Decision details

(i)            to note the Council’s planned actions to be taken in response to the Scottish Women’s Budget Group Study on Gender Inequality and Poverty in Aberdeen;

(ii)          to thank members of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group Steering Group, Aberdeen Youth Movement and all other stakeholders who participated in improvement action planning process;

(iii)         to instruct the Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning and Chief Officer – Data Insights, to review questions in future surveys on early learning and out of school care in order to ensure analysis by socio-economic status is possible, so that any variations can be identified and additional targeted measures can be introduced where required;

(iv)         to instruct the Executive Director of Corporate Services to map women’s groups across the city with a view to highlighting where support might be available;

(v)          to note the importance of wrap around childcare to enable women to return to the workforce and to lifting children out of poverty. Notes the expansion of breakfast club provision in 2025/26 through the Bright Starts breakfast fund and instructs the Chief Officer Education & Lifelong Learning to look at external funding opportunities to support expansion for the end of the school day provision; and

(vi)         to instruct the Executive Director of Corporate Services to provide an update on the 52 improvement actions presented in this report by December 2026.