THE SNP has been urged to accelerate plans to double the Scottish Child Payment amid fears that statutory child poverty targets will not be achieved.
Legislation requires the Scottish Government to ensure less than 18% of children are living in poverty by 2023/24 and less than 10% by 2030. But the latest figures, for 2019/20, show that 26% of children were living in poverty in Scotland.
The Scottish Government’s latest progress report, published on Wednesday, warns that “significant progress needs to be achieved in the years ahead to deliver upon the 2030 targets”.
Social Justice Secretary, Shona Robison, while acknowledging more action is needed, has blamed her Westminster counterparts for ending a £20 uplift of Universal Credit – claiming it would “push 20,000 Scottish children into poverty”.
READ MORE: Child poverty rises in every Scottish local authority over last six years with one topping the list
Poverty campaigners and opposition MSPs have called on the SNP to speed up the commitment of doubling the Scottish Child Payment to £80 per month.
The SNP has pledged to do so in the next five years and Ms Robison said it would happen “as soon as is practical”.
John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, warned the progress report was “a stark and urgent reminder that far more investment is needed to meet Scotland’s child poverty targets”.
He added: “By 2023 around 80,000 children need to be lifted out of poverty to meet the interim target. To achieve this the immediate priority must be to increase the Scottish child payment.
“If we are serious about protecting our children and meeting our targets it must be doubled to £20 per week in the first year of this parliament as the first step.”
Scottish Conservative spokesperson for social justice, Miles Briggs, pressed Ms Robison over “what is preventing and holding up ministers from taking steps to double the Scottish Child Payment as soon as possible”.
Labour's social justice spokesperson, Pam Duncan-Glancy, called on the Scottish Government to “double the child payment immediately”.
She added: “I share the Government’s concern around the removal of the £20 uplift for Universal Credit, so I find it hard to understand why it isn’t preparing to use its power, right now, to mitigate that.”
Ms Robison admitted that “the impact of the pandemic has meant it has not been possible to deliver the progress we had anticipated on all commitments”.
She added: “In Scotland we are serious about ending child poverty. Early analysis on the impact of our Scottish Child Payment suggested it could move 30,000 children out of poverty when paid at £40 per four weeks. Doubling it will enable us to go even further.
"However, the UK Government's cut of £20 to Universal Credit threatens to knock out the benefit of this ambitious measure and to push 20,000 Scottish children into poverty.
“The Scottish Government (is) quite literally giving with one hand whilst it’s taken away with another.
"That is a disgrace that our efforts to tackle child poverty are at risk of being undermined by aggressive UK Government policy and a broken welfare system.”
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