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.
This briefing, produced by CPAG in association with Age UK and RNIB, focuses on two new mandatory reconsideration policies introduced in 2022 and 2023 which put access to justice for particular groups of claimants at risk.
Our pre-Budget briefing details how best to invest financial support in children to reduce child poverty and give every child the chance to fulfil their potential.
Our interviews show that claimants did not have the information they needed or wanted to understand how moving to UC would affect them. Such misinformation and misunderstanding are likely to be reasons some people are not moving to UC despite having a strong financial incentive to do so.
Last week, the House of Commons’ Education Committee published a report on persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils. There is growing concern about rising levels of pupil absence following the pandemic. Attendance data highlights that children from lower-income households have lower attendance rates than their peers. Children eligible for free school meals are more than twice as likely as their peers to be persistently absent from school.
CPAG in Scotland’s Early Warning System has been operating for ten years! Over Challenge Poverty Week we are looking back at some of the social security events in this period, key findings from the Early Warning System and how they have influenced policy and practise.