We champion the sector, provide services, and debate big issues.,Parliamentary records and SCVO meetings with the Scottish Government.,In a recent MSP briefing SCVO stated that the "voluntary sector must be part of a collective approach,Tackling poverty and inequalities and addressing systemic issues such as climate change and a just transition,SCVO agrees and supports calls for practical solutions in what the Scottish Government often refer to

SCVO Brief for the House of Commons Opposition Day Debate on 17 October 2018: The Rollout of Universal,Credit 15 October 2018 Download a PDF version of this briefing Our position The Scottish Council for,Social Security poverty and rights SCVO and the wider third sector, welcomed the Scottish Government’,SCVO, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA), Scottish Women's Aid, members of the Scottish,A co-ordinated vision to tackle poverty and inequality, realise rights and achieve the Sustainable Development

Opposition Debate on Procurement (S5M-10962) SCVO briefing 13 March 2018 Summary • Procurement can be,Action on this will ensure that procurement is used to tackle poverty and inequality. • The use of the,Briefing As we have said before – most recently in the passing of the Scottish Government’s 2015 Procurement,We hope that the Scottish Parliament takes the opportunity of this opposition debate to review how procurement,to the Scottish Parliament delivering some constructive improvements as a result of this debate.

Debate Briefing 1 June 2016 Introduction SCVO welcomes the opportunity to submit a briefing in advance,of this debate.,Income, Regional and Social Inequality SCVO considers that any future Scottish Government economic strategies,We are heartened by the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling inequality and recognition that,We hope, therefore, that this debate will highlight some of the ways in which the Scottish Government

In a recent Scottish Parliament debate Graham Simpson, Conservative MSP for Central Scotland, said: ‘,and policies in a bid to make themselves look focused on inequality.,I recently attended my first Third Sector Forum since joining SCVO.,We need to make sure the ‘fairness’ agenda leads to greater equality, a focus on human rights and tackling,SCVO has started some of this thinking by producing a briefing for the Government debate.

We support the proactive approach taken by the Scottish Government in seeking to utilise the levy to,The levy presents an opportunity for the Scottish Government to re-align the ERI and the expanding apprenticeship,SDS and the Scottish Government should foster deeper collaboration with the third sector to harness such,Through working with SDS and the Scottish Government, there may be possibilities for greater streamlining,inequality and addressing long-standing barriers.

Following the report, and as our sector covers a range of matters, we highlight a few of those in this briefing,SCVO supports the expansion of community growing spaces to tackle food poverty whilst simultaneously,SCVO notes with interest research highlighted in the Scottish Government ‘Equally Safe’ strategy which,SCVO believes there are many practical solutions to these inequalities – as put forth in the Engender,SCVO notes with interest that all parties in the Scottish Parliament aspire to achieve equal consideration

Policy briefing 8 April 2016 Taking action together SCVO briefing: issues for the third sector beyond,To achieve this and to tackle the persistent problems of inequality and poverty in our society we must,Poverty and inequality: let’s tackle it “People with experience of poverty are the experts.”,The Scottish Government have accepted the fairer Scotland principles.,can openly and freely debate political issues in parallel with formal branches of government.

This motion misses these points completely; government debates which are meant to identify how we collectively,tackle inequality and poverty miss these points too.,Tackling Gender Inequality There is a significant gender element in all of the issues raised above; policy,References [i] Carers Legislation – Consultation on Proposals – January 2014, Scottish Government (2014,[ii] Independent and Scottish Green Party Debate: An End to In-work Poverty - SCVO briefing [iii] SCVO

Secondly, SCVO supports the principle that each layer of government ought, generally, to be accountable,With more new powers coming to Scotland under the Scotland Bill, and the Scottish Government’s Economic,Strategy that gives significant weight to tackling inequality, how can we use the tax system to directly,tackle income inequalities, and to proactively tackle inequalities in terms of education, health, opportunities,[v] SPICe briefing 4th Feb 2014. [vi] See SCVO’s submission to the Smith Commission, 2014.