One thing that has struck us when writing stories about all the volunteers in the city during the pandemic, is the sheer number of people they are helping.
There are food parcels, including cooked meals and food from food banks, as well as activity packs, all being delivered to those identified as needing them.
There seems to have been a huge increase in the number of people in Edinburgh who are struggling to put meals on the table, although some of those being helped are shielding too.
Edinburgh set up the Poverty Commission some time ago, and it was due to report to the council in April 2020. Instead, it has produced an interim report on what Edinburgh is doing and it will produce its final report in the autumn.
The Commission is headed up by Jim McCormick and the Council’s Depute Leader, Cllr Cammy Day is Vice Chair.
The report is published below. The Green Group wanted to add a few other points which they feel need to be addressed, specifically relating to debt. They also wanted to stress the ‘need to avoid homeless people returning to rough sleeping and poor quality high cost temporary accommodation’.
The Commission was also asked by the Liberal Democrat group to come forward with specific recommendations to reduce poverty in Edinburgh, within matters over which the council has direct control.
This interim report is not the one we expected to publish. After fifteen months of connecting with people and organisations across the city, we planned to publish a shared view of how to end poverty in Edinburgh. Everything we learned from those conversations has been banked. We are clearer than ever about the principles and values that should guide the city’s actions – and we will set out the material and relational changes needed for the long-term in our final report in the autumn. We will also share our ideas for establishing a new network led by people with direct experience of poverty, alongside civic allies. In the weeks since lockdown began, we have gone back to many of our partners to learn about the impacts they are seeing. This report tries to do justice to what we have heard. Alongside fear and isolation, there is an upsurge of community support and kindness. Alongside unprecedented government support, there are gaps leaving too many people struggling. Alongside an extraordinary effort to house people who were sleeping rough and to protect tenants from eviction, there are unanswered questions about arrears and debts. We are all facing the same storm, but we are in different boats.”
Loading…
Reload document 
Open in new tab 
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
