The Scottish Government

Closing the Oppoprtunity Gap - Anti Poverty Framework

The Scottish Government want to build upon what was working under Closing the Opportunity Gap (CtOG), but to re-address issues that may not have been progressing under CtOG, and to see whether we need to focus on any fresh areas which may have come to the fore in recent years.

Much of the CtOG approach was working - for example the Evaluation Report published in Jan 2008 says that strong progress has been made on Targets A (employability), C (NHS employment), D (health inequalities) and K (financial inclusion). However the policy context for tackling this agenda has now moved on; we need to align our efforts with the Government Economic Strategy (GES), our strategic objectives and national performance framework, and with the National Conversation on Scotland's Future. This means moving on from CtOG to provide clear direction on how our efforts to tackle poverty and inequality link back to the GES.

We readily accept that not all of the CtOG targets have shown sufficient progress and that in some cases progress has been slower than anticipated. However this doesn't mean we will walk away from the difficult challenges - it simply reinforces the difficulties and complexities involved in tackling poverty and deprivation and tells us we need to look afresh at these areas to identify what needs to be done to improve them.

The Scottish Government discussion paper on Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation aimed at ensuring that we develop the most appropriate and meaningful approach to tackling poverty, inequality and deprivation. Any targets in the future will be focused on making a real difference to people's lives using the outcomes-based approach we are developing with local government and their community planning partners, and through levers on income, education, health and employability etc that are available to us under the devolution settlement.

Our Framework on tackling poverty, inequality and Deprivation will be published later towards the end of 2008 and will replace the Closing the Opportunity Gap approach.

Closing the Opportunity Gap Objectives

Six Closing the Opportunity Gap objectives were launched on July 12, 2004:

• To increase the chances of sustained employment for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups - in order to lift them permanently out of poverty
• To improve the confidence and skills of the most disadvantaged children and young people - in order to provide them with the greatest chance of avoiding poverty when they leave school;
• To reduce the vulnerability of low income families to financial exclusion and multiple debts - in order to prevent them becoming over-indebted and/or to lift them out of poverty;
• To regenerate the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods - in order that people living there can take advantage of job opportunities and improve their quality of life;
• To increase the rate of improvement of the health status of people living in the most deprived communities - in order to improve their quality of life, including their employability prospects; and
• To improve access to high quality services for the most disadvantaged groups and individuals in rural communities - in order to improve their quality of life and enhance their access to opportunity.