Supporting family finances and employment opportunities.
Social Justice Secretary has said the draft Scottish Budget 2026-27 is
a “landmark intervention” in the Scottish
Government's drive to tackle the root causes of child
poverty and
increase living standards.
Around £8 billion has been
earmarked for the social justice portfolio,
boosting support for vulnerable
people and low-income families. This includes plans
to:
- introduce a new premium
element of the Scottish Child
Payment in
2027-28, raising weekly payments
for eligible parents of children under the age of
one to £40 per
child, benefitting around
12,000 children
- create a new £50 million package to boost whole
family support. This will further enhance existing support and
will include help with transport,
skills, and commits £20 million
for third sector partners to deliver the support
that people need in their communities
- increase the Tackling Child Poverty Fund from £12.5
million to £61.5 million in 2026-27
- invest £7.2 billion in social security, supporting
disabled people, unpaid carers, those on low incomes and others,
while also providing help with energy bills
Social Justice Secretary met parents in receipt of any of the Five Family
Payments, including the Scottish Child Payment, yesterday
(Thursday 15 January) at Pilton Youth and Children's Project in
Edinburgh, and said:
"Eradicating child poverty is this government's driving
mission - no child should have their prospects hindered
by circumstances beyond their control.
"This Budget is a landmark intervention in our
work to tackle the root causes of poverty
and reduce the pressure on household
finances - from increased support for Scotland's newest
parents, to new initiatives to help increase household
incomes and ensure families receive the right support at the
right time.
“With more than £330 million committed across three
years to our Tackling Child Poverty
Fund and to investment in Whole
Family Support, we are laying
the groundwork to drive continued progress
in the year ahead, breaking the cycle
of poverty in Scotland for good.”
Background
Subject to consultation and parliamentary approval the Scottish
Government intends for the Scottish Child Payment premium to
commence in 2027-28. The date that first payments will be made
will be announced in due course.
The Scottish Child
Payment was introduced in 2021 and began as a £10 per
child, per week payment. It has increased by more than
180% since then. The Scottish Child Payment for
2026-27 will increase to £28.20 per child per week, in line
with inflation.
Further details about the measures in the Whole Family
Support package, alongside the Tackling Child Poverty
Fund, will be set out in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery
Plan which will publish by the end of March.
The Scottish Fiscal Commission
forecasted that the Scottish Government would have
spent £141m on the Two Child Limit Payment in
2026-27 –
against previous estimates of £155
million. After accounting
for additional demand for devolved
benefits due to the ending of
the two-child limit, the Scottish
Fiscal Commission estimates £126
million will be
available for reallocation in
2026-27.
The draft Scottish Budget 2026-27 delivers the First
Minister's commitment to reallocate the resource allocated
to the Two Child Limit Payment to anti-poverty
measures. This includes:
- £14 million to meet additional demand for devolved
benefits as a result of removing the Two Child Limit,
including a further £8
million to help mitigate the impact
of the Benefit Cap and £7 million for
the Five Family Payments, including Scottish
Child Payment to support newly eligible families.
- Investing more than £111 million in the Tackling Child
Poverty Fund and investment in Whole Family Support.
- Investing a further £21 million to meet
the cost of increasing the Scottish Child
Payment in 2026-27 – providing the families of
around 330,000 children with £28.20 per child per week.
The Scottish Spending Review, Chapter 6, confirms multi-year
budget allocations for Whole Family Support and the Tackling
Child Poverty Fund: Scottish Spending Review 2026 -
gov.scot
