like diabetes. These outcomes are invariably the result of good policy, political commitment, and proper funding.

“In many areas of healthcare, we’ve led the rest of the world. But we’re in danger of failing a generation if we don’t turn this situation around. The government has made welcome commitments on childhood obesity and young people’s mental health but we need to see delivery in these and other areas.

“We have the evidence, the experience and the expertise to make real progress in the life of this government. It’s now time to deliver for children and young people.”

KEY HIGHLIGHTS 

Infant mortality

  • The UK is fifth from bottom among 27 European countries for infant (under one year of age) mortality. Infant mortality in England stalled between 2013 and 2018 at 3.9 per 1,000 livebirths, with a slight rise in 2017 to 4.0.
  • In England and Wales infant mortality is more than twice as high in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas.

Healthy weight

  • The prevalence of children aged 4-5 who are overweight or obese has not improved significantly in any of the four countries since 2006-7.
  • Trends among 4-5 year olds are stable across the UK with around 25% of children overweight but this increases to around 34% for 10-11 year olds in England.
  • Childhood obesity is more prevalent in deprived areas. In England, the prevalence of severe obesity among 4-5 year olds was almost four times as high in the most deprived areas (3.8%) than the least deprived areas (1.0%) in 2017/18.

Child poverty (new indicator)

  • A total of 4.1 million children live in relative poverty in the UK (after considering housing costs) – an increase of 500,000 between 2011-12 and 2016-17. From 2016/17 to 2017/18, the numbers in England rose from 30% to 31% of children and in Wales from 28% to 29%
  • Child poverty in Scotland plateaued at 24% and in NI decreased from 26% to 24%.
  • Across the UK, rates of child poverty have increased for all types of working family. Lone parents working part time and households with only one working parent have seen the sharpest increases in poverty over the last three years.
  • Nearly half of children (47%) in working lone parent families live in poverty.

Immunisations

  • In 2018, all four UK nations fell short of the 95% WHO target for the second dose of MMR.
  • In 2018, the uptake rates of two doses of MMR vaccine at 5 years ranged from 86.4% in England, 91.2% in Scotland to 91.8% in Northern Ireland and 92.2% in Wales.

Youth violence (new indicator)

  • While rates of physical violence among young people are broadly similar across the four nations, England is the only country in which rates are increasing – most notably for 20-24 year olds. Between 2012 and 2017, the rate of physical violence among that age group increased from 297.7 to 315.49 per 100,000.
  • In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, physical violence among young people aged 10-24 shows an overall downward or stable trend from 2012-2017.

Long term conditions

  • Emergency admission rates for asthma have fallen since 2003/4 across the UK. However, the UK has among the highest mortality rates in Europe for children and young people with the underlying cause of asthma.
  • Epilepsy had until recently seen similar falling rates of emergency admissions. However, in 2017/18 rates rose slightly in England, Wales and Scotland. In Scotland, children with epilepsy from the most deprived areas were twice as likely to have an emergency admission to hospital than those from the least deprived.
  • There has been continued improvement in blood glucose control among children and young people with Type 1 diabetes across all four nations, and it is encouraging that there have been increases in the completion of key health checks for those with diabetes.

2020 indicators

  • Mortality – Infant mortality; Child mortality (1-9 years); Young people’s mortality (10-19 years)
  • Maternal and perinatal health – Smoking during pregnancy; Breastfeeding
    Prevention of ill health – Immunisations / vaccinations; Healthy weight; Oral health
  • Injury prevention – Accidental injury; Road traffic accidents; Youth violence (new indicator)
  • Healthy behaviours – Smoking in young people; Alcohol and drug use in young people; Conceptions in young people
  • Mental health – Prevalence of mental health (new indicator); Mental health services (new indicator); Suicide
  • Family and social environment – Child poverty; Education – not in education, employment or training (NEET) (new indicator); Young carers (new indicator); Children in the child protection system; Looked After Children (new indicator)
  • Long term conditions – Asthma; Epilepsy; Diabetes; Cancer; Disability and additional learning needs
  • Workforce – Child health workforce (new indicator)

SOCH-SCOTLAND2-03.03.20

It’s YOUR money!

Funds awarded to maximise benefit take-up

Organisations which will help to maximise the take-up of benefits and household incomes in Scotland have been awarded £600,000.

Twenty-six organisations from across the country received allocations to support hard to reach groups, single parents and people with particular barriers such as mental or physical disabilities to apply for Scottish social security benefits.

Two Edinburgh-based organisations – Big Hearts Community Trust (£11,860) and FAIR (Family Advice Information Resource) (£24,214) – are among the recipients.

The funding is part of the Scottish Government’s Benefit Take-Up Strategy, launched in October 2019.

