The Poverty and Inequality Commission: form, remit and appointments

The Commission's Role

The Commission's main role is to provide independent advice to Scottish Ministers, harnessing determined collective action on a cross-portfolio basis; scrutinising how governmental budgets, policy and practice can have the strongest impacts on poverty and inequality.

The Commission will have a strong initial focus on child poverty, providing advice during the development of the first delivery plan for the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill.

The Commission will have a strong scrutiny role in monitoring progress towards tackling poverty and inequality and will openly hold Scottish Ministers to account on their progress.

The Commission will have scope to develop its own work programme and to advise on policy development in particular areas where there is political consensus to do so.

The Commission will proactively work with the Ministerial team, asking Ministers to give evidence where necessary, and reaching across Scottish Government departments to inform policy thinking.

The Commission will have an advocacy role; for example, it will be able to work with business and wider civic society to promote the importance of particular issues where resources allow.

The Commission will decide how it can best involve partner organisations in its work, including third sector stakeholders and relevant public bodies. We expect that, as a minimum, the Commission would want to take evidence from relevant partners regarding child poverty delivery plans and effective approaches on tackling economic inequality.

The Commission will work collegiately with other independent institutions, seeking to enhance, rather than replicate, the work that is undertaken. In particular it will look at how its remit will fit with those of the existing Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Fair Work Convention.

The voices of those with experience of poverty will be central to the Commission and it will use these to test its assumptions and to guide its focus.