A Just Capital: Actions to End Poverty in Edinburgh. (September 2020)
This report from the Edinburgh Poverty Commission follows what they believe to be the most extensive process of inquiry into poverty, its causes, consequences and solutions ever undertaken in a Scottish local authority. This report is a call to action to everyone in the city: the City of Edinburgh Council, the Edinburgh Partnership, the Scottish and UK Governments, the third sector, business, communities and citizens of Edinburgh.
Key messages
• Poverty in Edinburgh is real and damaging, but it can be solved. By implementing the calls to action made in this report, we think the city can set a course to end poverty in Edinburgh by 2030.
• We have identified six areas for action – fair work, a decent home, income security, opportunities to progress, connections, health and wellbeing - and one cultural challenge that should serve as a lens through which each action should be approached.
• To end poverty in the city, the single biggest transformation Edinburgh could achieve would be to make the experience of seeking help less painful, less complex, more humane, and more compassionate. We call on City of Edinburgh Council to lead in the design and delivery of a new relationship based way of working for all public services in Edinburgh.
• There is no solution to poverty in Edinburgh without resolving the city’s housing and homelessness crisis. We call on the Scottish Government, as an urgent priority, to ensure the city has the right funding and support to meet its social housing expansion needs.
• This report marks the end of the work of this Edinburgh Poverty Commission, but only the beginning of a movement that needs to take root to create an Edinburgh without poverty. As a legacy, we have helped to develop End Poverty Edinburgh - a new independent group of residents with first-hand experience of living on a low income and their allies who want to be part of shaping the solutions. As a group, they will work to raise awareness and understanding of poverty, influence decisions, and hold the city to account for ending poverty in Edinburgh.
