A NEW blueprint for combating child poverty will be a “plan for all of Scotland”, the Social Justice Secretary has promised.
Shona Robison spoke ahead of the Scottish Government publishing its second Tackling Child Poverty delivery plan later this week.
While she said ministers’ actions have already had a “significant impact”, she stressed there is “still more we must do” – saying the pandemic has worsened the scale of the problem.
Around one in four youngsters in Scotland are currently classed as living in relative poverty – though the Scottish Parliament has a legally binding target to reduce this number to less than 10% by the end of the decade.
The Scottish Government has invested almost £6 billion in helping low income households across Scotland over the last three years, with over a third of the cash – some £2.18bn – being said to have directly benefitted children.
The effort has seen Social Security Scotland – the body responsible for devolved benefits – establish the Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Grants, which go directly towards helping poorer families.
Robison said: “In the face of UK Government austerity, combined with the deeply damaging £20 cut to Universal Credit, our investment over the last four years to support low-income families has had a significant impact.
“But there is still more we must do to deliver the transformational changes we all want to see.
“Our second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan will be a plan for all of Scotland. All parts of society have a role to play in our national mission to end child poverty.
“This is a collective effort across society to deliver for our future generations and break the cycle of poverty once and for all.”
READ MORE: What will Rishi Sunak say in the Spring Statement 2022?
Scottish Government policies already mean that families in Scotland can receive “considerable support” when compared to other parts of the UK, Robison added.
“We remain the only part of the UK to have five family benefits, including the Scottish Child Payment, which was designed to tackle child poverty head on.
“Combined with our three Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods, low income families receive up to £8400 of financial support by the time their first child turns six.
“Our budgets may be fixed, powers limited, and the scale of the challenge as we emerge from the pandemic has increased.
“However, we are determined to do everything within our powers to give the children of Scotland the opportunities they deserve to succeed.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel