Building an Alliance to Challenge Poverty: The Scottish Experience

1. Building an Alliance to Challenge Poverty: The Scottish Experience ACW Conference Brussels 16 November 2012

2. Influencing Anti-Poverty Policy in Scotland • About the Poverty Alliance • What we do • Campaigning against poverty – choices and challenges • Conclusions

3. About the Poverty Alliance • A Scotland-wide independent network of groups, organisations and individuals working together to tackle poverty established in 1992 • Focus on working alongside people in poverty to ensure their experience is heard by policy makers • Our aim is to combat poverty by working with others to empower individuals and communities to affect change in the distribution of power and resources

4. About the Poverty Alliance • Membership: around 190 members, 2/3 are organisations. Range from community organisations, to large NGOs, trade unions, faith groups, public bodies. • Management: a board is elected at our annual general meeting. We also have a group of community activists that feed into the strategic work of the Alliance • Funding: We are ‘core funded’ by the Scottish Government, other funding from local government, projects and membership fees • Staffing: Currently 8 full-time and 3 part-time workers. We have 3 on policy and campaigns, 4 fieldwork, 2 administration, a researcher, and a director.

5. What we do We have four objectives for the period 2011-2014 that guide our work: • To work with people and communities experiencing poverty to empower them to address poverty • To work with organisations to build a strong anti-poverty network in Scotland • To support the development of policies which promote social justice and combat poverty • To raise awareness about poverty and encourage debate about solutions. 

6. Our Policy Focus We focus on four main areas: • Incomes: We prioritise work to address low incomes amongst working age adults, including both incomes in and out of work. • Services: Ensure that people living on low incomes have access to high quality public services.   • Participation: Emphasis on creation of more participatory forms of policy development at the national level in Scotland. Primary focus is on involving people in poverty but also wider civil society. • Attitudes: Growing area of activity, using a variety of methods to challenge negative attitudes to poverty and welfare

7. Our Work Some examples of key activities: • Welfare Reform: We coordinate the Scottish Campaign on Welfare Reform (SCoWR). Brings together more than 70 organisations: voluntary organisations, faith groups, trade unions, academics. • Focus has been on responding to successive waves of reform since 2006 coming from UK Government. Mostly has been a defensive campaign, seeking to limit damage. • Tactics have involved a combination of detailed parliamentary lobbying and awareness raising. • More progress has been made with Scottish Government, securing new funds to help mitigate the impact of current reforms

8. Our Work Some examples of key activities: • Low Pay: We also coordinate the Scottish Living Wage Campaign, calling for a a ‘living wage’ of £7.45 an hour. This is a coalition that brings together the Scottish Trade Union Congress, other key trade unions, the Church of Scotland and a number of NGOs. • Focus of the campaign has moved from raising awareness of low pay, securing commitments from TUs, to lobbying public authorities, to spreading the argument to the private sector. • Key successes have been in the public sector. Around 20,000 workers have benefited from the living wage. • Organised ‘Living Wage Week’ in November 2012 with widespread media coverage and more commitments from employers

9. Our Work Some examples of key activities: • Participation: We have a long standing commitment to open up policy development processes to people who have had experience of poverty. • A range of projects have attempted to demonstrate the value of this approach. We are currently completing a 4 year project focused on participation and dialogue: Evidence Participation Change (EPIC) • Project has set up dialogue forums involving officials, NGOs, and people with experience of poverty. Real contributions have been made to policy development – on child poverty, welfare reform, employability policy • Project has been acknowledged as a model of good practice by Scottish Government. Our goal is to have the approach mainstreamed by Scottish Govt

10. Our Work • Attitudes: This is a new and developing area of activity. We have always carried out engagement with media, and Poverty Awareness Training but are seeking to put this work on a more strategic footing. • We launched an anti-stigma campaign in 2011 ‘Stick Your Labels’ to challenge attitudes to poverty. Initial success in gaining cross party support for the campaign. • As attitudes to poverty and welfare claimants harden this will become an increasing priority. Aim is to access dedicated resources for media work, training, research and advocacy focused on influencing public attitudes

11. What we have learned • Policy makes a difference – poverty can be reduced if resources and issues are targeted – lobbying policy makers is vital • Some groups are priorities – anti-poverty policy has been focused on some key groups (children). Influencing for other groups is more challenging (adults without children) • Legislative or policy change is not enough – how do we address issues beyond only focusing on Government, how do we address issues of cultural change, the role of the private sector • Choices have to be made…

12. Making Change: Choices and Challenges First Challenge: where to commit resources • Local level: local government have a significant role in deciding local priorities, and having a real impact • Scottish level: Key social policy areas are within control of SG – health, education, etc. • UK level: control over welfare benefits system, national minimum wage, taxation remains at Westminster • Europe: No competency in social policy but affects key areas such as employment, services, environment, that have a real impact on poverty • Reality is that all levels need to be addressed

13. Making Change: Choices and Challenges Second Challenge: inside or outside? • Devolution has brought new opportunities for engagement in policy development processes – both at local and national level • It has also allowed for easier access to influential policy makers and politicians • Danger of being ‘captured by the process’ • Problems of remaining independent • Can NGOs be both inside and outside?

14. Choices: Inside or Outside? This: a meeting with the Communities Committee to discuss poverty in Scotland

15. Choices: Inside or Outside? Or this? – Demonstrating against child poverty in London

16. Conclusions • Engagement with grassroots organisations and people experiencing poverty is vital. Brings reality and immediacy to arguments. But is resource intensive • Effective and targeted lobbying activities are essential. Engagement with grassroots is limited if some demonstrable change cannot be shown • There are no permanent friends or enemies – out network pursues all opportunities to make the arguments against poverty and inequality • Change takes time and progress may not be permanent

17. Contact: Peter Kelly Director peter.kelly@povertyalliance.org www.povertyalliance.org