Responding to the First Minister’s Statement on ‘Priorities for Scotland’ John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), said “First Minister’s commitment must be backed by concrete policies and investment on a scale well beyond what we heard today”
Children and young people from the Cost of the School Day Voice network call for Universal Free School Meals (USFM) at a Scottish Parliament roundtable.
Speaking today (Tuesday 07/05/24) following the Scottish Parliament’s nomination of John Swinney as Scotland’s next First Minister, John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said, “It is hugely encouraging that the incoming First Minister has already said he will make child poverty his number one priority. For the one in four children still locked in hardship that pledge needs to be acted on, and fast.
In line with inflation, today benefits are being uprated by 6.7 per cent. For the first time in four years, the local housing allowance has gone up, improving housing support for many private renters. But one group will not see any improvement in support at all: around 77,000 families are affected by the ‘benefit cap'.
A change is coming to child benefit. This Saturday, more families will become eligible as the earnings threshold at which you start losing child benefit increases. The government has finally recognised that ‘the way we treat child benefit in the tax system is confusing and unfair’ and proposed two changes to try to simplify it. It’s ironic that this confusion and unfairness was introduced by the government in the first place.
South Lanarkshire Council’s Cost of the School Day Conference took place this week, where the local authority further cemented its commitment to equity by launching its Cost of the School Day guidance, and ten proposals.