Announcing the successful applicants at North East Sensory Services, a charity in Aberdeen awarded £42,665 to help people with hearing and sight impairments, Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “We believe social security is a human right and an investment in the people of Scotland. That is why everyone who is eligible to apply for benefits should have the support they need.

“Along with local delivery staff, we want third sector organisations to add their expertise and reach out to help those who need it most.

“This funding of £600,000 will be vital to support those who face barriers to access the financial support they are entitled to and increase their incomes. This includes the people with sight or hearing impairments who are supported by North East Sensory Services.

“This funding shows we are determined to do things differently in Scotland and create a new social security system that puts dignity, fairness and respect at its heart.”

Graham Findlay, Chief Executive of North East Sensory Services, said: “The support we provide reaches more than 6,500 blind and deaf people across the North East of Scotland.

“We are delighted that the Scottish Government has recognised the particular difficulties our service users have in finding out about and applying for crucial benefits that help them to live their lives as independently as possible.

“This funding is vital to upskill our staff team with specialist knowledge so we can provide essential support to those who need help navigating the benefits system.”

While no North Edinburgh organisations received income maximisation funding in the latest round, receiving the benefits to which they are entitled can make a huge difference for people who face a daily struggle to get by.

Granton Information Centre’s income maximisation work has seen an incredible £3.3 MILLION put into the pockets of local people over the last financial year – money that they were entitled to but had not been claiming.

“Despite local and national awareness campaigns we still see people every week who are not receiving their full benefit entitlements”, said GIC manager Caroline Pickering.

“There are a number of reasons for this – the benefits system is complicated and there have been a number of significant changes over recent years. It can be confusing and the complicated form-filling – or, worse still, lengthy telephone calls to government agencies – can put people off.

“We encourage clients to persevere, however, as we support them through the process. For some people, getting the money they are entitled to really can make a life-changing difference.”

Cutting football club expenses by just 5% could help 118,137 vulnerable people

  • Top football clubs could improve the lives of 118,137 vulnerable people by giving just 5% of their expenditures to the local community, new research shows.
  • Football club expenses equate to help for 2.3 million vulnerable people.
  • Club vs Community reveals the potential social impact top clubs could have if they were to reduce their inessential expenses over a year.
  • Real Madrid could reduce the risk of poverty for 2,321 children by cutting their spend on acquiring players by 5%, or help 1,431 adults find employment.
  • It would cost €1,669 to provide intervention for a homeless adult in the UK, and just €800 to teach workers the skills they need to find employment in Paris.
  • Top football clubs could improve the lives of 118,137 vulnerable people by giving just 5% of their expenditures to the local community, new research shows.
  • Football club expenses equate to help for 2.3 million vulnerable people.
  • Club vs Community reveals the potential social impact top clubs could have if they were to reduce their inessential expenses over a year.
  • Real Madrid could reduce the risk of poverty for 2,321 children by cutting their spend on acquiring players by 5%, or help 1,431 adults find employment.
  • It would cost €1,669 to provide intervention for a homeless adult in the UK, and just €800 to teach workers the skills they need to find employment in Paris.

If the world’s top football clubs were to cut their inessential expenditures by just 5%, they could collectively improve the lives of 118,137 vulnerable members of society, new research shows. 

The 15 highest-earning teams in the world, as decided by the Deloitte Football Money League 2019, have spent a staggering €6.923 billion on salaries and bonuses, upgrading facilities and acquiring players over the past year.

Club vs Community calculates the cost of rectifying key social issues in various countries around the world – including homelessness, social care and unemployment – and measures this against football clubs’ expenditure as detailed in the latest available financial reports.

However, with the question as to whether footballers are overpaid remaining a point of contention among fans, Club vs Community asks how much more teams could be doing to help address prevalent social issues.

Although directly rectifying hard-hitting social issues may be beyond the remit of football clubs, the fact remains that the average pay in the Premier League is around €230,000 per month – a staggering 120 times more than the typical €1,916 EU monthly wage.

In Spain, raising the income for all impoverished households with children to the OECD average and thereby reducing the risk of poverty would cost €5,365 per capita – while Real Madrid spent €249 million on player transfers alone in 2019.

The highest-earning football clubs and their potential social reach

Over the past year, Manchester United have spent €27 million on sponsorship and broadcasting, while Inter Milan have splashed out €183,000 on PR and gifts. If both teams were to cut these expenditures by 10%, they could improve the lives of 1,839 local people.

To find out more about the cost of tackling social issues, and how high-earning clubs can help reach this goal, view the full Club vs Community study here: https://www.netbet.co.uk/blog/club-community/.

