TACKLING POVERTY PROGRAMME BOARD: COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
Title
Tackling Poverty Programme Board
Brief Description
A senior-level partnership programme board to oversee and drive forward policy and practice to
reduce poverty in Scotland
Aim of Project/Initiative
The programme board will provide a high-level monitoring function for the key actions in Achieving
our Potential and linked policy targets such as child poverty and the Solidarity purpose target; it
will identify those areas that can make critical impacts on tackling income inequality and longerterm measures to tackle poverty and the drivers of low income; and, will consider future priorities
and actions in relation to addressing the most significant and widening income inequalities in
Scotland.
Communications Objectives
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A shared and clear understanding of the purpose of the Board and how it will operate.
A shared agreement on the presentation of the Board and its function.
Explaining how and when people can feed their views into Board discussions.
Building commitment to future action, as a result of the Board’s agreements.
High Level/Overall Key
Messages
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Reducing poverty and inequality is critical to achieving the Scottish Government’s strategic
objectives: Healthier, Wealthier and Fairer, Safer and Stronger, Smarter and Greener, and
overarching purpose.
Achieving our Potential sets out the key actions at central and local government level, and
reflects the importance of cross-portfolio and multi-agency approaches to tackling poverty, the
drivers of poverty and income inequality.
Additional targets such as the Solidarity purpose target and child poverty targets are also
significant drivers of action and provide further mechanisms for identifying ambitions and
measuring progress.
Poverty may be determined by a number of circumstances such as income, education, health,
employment, disability, general economic, cultural and environmental factors, and is often
exacerbated by a combination of these issues.
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Reducing poverty and inequality requires action across Government on all of these factors and
Achieving our Potential’s partner policy frameworks – Equally Well and the Early Years
Strategy – further support this approach.
Community Planning Partnerships and preventative services, contributes through ensuring
access and targeting resources towards deprived areas and on groups in the population who
are vulnerable or at particular risk.
Information Needs/Specific Key Messages – as well
as the overall messages above
Ministers: Housing and Communities and
 Policy development.
Health and Wellbeing: Cabinet/ other
 Delivery by the whole system.
portfolios
 Accountability
Scottish Government Health and
 Policy development.
Wellbeing Management Board
 Delivery and service performance.
Local authorities other community planning  Clarifying desirable objectives and action.
partners; COSLA; SOLACE
 Impact on service design, planning and
commissioning.
Community and Voluntary sector
 Clarity about the outcomes to which voluntary and
organisations and networks eg SCVO,
community organisations can contribute. Clarity
Poverty Alliance
about the related activities for which they can
expect to be eligible to receive public sector
funding.
 Opportunities to input to dialogue.
Policy leads in Scottish Government and
 Opportunity to contribute to joined-up working,
COSLA
cross-cutting policy
 Policy impacts on key targets and policy aspirations
Target Audience
Other stakeholders:
 Academics/ Researchers who provide
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Policy development.
2.
Method/Channel
Progress reports.
Achieving our Potential/Tackling
Poverty One Year On report?
Progress reports.
Single Outcome Agreement
relationships
Learning Networks
EPIC Stakeholders Forum
Other poverty seminars and
events
Learning Networks
Tackling Poverty Officers Group,
Tackling Poverty Delivery
Mechanism internal meetings,
Saltire and other internal
communications
Biennial meeting with DWP
Ministers
evidence
 Other Governments: UK and in Europe
 Private sector
Media
Internal Board Communications
Meeting agenda and associated papers
Topic-based expertise and input
Where to meet?
Minutes of meetings
Visits?/awayday?
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Other poverty seminars and
events
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Government ambition to address poverty and
inequality, with clear focus on what added value the
Programme Board can bring.
Information Needs
 Brief and focussed to generate discussion
 Invite additional ‘guest’ members
 SG venues? Other partner offices?
 Actions only?
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3.
Lead/Support
Laura Ross
Laura Ross
Laura Ross
Laura Ross