Fairer Scotland

  • GROWING THE SOCIAL ECONOMY

    18th December 2017 by

    Raising awareness of our European Social Fund projects and the activities they are supporting is important to us. We are making positive progress across both the Social Economy Growth Fund and Social Innovation Fund that will help the most disadvantaged areas and people in Scotland. Working Rite based in Edinburgh received a Social Economy Growth...

    Read more

  • We’re changing private renting for the better

    22nd November 2017 by

    From 1 December a new private residential tenancy will be introduced, giving greater security to tenants and safeguards for landlords. This new type of tenancy will have no end date and can only be ended either by a tenant giving written notice to their landlord or by the landlord using one of 18 grounds for...

    Read more

  • Gender recognition consultation is a vital conversation

    14th November 2017 by

    One of the benefits of devolution has been an ability to defend and promote LGBTI rights. Scotland was the first country in the UK to consult on same sex marriage, and we’ve reformed adoption law to permit same sex couples to adopt jointly. We also want to do more to ensure that we are creating...

    Read more

  • Growing the Social Economy – Update October 2017

    11th October 2017 by

    There have been many changes within Growing the Social Economy since our last update. The team managing the programme is now located within the Social Justice & Regeneration Division alongside Aspiring Communities Fund colleagues. We would like to take this opportunity to thank David Cowan and his team for making us welcome. Yvonne Strachan is...

    Read more

  • Scottish Housing Day supports housing across all tenures

    21st September 2017 by

    Home means different things to different people and that’s something that Scottish Housing Day rightly celebrates. But it should mean one thing to all of us- the security that we have somewhere we can afford to call home. Too many people, stung by the UK Government’s damaging welfare reforms, have lacked this security and over...

    Read more

  • Scottish Housing Day celebrates everything the housing sector is doing to improve people’s lives

    21st September 2017 by

    Having a place to call home is crucial to a happy and healthy life and everyone in Scotland should have a safe and warm place to call home. All of us will have a housing story, and I know some of you have shared your own. Housing also has a wider value beyond a place...

    Read more

  • Housing has the power to change lives

    21st September 2017 by

    As Housing Minister I have seen first-hand the difference the right home in the right place can make to an individual, a couple or a family. Last month I opened a new housing association development and one of the families I spoke to, whose child has autism, told me their new home and its garden...

    Read more

  • Delivering social security to Scotland’s people

    19th September 2017 by

    Last week we marked the 20th anniversary of the devolution referendum. In that 1997 referendum vote the majority of people in Scotland made it clear that they wanted decisions that affected them to be made closer to home to meet the needs of our communities and all those who choose to live and work in our...

    Read more

  • Housing (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill introduced to Parliament

    5th September 2017 by

    Legislation will support the delivery of 50,000 new affordable homes I’m delighted that legislation to support the delivery of 50,000 new affordable homes and protect the Scottish Government’s budget has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament. The Housing (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill responds to last year’s decision by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that Registered...

    Read more

  • Social Innovation for Hidden Disabilities

    15th August 2017 by

    Many thanks Glyn Morris from Friendly Access who has provided our first guest blog: I have always said “we all know that whilst an impairment cannot necessarily be changed, the​ ​environment often can, making the environment the disabling factor”. It’s for this reason Friendly Access was established to holistically address and improve accessibility across Scotland, regardless...

    Read more