As part of its long term commitment to helping those in poverty and on low incomes, the Scottish Government published Achieving Our Potential, a framework for tackling poverty and income inequality, jointly developed with local government. Alongside this, the following actions are being taken.
- We are expanding the open market shared equity scheme for first-time buyers nationwide with the aim of taking new applications from the end of March 2009. With an increased budget of £60 million for 2009-10 we are looking to assist around 1,500 first-time buyers into home ownership.
- We have made available a further £70 million to allow local authorities to freeze the council tax again in 2009-10 and all councils have now agreed to the freeze. This will mean Scottish families sharing in a £420 million tax saving over three years.
- We are extending free school meals to include children from families in receipt of both maximum Child Tax Credit and maximum Working Tax Credit from August 2009, benefiting around 44,000 pupils.
- We are providing an extra £3 million for legal advice and representation for people facing repossession and other debt problems. We have provided Citizens Advice Scotland with an additional £1.1 million over the next two years to increase the availability of face-to-face advice to vulnerable individuals through their network of Citizens Advice Bureaux.
- We are investing £7.5 million over the next two years in a range of measures to support Achieving Our Potential, our anti-poverty framework, including help for individuals to maximise their income.
- We undertook a successful campaign to promote the National Debtline service to help individuals at risk of financial difficulties and debt problems and raise awareness of advice services and financial support. We are reviewing the campaign and considering the need for further action.
Latest news:
The National Debtline - 0808 808 4000 - is being promoted to help Scots facing debt problems in the current financial downturn. More details.