Taking action to tackle serious problems in Kirkcaldy's Linktown - Melanie Ward

But whilst every human being is of equal worth, not every human being has the same chances of doing well in life.

Here in Fife, a child’s life chances vary considerably by their postcode. This is fundamentally unjust.

Linktown is an example of this. The community in the Links has a really strong sense of identity and belonging, as well as some amazing volunteers like those in the Linktown Community Action Group.

Yet a child who grows up in this part of Kirkcaldy is less likely to do well at school or to go to university than those in most other parts of Fife. Residents in the Links are more likely to feel unsafe and less likely to feel a sense of control over their lives than those who live in other areas. In parts of the Links, the poverty rate is more than double the national average.

Poverty and crime, drug and alcohol abuse, housing problems and poor mental health are all major issues that were raised with me in conversations with some of the community leaders in the Links last year.

These discussions led to a high-level roundtable to demand action that I convened last week together with Linktown Community Action Group. We brought together Ministers from the Scottish and UK Governments, as well as decision-makers from the Police, Fife Council, the NHS and others.

Between 2020 and 2024, the rate of drug-related deaths in Fife was almost five and a half times more than twenty years ago. On the SNP’s watch, Scotland has also become the drug deaths capital of Europe. Yet numbers don’t tell the human story. One harrowing example shared at our meeting last week included a local mother who has lost three of four children to deaths from drug abuse.

All the decision-makers who attended the meeting have committed to taking actions which would help begin to address the issues. Policing resources will be increased, Linktown Community Action Group will present to the Serious and Organised Crime Taskforce, and there will be increased support from local services.

This week in Westminster I voted to support the UK Government lifting the two child cap, which will lift hundreds of local kids out of poverty.

I will be reconvening the group later this year to hold their feet to the fire and get meaningful change.

Only coordinated, consistent and long-term action across all services in the Links will offer hope to a community that feels children are paying the price for past inaction. I will continue to work with them to start making change happen.