First Minister is right to make child poverty the ‘first priority’

in his Programme for Government but more investment is needed

Responding to the First Minister’s Programme for Government John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland said:

“The First Minister is right to make child poverty his ‘first priority’. His recognition that the government “must do more” is welcome. But whilst reforming public services so that hard up families can easily access support is vital, those services need to be available and adequately funded in the first place. The harsh reality is that Ministers are falling behind in resourcing the childcare, housing and employment actions that government has already committed to and that families so desperately need.

 

The Scottish government’s approach to child poverty is the right approach, with the Scottish child payment alone lifting between 40 000 and 60 000 children out of poverty, but we need to see a step change in the pace and scale of action  

 

The challenge now facing government and opposition alike is that there is no credible route to eradicating child poverty that doesn’t involve further serious investment in social security, childcare, affordable family housing and action to support parents access decent jobs.”

 Mr Dickie continued;

 “We recognised the First Minister faces serious fiscal challenges, but as he himself said we are a prosperous country.  Given that pressures on public finances are so tight the First Minister also needs to look at making more use of the devolved tax powers at his disposal to harness the undoubted wealth the country has to help deliver on his child poverty objectives and sustain public services.  

 

With all the focus on Holyrood it is also important to remember that the Westminster government also needs to step up to the plate and use the levers at its disposal to stem rising UK-wide child poverty, starting with the scrapping of the two-child limit in the UK benefit system. We need both governments to work together to end this scandal of child poverty in a rich country.”

On free school meals Mr Dickie added

 “Any further delay to the roll out of free school meals to all pupils in P6 and P7 is extremely worrying. It was the First Minister himself who promised when he was Education Secretary that this would be delivered by August 2022. The cost of a school lunch continues to put real pressure on household budgets – particularly for those working families with an income just above the means-tested threshold. Our analysis shows thousands of pupils in poverty in Scotland are not eligible for a free school meal because of the means test.  Delivering on existing promises needs to be a priority.”

ENDS

For more details or interviews contact John Dickie, Director of CPAG in Scotland on 07795 340 618

Notes

In a briefing sent to all MSPs the Child Poverty Action Group say that with public finances under severe pressure and Scottish Ministers under a legal requirement to meet child poverty targets, the 2024-25 Programme for Government must prioritise action to achieve the Scottish Government’s ‘number one policy priority’. The briefing called on the Programme for Government to  include:

Social security

• Sustaining and enhancing the value of Scottish family benefits. The Scottish child payment is working effectively to substantively reduce child poverty. An above-inflation increase and commitment to ensuring the payment reaches at least £40 per week by the end of this Parliament are needed as part of the wider action required to meet child poverty targets.

Employment and Childcare

• Clear action to provide tailored employment support for parents and carers – with a particular focus on supporting lone parents, black and minority ethnic parents and carers, families with a disabled adult or child, and young parents.
• Action to further expand funded childcare, make the current childcare offer as accessible and flexible as possible and to provide free periods of childcare to address gaps in the support for childcare costs provided in universal credit.

Cost of the school day

• Delivering commitments of universal free school meals to all primary school pupils and access to a digital device for all school aged children.

Tax

• Using devolved tax powers more ambitiously to progressively raise revenue needed to tackle child poverty.

Housing

• Sufficiently funding the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) and ensuring all children live in safe, secure and permanent homes.