Deprivation: policy context

Tackling deprivation has been a government priority in Scotland over a long period.

In 1988 the Scottish Office launched its New Life for Urban Scotland Initiative, creating regeneration partnerships in four multiply-deprived peripheral housing estates of Glasgow, Paisley, Edinburgh, and Dundee.

After devolution in 1999, the then Scottish Executive committed itself to tackling poverty and disadvantage through its Social Justice Strategy. A key feature of the resulting initiatives was their focus on regeneration and social inclusion in areas of high deprivation.

In November 2008, the Scottish Government launched Achieving Our Potential: A Framework to Tackle Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland, 2008, which outlined a long-term approach to reducing levels of poverty and income inequality in Scotland.

A report from the Independent Advisor on Poverty and Inequality to the First Minister, Shifting the Curve, was published in January 2016. For more information on poverty, see the ScotPHO Income and employment pages.

Many of the health-related performance indicators set out in the National Performance Framework (for example, on smoking, problem drug misuse, and alcohol-related admissions to hospital) will particularly benefit people living in the most deprived communities in Scotland if their targets are achieved.