Extent of poverty spelt out at Fairness Commission

Dundee's Fairness Commission had its second meeting on 26 May 2015; this session was to establish the facts and figures surrounding poverty in Dundee and Scotland.
John McKendrick of Strathclyde told us that only Glasgow had more poverty than Dundee. John Dickie of the Child Poverty Action Group said that child poverty has been increasing steeply since 2011, and that low wages meant being in work was no guarantee of an escape from poverty. Peter Allan of Dundee City Council outlined the work which has already been done, following the Fairness Strategy published in 2012 (which contains detailed statistics about poverty in Dundee).
The meeting heard some practical ideas about what could be done in our city to make things better. One Commissioner suggested that we should do an audit of all the money we spend on poverty related projects, from advice to employability and everything else ... and work out whether we are spending that money in the most effective way.
Another called for Dundee to declare itself a Living Wage City, and there was general support for that.
Commissioner Erik Cramb will be blogging on this meeting, as will others; there will be a website soon which will carry the presentations; meantime you can see interviews with John Dickie and John Mckendrick on YouTube here ... http://youtu.be/y8bkfYKFOq4