A social justice strategy for Scotland

Context

Scotland’s First Minister has outlined her ambition for a socially just Scotland. This is to be founded on three key priorities – participation, prosperity and fairness. In practice we understand this to mean ending poverty, tackling inequalities, repositioning our economy, improving democracy and addressing climate change. By emphasising social justice, the Scottish Government has arguably expressed an interest in tackling some of the big overarching issues of concern for our sector. The Scottish Government has committed to the following actions, among others, to take forward a social justice strategy for Scotland:

• A national ‘conversation’, led by Scottish Government, to develop a social justice strategy with all those who are interested across Scotland’s communities, including those with lived experience of poverty
• A fair work convention, co-chaired by business leader Linda Urquhart and former STUC President Anne Douglas, with Henry Simmons, Alzheimer’s Scotland providing a third sector perspective. This will push for a living wage and minimum wage as well as better working conditions
• Scottish Welfare Fund and Scottish Government action to mitigate aspects of welfare reform. As part of this, piloting support for frontline community-based welfare activity.
• A refreshed economic strategy was launched in March. This has a new focus on rebalancing the economy by linking government economic strategies with action to tackle inequalities

It would be tempting for our sector to put forward a series of ‘asks’ to the Scottish Government, with the hope that it will drive a social justice agenda for Scotland, and perhaps commission the third sector to support it along the way. However, after decades of well-meaning policy initiatives it should also be clear that:

• Government by itself cannot progress all the outcomes that our sector may want to deliver in Scotland
• Tackling poverty and inequalities through a social justice agenda is a two generational ambition, not a short-term project

What concerns many within the sector is the continued focus on paid work as a primary goal within government dialogue. We know that the people we work with contribute in other ways. We want to make sure that the transfer of new powers to the Scottish Parliament means that we can more effectively support people with disabilities and others to live a full life, with financial security and the ability to participate fully in whatever way they can.

Defining social justice

The concept of social justice has appeared throughout the lifetime of the Scottish Parliament. In the first parliamentary session, there was a report called Social Justice – a Scotland for all alongside a social justice action plan. There was even a taskforce for Poverty and Social Inclusion appointed and a recognition that the inequalities facing our society could not be addressed overnight. However social justice wasn’t actually defined. Fast forward a decade and more and we have a society which still faces the same challenges. The concept of social justice has been revitalised but it’s still difficult to find any one defining phrase which clearly expresses what it means. It’s a term which will be alien to most people beyond the “policy bubble”, so any strategy or action plan must express in clear terms what it means and the definition should be shaped primarily by the people and communities of Scotland.

Not just government

A genuine social justice agenda will require action by a whole range of social forces, acting in concert and sometimes challenging each other. Here are some examples of what could work:

• Third sector organisations at all levels, collaborating with themselves and each other, aiming beyond simply delivering services for statutory partners, and using what leverage they have to campaign for and realise change. This includes third sector alliances on areas such as gender equality, for example
• The carers’ movement, particularly unpaid carers and volunteers, with support from professionals, employers and policy makers from all sectors, should use this agenda to show just how critical their contribution is to a socially just society.
• The trade union movement, backed by equality campaigns and others to improve the working environment and skills development of workers
• Scotland’s professionals, such as nurses, doctors, lawyers, accountants, managers and others, looking beyond their immediate interests, to seek greater empowerment for the people they support
• The business community and employers seeking to become exemplars of better, more sustainable working conditions and wages for their staff, and seeking to make a positive contribution to the communities within which they operate
• People getting involved in their communities, as volunteers, social entrepreneurs and campaigners seeking meaningful change for themselves, for people around them, and their natural environment – whether through local activities, national actions, or global campaigns. The emergence of community solutions to poverty such as food banks is a key example of this.

What are the issues?

There are a number of social justice agendas already in play which the third sector is involved in, or could take a more strategic role in. These include:

• Participation and democratic renewal. Improving Scotland’s democracy through participative budgeting, mini-publics, citizen juries, and digital platforms so that more people have a say over how their services and the country is run, and are supported to get involved in their communities, as volunteers, trustees, campaigners and activists
• Tackling the impact of austerity and the cuts to public budgets. There are implications here for local authority cuts to public services, impact on departmental budgets when education and NHS budgets are protected, and the extent to which the Christie Commission principles for prevention are deprioritised to plug short term gaps. This also includes making best use of existing budgets, including better commissioning processes.
• The proposed £12 billion of welfare cuts by the UK Government. While £3 billion of cuts have already been identified where the other £9 billion worth of cuts will be made remains to be seen. Nevertheless, we know that these cuts will affect our most vulnerable and will see increasing demand for third sector services. What impact will this have on achieving social justice?
• Wider challenges in relation to poverty, isolation and increasing deprivation remain to be tackled.
• Making the best of the new round of European Structural Funding 2014-2020. The EU has prioritised tackling poverty and inequalities as key outcomes for the fund. The Scottish Government is allocating some of the European funds it will manage to address poverty in Scotland.
• Making best use of the new tax and welfare powers expected for Scotland through the Smith Commission agreement. What would a progressive socially just approach to tax looks like in terms of support for earners, non-earners and business subsidies (including charity tax)? What would a socially just welfare system look like for Scotland?
• Sharing access and availability of Scotland’s land assets with more people and changing the way we relate to and support our natural environment, including in urban areas. The implications of this for health outcomes, community-based economies and Scotland’s ambitions to tackle climate change and protect bio-diversity. Is this also a social justice agenda?
• Aligning with global social justice ambitions and learning from other countries, particularly through the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Change Accords in late 2015.

The SCVO policy committee has offered some ideas on what might be covered in a social justice action plan:

• Using social instead of economic models to determine service planning e.g. local transport services, wellbeing and isolation impacts
• Potential to bring key equality and social justice principles to forefront of policy making through Smith and the Scotland Bill
• Social justice must be seen as a guarantee of human rights plus a little more – empowering and enhancing quality of life and recognising contribution of all citizens.
• Importance of place – housing, adaptations, local environment
• Delivering a clear message to politicians on what they need to do
• Ensuring coherent ideas and language are used to describe the social justice conversation for a range of audiences, including the general public to secure their contribution and thoughts

Next steps for the third sector

We think that to really move the social justice debate on, we need to seek answers to several key questions:

• How does the third sector define social justice?
• What is our sector's vision for social justice?
• What issues should be in the third sector’s ambitions for a socially just Scotland? Are there other issues that should be considered?
• Appreciating that achieving social justice will take at least two generations, what actions do we consider the Scottish Government needs to takes in the short, medium and long term to tackle social justice?
• How can the sector help bridge the gap between people, communities and the Scottish Government on this issue?