Child Poverty Taskforce holds first Scottish summit

The UK Government's Child Poverty Taskforce was today [Thursday 21 November] in Scotland for the first time, hearing from child poverty charities, experts, parents and children in Glasgow as it develops plans for an ambitious, cross-Government strategy to drive down child poverty.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, who co-chairs the Taskforce, said that tackling child poverty is back where it should be - at the top of the UK Government's agenda - and that driving down child poverty across Scotland was a key priority.

The visit comes following last month's Budget announcement of a new ‘Fair Repayment Rate' in Universal Credit, making 110,000 of Scotland's poorest households better off from next April. On average, households will each benefit by £420 a year. The new rate means Universal Credit deductions will be capped at 15 per cent, down from 25 per cent.

This move comes alongside the rise in the Minimum Wage, which will benefit 3 million of the lowest paid workers by up to £1,400 year, and wider action the UK Government is taking to Make Work Pay and create more good jobs in every part of the country including in clean energy and through its modern industrial strategy.

With more than 200,000 children living in poverty in Scotland, and over 33,000 in Glasgow City, Liz Kendall MP heard the vast scale of the challenge facing communities and what is already being done locally to tackle the issue, including two child poverty ‘pathfinders' in Glasgow and Dundee aiming to provide joined up support for families.

After hearing from families, leading organisations, the Scottish Government and public bodies with vital roles in children's lives spanning from health to housing, including Public Health Scotland and the Scotland's Children Commissioner, shared their insight and learnings with the Secretary of State at a roundtable discussion.

Charities including Aberlour, Joseph Rowntree Foundation Scotland and One Parent Families Scotland attended the event, as did the Scotland Minister for Equalities Kaukab Stewart MSP, the UK Minister for Employment Alison McGovern MP, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, Kirsty McNeill MP.

Both governments have pledged to work closely together to achieve the common aim of making sure every child in Scotland has the support they need to reach their full potential.

Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray is part of the Child Poverty Taskforce, which met earlier this week on the theme of increasing parents' earned incomes, building employment stability and enabling progression in work.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall MP:

“Tackling child poverty is a priority for the UK Government, and a personal priority for me.

“It is a moral stain on this country that there are now over 4 million children in the UK living in poverty, including 200,000 in Scotland.

“That is why the work of our Child Poverty Taskforce is so urgent. We will look at all the levers available at our disposal across Government to drive down poverty and drive-up opportunity for children and families in every corner of the UK.

“Scottish families and organisations are at the heart of our ambitious plans. The experiences and ideas they shared today are critical to our work to give all children in Scotland – and across the UK – the very best start in life.”

UK Government Minister for Scotland Kirsty McNeill: 

“Hearing such stark and painful accounts from families about their daily struggles has been hugely humbling but a vitally important reminder about why we must and will reduce child poverty across the whole of the UK.
“It's a national shame that more than 200,000 children are living in poverty in Scotland. We are taking action - the UK Budget progressed our commitment to transforming the lives of Scottish children facing poverty, and we're making work pay to improve living standards by raising the minimum wage and making the biggest improvements to workers' rights in a generation.

“But we know there's much more to be done and the testimonies of these families is key in shaping our next steps. By joining together with the Scottish Government and with other agencies and charities we will work to boost incomes, improve financial resilience and ensure better local support.”

Aberlour, CEO, SallyAnn Kelly OBE:

“We welcome the UK Child Poverty Taskforce coming to Scotland to hear about and better understand the impact of poverty on the lives of children and families. We hope the Taskforce has heard what Aberlour has to say, and more importantly what families have told them, and will take away those calls on how to reduce and tackle child poverty.

“We know that this will require urgent action to respond to what children and families need to alleviate the impact of poverty in their lives right now, as well as long term actions to achieve our shared ambition to end child poverty for good.” 

Fellow co-chair, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, met with the Minister for Northern Ireland, Fleur Anderson, in Belfast, along with several key poverty organisations including Action for Children NI and Save the Children NI, as the Taskforce brings in voices from across the UK.

As part of the regular and widespread engagement on developing the Child Poverty Strategy, for the first time all the devolved governments and the UK Government met together on this issue last week.

This comes as the Government prepares to launch the Get Britain Working White Paper including plans to overhaul Jobcentres and join up work, health and skills plans to help people get back into work and get on in work, so they can build a better life for them and their families.