The Cost of the School Day project has and continues to be extremely important in reducing child poverty. The Child Poverty Action Group have provided some extremely valuable research on the need to reduce the cost of the school day which are within the action plan for the coming 12 months.
The Tay Cities Deal was signed off on 17th December 2020 where UK Government Minister Iain Stewart joined partners for an online ceremony to ratify the implementation and financial arrangements for £700 million investment in the region. The deal is an agreement between the UK and Scottish governments along with Angus, Dundee City, Fife and Perth & Kinross councils as well as partners in the business and higher and further education sectors.
The UK and Scottish Governments is each investing £150 million, which will help to leverage a further £400 million of investment from public and private partners. This will be transformative for the region, driving investment, boosting the economy and creating more than 6,000 jobs.
The Angus Fund Outline Business Case (OBC) was approved by the Tay Cities Deal Joint Committee as further details and timings were revealed of the £26.5m investment from UK Government.
The Angus Fund purpose is to increase productivity through clean growth, protecting places for future generations to live, work, and visit and plays a significant role in the Child Poverty work across the region. Elements of the deal are included within the action plan specifically around employability, job creation and tourism.
Alongside the funding, Tay Cities region is working to create a Community Wealth Building approach across the 3 Local Authorities. This is a response to the growing challenges of austerity, financialisation and automation. It seeks to provide resilience where there is risk and local economic security around the following five key principles:
- Plural ownership of the economy.
- Making financial power work for local places.
- Fair employment and just labour markets.
- Progressive procurement of goods and services.
- Socially productive use of land and property.
Protected Characteristics
The priority groups where the evidence shows us that prevalence of child poverty is higher have been taken into account within the action plan. A separate column shows where actions will support groups and where the impact is greatest. These priority groups include Households with a disabled parent or child, Minority ethnic households, Larger families (many of which are minority ethnic families), Lone parents (90% of whom are women), Mothers aged under 25 and Families with a child under one year of age.
Next: National interventions