Projects aimed at tackling child poverty across the country will
receive increased, multi-year funding thanks to a boost from the
Scottish Government.
Successful applicants to the third round of the Child Poverty
Practice Accelerator Fund, now worth more than £1.8 million, will
receive grants of up to £100,000 over two years to improve local
services.
The Scottish Government has already invested over £1.4 million to
support 21 projects across Scotland over the first two rounds of
the fund, having launched in 2023.
Previous grants have been used to improve the use of data to
identify families who need support, to improve access to
financial advice services, and to support parents to engage with
employability services.
The fund sits alongside other innovative measures, such as the
Five Family Payments, including the Scottish Child Payment, which
are helping to reduce child poverty in Scotland.
Social Justice Secretary said:
“Eradicating child poverty, supporting families and giving
children the best start in life are the driving principles of
this government.
“That's why, alongside a range of measures, we have reopened this
fund to help local authorities and health boards to go further,
aiding the collective effort to confine child poverty to history.
“Work through the fund has previously helped maximise income and
to tackle household debt, which is vital to easing the strains
felt by households as the cost of living rises, and I look
forward to receiving many innovative proposals.
“Our collective measures mean that Scotland remains the only part
of the UK where child poverty levels are falling.
“We should recognise that progress, but we must not forget that
one child living in poverty is one too many. We are
laser-focussed on addressing the challenges faced by households
across the country, and this fund is another step towards
eradicating child poverty.”
Transformation Project Manager at North Ayrshire
Council Tracy Simpson said:
"The fund supported the council on our journey towards
implementing a North Ayrshire Single Shared Assessment model.
Being involved in the fund's project network provided an
opportunity to share learning and experiences across local
authorities and ideas from others helped shape work that could be
replicated at North Ayrshire.
“Expanding our network and having access to key contacts has
helped us to raise awareness at a government level about the key
challenges faced around data reuse to maximise customer
entitlements and target unmet need across the public
sector. The support provided from the Scottish Government
was exceptional.”
The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund strengthens the
collaborative efforts to tackle child poverty between the
Scottish Government and local partners. Elsewhere, through the
Fairer Futures Partnerships (FFPs), the Scottish Government is
working with local authorities to test and improve services to
better help families living in poverty.
Last month, the First Minister announced an extension to the FFP
programme with support now available in 16 regions. This included
expanding to Dumfries & Galloway, Edinburgh, South Ayrshire,
West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian, meeting a Programme for
Government commitment to work to identify further adopters in
addition to three new partnerships in Fife, North Lanarkshire and
Shetland this year.
The proportion of Scottish children living in absolute poverty
has reached its lowest level in 30 years and the latest figures
(for 2023-24) show that the rates of both relative and absolute
child poverty in Scotland were 9 percentage points lower than the
UK average.
Background
Applications are open
until Friday 21 November 2025.
Applications can be submitted by local authorities and health
boards, both of which may choose to work with other groups and
organisations in the community.
Latest figures on child
poverty rates in Scotland compared to rest of UK
Child poverty summary
showing that the proportion of Scottish children living in
absolute poverty has reached its lowest level in 30 years.
Expansion of Fairer
Futures Partnerships
