THE Poverty Commission made a series of recommendations in its final report, including calling on East Lothian Council and its community partners to continue to focus on tackling inequality, develop an action plan to take its recommendations forward, and publish an annual progress report demonstrating their commitment to tackling poverty.

Among the key findings are that 15,000 households in the county are in fuel poverty, 1,400 housholds used the council’s homelessness services annually, 1,145 households claimed crisis grants, and 2,806 people were supported by food parcels last year.

On housing, it called for an increase in the supply and range of affordable housing options, revealing 12 per cent of residents in the county live in long-term privately rented housing, facing higher rents than those in social housing.

The commission found that, last April, 3,900 people were on East Lothian Council’s waiting list for housing, with an average of 400 properties becoming available each year.

It called for innovative approaches, such as community bulk buying of energy, to be considered to tackle the high cost of utilities.

On financial inclusion, it recommended introducing finance into education from an early age and a look at ways to access affordable credit locally.

One-third of all enquiries made to local Citizens Advice Bureaus related to debt, with the average CAB client in Haddington having a debt of £18,744, while in Musselburgh the average debt was £13,069; it was estimated credit card debt had reached £1million in the county.

On education, the commission called for poverty to be talked about in schools to reduce inequality. It recommended uniforms were not changed between infant and primary schools and that non-branded uniforms were allowed, with other ways to identify schools considered.

It called for school rules to be introduced which only allowed thank you notes for teachers – no gifts – and the introduction of nutritional snacks for children during the day to tackle hunger and improve concentration. And it recommended school trips were focused more on “building friendships and learning from the outdoors rather than expensive entrance fees”.

Among the more radical suggestions was giving every resident a Citizen’s Income – a basic income which is paid to every person who can prove they are a registered citizen, regardless of their financial status. It is currently used in a number of countries, including Finland. FinlDenmark, Brazil and Iceland.