Further Information : Social Inclusion
Social inclusion is about reducing inequalities between the least advantaged communities and the rest of society by closing the opportunity gap and ensuring that support reaches those who need it most. It means actively promoting opportunities to participate, whether in work, in learning or in society more generally.
Embedding social inclusion as a cross cutting theme will help ensure that communities are strengthened and regenerated, that young people get the best possible start in life and the opportunity to fulfil their potential, and that older members of these communities are able to contribute fully while also improving their skills, and their future financial security.
Closing the Opportunity Gap is the Scottish Executive strategy aiming to prevent individuals and families from falling into and to provide routes out of poverty. It sets two relevant targets to tackle poverty and disadvantage:
- to promote community regeneration of the most deprived neighbourhoods, through improvements in employability, education, health, access to local services and quality of the local environment, and
- to improve service delivery in rural areas so that agreed improvements to accessibility and quality are achieved for key services in remote and disadvantaged communities.
People and Place, Scottish Executive's regeneration policy statement, links regeneration, social justice and economic growth. The policy seeks to integrate public, private, voluntary and community sector activities in sustainable economic development. It aims to achieve this through an integrated policy approach that goes beyond investment in the physical infrastructure of these areas: the economic, social, physical and environmental aspects of regeneration requires an integrated approach which 'joins up' planning and delivery across these aspects, so that change is mutually reinforcing. At the same time, it must be an approach based on partnership, as no single organisation can deliver all of these outcomes.
Better Business - A Strategy and Action Plan for Social Enterprise in Scotland aims to implement a strategy for social enterprise in Scotland which is 'a dynamic, sustainable and credible way of doing business, delivering services and actively improving our communities'. It highlights the important contribution that social enterprise can make to life in Scotland, including contributing to economic growth and business development, delivering services focused on the needs of people, and playing a major role in supported employment. Many social enterprises operating in Scotland are directly involved with delivery of aspects of Scotland's sustainable development strategy, which helps to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to communities and individuals.
The Social Inclusion vision for the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland Programmes, as set out in the Operational Programme is:
- to ensure that economic growth and tackling exclusion go hand in hand
- to help people overcome multiple barriers to employment and realise their full potential
This will be delivered through two objectives:
- to focus on: the most important issues that will make the most difference to people's lives; the most disadvantaged individuals; the issues where progress has been slowest; and the issues where the Executive has the power to make a difference; and
- to improve the way in which services are provided to help people overcome multiple barriers to employment, education or training, and realise their potential
Examples of projects funded by the European Social Fund:
Priority 1 - Requiring organisations to focus on those individuals most at risk of exclusion, and/or who are experiencing poverty. Projects' objectives should include elements which help integration and are designed to support participants in the longer term.
Priority 2 - Encouraging skills training for low income workers to lift them out of poverty and reduce their financial exclusion.
Priority 3 - Improving access to quality learning services for those who are excluded from lifelong learning because of their caring responsibilities, a disability, physical or mental ill health, the area in which they live, or their recent employment history.
Examples of projects funded by the European Regional Development Fund:
Priority 1 - Requiring additional help for individuals, such as young people, disabled people, ethnic minorities or migrant workers, facing particular barriers to developing research capacity in their enterprises.
Priority 2 - Ensuring that all groups can have equitable access to the financial engineering instruments supported under the Programme.
Priority 3 - Creating sustainable vibrant outward looking communities out of disadvantaged areas of urban deprivation by connecting the people living there with opportunities in neighbouring accessible areas.
Further Information
Social Enterprise Strategy for Scotland
People and Place: Regeneration Policy Statement
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