Empty homes contrast with housing need

AS THE MEDIA scrutinise the legislative programme put forward by the Scottish Government, attention is returning to the problems of homelessness and lack of affordable housing - issues which many who gave evidence to the Poverty Truth Commission highlighted.

Scotland has some 23,000 empty private homes, while  more than 160,000 families, couples and single people are stuck on waiting lists for social housing.

Campaigners and those at the tough end of the national housing crisis say that tackling the problem of vacan properties across the country is important. They want incentives as well as disincentives to change the situation.

The Scottish Government is talking of legislation to allow local authorities to scrap the 50 per cent council tax discount on empty homes.

Proponents say that this could raise an extra £30 million in revenue each year. The money could then be put towards affordable housing schemes, as well as taking away the financial incentive for owners to keep their properties empty.

Kirsten Miller, Shelter Scotland's empty homes co-ordinator, commented: "Councils also have to provide help and advice. A council tax levy is not going to make a huge difference. They need to reach out to the ones that are really stuck and really need help.

She continued: "The ones we are most concerned about are the ones empty for six to 12 months. Usually, something has gone wrong for the owners, or they are afraid of becoming a landlord, or someone has died and there is some uncertainty as to who is to inherit it."

"Empty homes are a disgraceful waste at a time when housing demand outstrips supply. With fewer homes being built, there is no end in sight for the tens of thousands of households in Scotland stuck on housing waiting lists," said Ms Miller

A continuing challenge

"The Poverty Truth Commission brought together a diverse group including, crucially, people living with poverty. 

"All learned from each other, improved their understanding of poverty and developed their communication skills. I believe the Commission provides a template for the consideration of social policy formulation by government at all levels. 

"The recommendations made on the three areas studied deserve serious consideration by the public bodies concerned." - Bob Winter, Poverty Truth Commissioner.

STV appeal will focus on child poverty

A WEEK of programmes will begin this coming weekend for the STV Appeal 2011, which aims to support children affected by poverty across Scotland.


The programming begins on 11 September 2011. It will conclude with a live studio show on 16 September. Though the series will feature popular programming and celebrity hosts, it does not eschew serious issues. On Thursday 15 September the documentary One in Four will be shown at 7.30pm. This examines how 250,000 children are officially living in poverty in Scotland - one in four of the child population.

Elizabeth Partyka, deputy director of channels, commented: “We have a fantastic week of programmes lined up for viewers, mixing pure entertainment with a thought-provoking and often shocking documentary, which I hope will open the public’s eyes to the horrific extent of child poverty right on our doorsteps.”

The 'Big Launch' on Sunday 11 September at 7pm, to be presented by Lorraine Kelly, will highlight the major fundraising opportunities and hear from some of the young people and local projects who will benefit from STV Appeal. The Poverty Truth Commission has consistently argued that the voices of those living at the sharp end should feature in both our understanding and policy-making.

Poverty? What's that?

"WHAT is poverty? Worry, worry, worry. Everything is going up in price, everything apart from my wages. I feel physically sick with worry, and I'm so cold.  "The housing [people] haven't repaired my radiator for three weeks now. I just sit in the cold and go to bed early. My hair is falling out with the stress. I don't see how things can change for me. I think this is the way it's going to be all the time.  "I'm so sick of the way people treat me. It feels like there's a barrier in front of me the whole time."  Marie McCormack Poverty Truth Commissioner.

More children in jobless households

THE number of children being brought up in Scottish households where no adults are working has increased. Under-16s living in homes without adults with paid jobs rose to 145,000 (15.8 per cent of all under-16s) this year from 141,000 (15.3 per cent) last year.

The worsening situation for young people is occurring despite Scotland experiencing a slight decrease in the number of workless households over the past twelve months, according to figures released on 1 September 2011 by the Office of National Statistics.

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance in Scotland, told the media: "These figures tally with the experiences we have been picking up from the organisations that we are working with.  People are getting back into jobs, and that's undoubtedly a good thing. But the rate of decline of worklessness is not as quick as we would like.

He added: "This is a long-standing problem, which is not just caused by the recent recession, so it is going to take a long time to tackle."

Scotland's Poverty Truth Commission has argued that those at the sharp end of poverty need to be involved directly by policy-makers and politicians in arriving at fresh solutions and approaches to the problem.

Welfare and public sector challenges

PLANNED welfare changes will deliver a £480 million blow to the Scottish economy, according to research earlier this year publicised by the Poverty Alliance in Scotland - a partner in the Poverty Truth Commission.

The Scottish Local believe however that the impact will be a lot higher through knock-on costs and a huge increase in demand for council services.  Speaking on behalf of the Scottish Campaign, Matt Lancashire of Citizens Advice Scotland said: “We agree the changes in welfare will have a wider impact on the Scottish economy. But the main concern must be the immediate impact that the welfare changes are having on the people who rely on the welfare state simply to live their lives."

Meanwhile, public sector bodies in Scotland may struggle to make the required savings to their budgets this year, risking the future delivery of effective services, auditors are warning. An Audit Scotland report, Scotland’s public finances – addressing the challenges, finds that Scotland’s public sector budget in 2011/12 will be £27.5 billion. This is a drop of 6% or £1.7 billion in real terms on the previous year’s budget.

Community Engagement is Essential to help Frustrated Communities

Last week, in his blog and on website Ekklesia, Niall Cooper, the National Coordinator of Church Action on Poverty, reflected on last week’s riots in England asking the question ‘so what is to be done?’

He commented “Now more than ever, there is a need to move beyond the blame game; to engage with those who feel at the margins and who feel they have no stake.  There is a need to find ways to hear their anger (for to suppress anger is to invite further bouts of rage), to view the world through their eyes, and to challenge others to do likewise. Now is not a time to presume that we have the answer to their problems (and far less that they are the problem); but that through conversation and dialogue, through supporting and engaging with the ‘disenchanted and the disengaged’ in the local communities affected we can at least start to understand what hope does – or could look like – and what is be needed to build some sense of a possible future.”

This idea is echoed by the Poverty Truth Commission’s Overcoming Violence group who recognise that ‘solutions to violence work best if they are created and owned by local people or those affected by it. Empowerment of communities is essential.’ In the Commission’s findings the group challenged the local government and police to ‘move beyond the process of consultation and community engagement and to devolve real power (including budgets) to local neighbourhoods.’

Lord Wallace of Tankerness, former Depute First Minister of Scotland, Advocate General for Scotland and a Commissioner comments “Through the Commission I have become convinced that we are more likely to identify solutions to some deep-seated problems if politicians and officials involve those who experience the reality of poverty in their daily lives. That is the challenge to policy makers and those who deliver public services at every level of government.”