23 June 2015

The Scottish Government’s efforts to alleviate poverty and tackle inequality will be subject to independent scrutiny by a new adviser, appointed today by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

FM @NicolaSturgeon appoints Naomi Eisenstadt as first independent adviser on poverty and inequality. #fairerscotland http://t.co/CxeTD28Zr3

— scotgovfairer (@scotgovfairer) June 23, 2015

Naomi Eisenstadt is an expert in the impact poverty has on children.

Naomi said:

“I plan to hold Ministers to account and challenge everyone to come up with and new and innovative ways to tackle deep seated poverty.”

The First Minister and Naomi found out more about the work of Edinburgh Cyrenians who run a food depot in Leith.

They collect surplus food from wholesalers and retailers and redistribute it to agencies who work with homeless people. They also run cookery classes for service users.

The First Minister and Naomi then held a special meeting of the Scottish Government’s Cabinet at The Bethany Trust. The Trust gives support and accommodation to help stop people being or becoming homelessness

We are delighted to discuss with @NicolaSturgeon the role Bethany can play in helping build a fairer Scotland pic.twitter.com/4B0w7u6UwM

— Bethany (@_BethanyCT) June 23, 2015

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

“Scotland is a wealthy country – but around one in six people are currently living in poverty. That is completely unacceptable.”