Budget will increase provision of wrap-around help for
families
Funding for local authorities to test and improve how they
deliver wrap-around support for parents and families will be
doubled to more than £6 million by the 2025-26 budget, helping
expand work towards eradicating child poverty.
The Scottish Government's Fairer Futures Partnerships will help
test new approaches and identify lasting solutions rather than
quick fixes, Social Justice Secretary said. Increased
funding will allow Fairer Futures Partnerships to expand to more
areas, supporting new approaches and holistic support.
On a visit to Irvine Royal Academy, Ms Somerville met parents and
pupils and saw how North Ayrshire Council's work is supporting
families and informing the Fairer Futures programme to drive
innovations in tackling child poverty.
At Irvine Royal Academy, where 32% of pupils are in receipt of
free school meals, parents have been helped to maximise their
incomes through welfare and debt advice and provided with support
to find employment, while pupils run a ‘cost of the school day'
initiative to help ease the pressures on families.
Ms Somerville said:
“Eradicating child poverty is the Scottish Government's top
priority and a national mission. But we can only do that by
providing long-term, sustainable solutions, not quick fixes.
“The Scottish Child Payment, only available in Scotland, will
this year help the families of over 330,000 children, and our
five family payments could be worth more than £25,000 by the time
an eligible child turns 16. We are extending provision of free
school meals to pupils in P6 & P7 who receive the Scottish
Child Payment, committing a further £14.3m to support the school
clothing grant, and investing in the systems needed to end the
two-child cap by April 2026.
“Through the Fairer Futures Partnerships we are working alongside
local authorities, local communities and the Third Sector to test
and improve how they deliver services to promote family
wellbeing, maximise incomes and support people towards education
and into sustained employment.
“I'm visiting Irvine Royal Academy to hear about some of the
programmes and activity North Ayrshire Council has in place to
tackle child poverty, support families and children in the local
area with the cost of the school day and maximise incomes. The
work with the school community is a great example of the results
that can be delivered when services work together to provide
wrap-around support for families. We want to explore how we can
do this even better and that is why we have doubled our budget
for Fairer Futures Partnerships to £6 million for the next
financial year.”
North Ayrshire Council Leader Marie Burns added: “Tackling child
poverty is the number one priority for our administration.
“We have the second highest rate of child poverty in Scotland and
we are determined - with support from the Scottish Government and
our hard-working partners in the public, private and third
sectors – to improve life for families across North Ayrshire.
“We look forward to welcoming the Cabinet Secretary to Irvine to
hear, first-hand, about some of the great work that is being done
to support families who are struggling to make ends meet.”
Background:
North Ayrshire has the second highest levels of child poverty in
Scotland. In 2021/22, 29% of children in North Ayrshire were
living in poverty.
Welfare Rights Officers have been providing advice in North
Ayrshire secondary schools since 2021 and have put more than £1
million into the bank accounts of families during this
time.
The council's Child Poverty Action Plan also supports We Work for
Families, run by the Lennox Partnership, which provides tailored
individual support to 350 parents each year to address barriers
to employment, develop confidence and skills to compete
effectively within the labour market.
Girdle Toll Out of School Childcare provides breakfast clubs and
after school clubs, plus full daycare during school holidays,
helping parents to engage in employment opportunities.
North Ayrshire Council is one of five new Fairer Futures
Partnerships announced in the 2024 Programme for Government,
alongside three existing ones. This growing network of
partnerships will help sustain momentum and help us to actively
learn, evaluate and share good practice.
Help during the cost of
living crisis
