Councillor Jimmy Black is convening a 15-strong group of experts who have been brought together to form the Dundee Fairness Commission.
It was set up after figures showed that more than 40,000 people in Dundee were living in deprived areas.
Mr Black says the commission is dedicated to allowing everyone in the city to have access to new opportunities.
He said: “My commitment is not to waste time, to use the Fairness Commission as a way of removing the barriers which prevent people from making the most of the opportunities on offer.
“It’s not just the City of Discovery — it must be the city of opportunity and those opportunities must be available to everyone.”
The Fairness Commission – which will meet once a month until December – was set up after a report, written last year by the then city council chief executive David Dorward, said the problem was getting worse.
Mr Black says the difference between this commission and previous attempts to tackle poverty is the focus of its members.
He said: “You have some of the most powerful people in the city gathered around one table, and they are focusing specifically on how to tackle poverty, not on their own jobs and roles.”
The Fairness Commission members include Labour councillor Laurie Bidwell; Gerry McLaughlin, chief executive of NHS Health Scotland; Drew Walker, director of public health at NHS Tayside; Satwat Rehman, director of One Parent Families Scotland; Mary Kinninmonth, director of Dundee Citizens Advice Bureau; Elizabeth Kane, a community representative; and Erik Cramb, a member of Dundee Pensioners’ Forum.
The other members are Chief Superintendent Eddie Smith of Police Scotland; Grant Ritchie, principal designate of Dundee and Angus College; Alison Henderson, of Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce; Colin McCashey, independent convener of the Dundee Adult Support and Protection Committee; Douglas Robertson, a professor of sociology and housing at Stirling University; Denise McCaffery, head teacher at Sidlaw View Primary School; and Ginny Lawson of the Brooksbank Partnership.
Mr Black said: “Poverty is more complex than setting targets. It is important not to lump everybody living in poverty together. An example of something we’ll be looking at is how to make it easier to set up small businesses.
“Setting up a business on benefits is so complicated and I personally want to get rid of these complications.
“What are the barriers preventing people hauling themselves out of this situation, and if bureaucracy is standing in the way, let’s do something.”
Article taken from the Courier 5 May 2015