Edinburgh Funeral Director welcomes support payment increase

Bereaved families in Edinburgh will soon have greater financial support when planning their loved ones’ funerals, as the Scottish Government recently announced an increase to its Funeral Support Payment.

The Funeral Support Payment covers burial and cremation fees in full, however, a discretionary fund called ‘other expenses’ must cover several costs, including funeral director fees, celebrant’s fees, flowers and the cost of purchasing a coffin.

For the first time since 2003, the Funeral Support Payment for ‘other expenses’ will increase from £700 to £1000 from 1st April this year, supporting thousands of Scottish families at their time of need.

Funeral costs have been shown to have a disproportionate impact on low income consumers across the UK, with funeral costs potentially accounting for over a third of the annual expenditure of those on the lowest incomes.

Although inflationary increases to the £700 payment were scheduled to commence in Scotland from this year, the previous £700 cap equates to over £1,100 in today’s prices.

Since funeral costs have risen since 2003, the real value of the benefit for families in need has reduced by 35 per cent. In 2016, evidence was presented to a Scottish Government consultation that calculated that the benefit would need to increase to £1,500 to fully cover the costs incurred by the majority of Scottish families.

Welcoming the announcement, Edinburgh Funeral Director, Mark Porteous, Company Director at Porteous Funeral Directors, said: “There are many people in our community who rely on the Funeral Support Payment, and we are thrilled that the benefit has increased for bereaved families in Edinburgh.

“This benefit makes a real difference to bereaved families, and the increased payment will further enable them to have a dignified ceremony for a loved one. We view Funeral Support Payment funerals as a commitment to our community, and the increased payment will help keep these services viable for years to come.”

Porteous Funeral Directors has multiple locations across Edinburgh, including those that have been identified as the most deprived: Great Junction Street, Leith, Moredun and Craigour, Bingham, Magdalene and The Christians, Muirhouse, Restalrig and Lochend, Niddrie.

The Scottish Government’s announcement follows a similar commitment from Westminster to increase the funeral benefit in England and Wales from £700 to £1000. However, the Scottish Government has gone one step further in stating that the increase will be uprated, which will see the value rise year-on-year to allow for inflating funeral costs.

Gordon Swan, Director of Communications at leading funeral plan provider Golden Charter, added: “Golden Charter has been calling for an increase in Funeral Support Payments for some time, recognising that the benefit set in 2003 has gradually fallen well below the costs faced by families who have lost a love one.

“As a Scottish-based company, we know the positive impact this increase will bring to families at a very difficult time.

“We provide funeral planning services across the whole of the UK, and would like to see the Department of Work and Pensions also uprate this important benefit, extending the future security offered by that commitment to all bereaved families across the UK.”

It is anticipated that up to 5,000 Scottish families will benefit from this enhanced benefit each year.

Break the grip of poverty to “truly level up” our uneven nation

Poverty’s grip on some parts of the UK, some families and among renters shows the scale of the challenge faced by the government in its attempts to “unite and level up” the UK following years of political turmoil around Brexit.

jrf_-_uk_poverty_2019-20_report

jrf_-_uk_poverty_2019-20_findings

Funeral Support Payment to be increased

Extra support will be made available for people on low income benefits to pay for the cost of a funeral.

The Funeral Support Payment’s rate for expenses such as funeral director fees, a coffin, and flowers, is to be increased from £700 to £1,000 for all applications received from 1 April.

The Funeral Support Payment is made up of three separate parts: burial or cremation costs; travel costs; and a standard rate for other expenses – and it is this element which is being increased.

Introduced in September last year, the Funeral Support Payment replaced the UK Government’s Funeral Expense Payment in Scotland, greatly increasing eligibility. It is intended to help alleviate the burden of debt faced by those on low income benefits when paying for a funeral.

Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “At a time when families are struggling to come to terms with the death of a loved one, the last thing they need is extra financial stress.

“I am proud we are increasing the standard rate by 40% to £1,000 to support those paying for a funeral just months after introducing this important new payment.

“This increase, alongside the extended eligibility we have introduced, means the Funeral Support Payment is there to ease the pressures on up to 5,000 people annually at such a difficult time in their lives. So far the total average pay-out has been around £1,500.

“This benefit is part of the new Social Security system we are building from scratch for the Scottish people, with fairness, dignity and respect at its heart.”

The flat rate payment for other expenses may be used towards any other funeral expenses such as funeral director fees, a coffin, and flowers.

Those eligible for the Funeral Support Payment must be living in Scotland, have had the nearest relationship to the person who has died, be financially responsible for the funeral and be on a qualifying benefit or tax credit (e.g. Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Disability or severe disability element of Working Tax Credit).

Around 5,000 people are expected to be supported annually by the payment.

For more information or to apply online go to: https://www.mygov.scot/funeral-support-payment/