DEPOPULATION in Scotland is a problem that is “not given the attention it is due”, a report from the Evangelical Alliance (EA) says.
The report, published last week, seeks to set out “the difference we can make to all aspects of governing, to make Scotland a more just, more thriving, dynamic and diverse nation than it already is”.
Declining birth rates across the nation, particularly in the Highlands and Islands, is setting Scotland on course for “huge socioeconomic problems”, the report warns.
In February last year, the Scottish Government published an action plan for addressing depopulation, which the EA described as “a start”, while emphasising the need to “make it as easy as possible to have and raise a family in Scotland . . . at the same time as welcoming migrants from abroad”.
Christians have been “at the forefront” of welcoming immigrants and refugees, the report says, and quotes a Church of Scotland minister, the Revd Nathan McConnell, whose family hosted a mother and daughter who fled Ukraine.
Fostering and adoption were also important in ensuring that children born in Scotland were able to remain there, and Christians had a significant part to play in supporting services.
Apart from depopulation, policy areas on which the EA calls on the Scottish Government to act include housing, social care, addiction services, education, and the environment.
The report highlights the work of numerous member organisations of the EA, including Glasgow City Mission — a charity that for almost two centuries has offered care to vulnerable and disadvantaged people in Glasgow. Its work includes running centres that provide services for children, parents, and those with problems of addiction or homelessness.
On education, the report says that improvements should be made to the way in which religion is taught, to “contribute to a better understanding of the role of faith in public life”, as well as to ensure that sex education is taught in “respectful and age-appropriate ways”.
Christian Values in Education Scotland is another EA partner. Its chair, Megan Patterson, is quoted in the report as saying that the materials that her organisation produces “are for all teachers . . . and aim to help them consider how to ensure the language, resources and activities they use are objective and inclusive of pupils who have religious beliefs”.
The report acknowledges that supporting public services requires a healthy economy, but emphasises that “economic growth should not just be for its own sake, perpetuating socioeconomic inequalities.”