TENS of thousands of children in Scotland will be “locked in poverty” unless ministers take radical action, a grim new report has warned.

Analysis by the IPPR thinktank says that the government is on course to miss statutory child poverty targets, unless they’re willing to increase the Scottish Child Payment and reform the Scottish Welfare Fund. 

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires Scottish ministers to ensure less than 18 per cent of children are living in poverty by 2023/24 and less than 10 per cent of children are living in poverty by 2030.

But recent statistics suggest that around 26 per cent of children, around 260,000, were living in poverty in 2019/20.

Hitting the targets will mean lifting 80,000 children out of poverty in the next two years.

When the Scottish Child Payment was first announced, at a level of £10 per week, per child, the Scottish Government estimated it would lift 30,000 children out of poverty.

However, despite the doubling of the payment, the IPPR still predicts 30,000 children will be in poverty, and that’s before considering the impact of both the pandemic and cost of living crisis driven by rising food and fuel costs.

The Tackling Child Poverty and Destitution report, written by IPPR Scotland on behalf of the Trussell Trust and Save the Children, urged the government to double the payment again to £40.

The groups are also calling for an urgent review of  support offered through the Scottish Welfare Fund, with same day decisions for those applying for crisis grants and more consistency in paying out, rather than the ‘postcode lottery’ that can see people in different local authorities in similar situations receiving vastly different sums.

Claire Telfer from Save the Children said: “Families on the lowest incomes are already making impossible decisions to meet their basic needs. 

“Families face even stronger headwinds in the months ahead as the cost of living spirals. 

“As it currently stands, there is a real risk that more and more parents and children’s basic needs won’t be met.”

Polly Jones, head of Scotland at the Trussell Trust warned that the cost of living crisis would mean families on the very lowest incomes would “continue to be hit the hardest over the coming months, and beyond."

"Everyone should be able to afford the essentials in life – but food banks in our network see far too many people facing impossible decisions, like whether to put food on the table or heat their homes,” she added.

Scottish Labour’s Social Justice and Social Security spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy said the government needed to use the powers it already has. 

“It’s clear the SNP’s plans fall badly short of both of moral and our legal obligations to the next generation.

“Reducing poverty should be a defining mission for us all, and it would be a historic failure if we fall short.

“We need to use every lever we have to tackle poverty in Scotland, including by doubling the Scottish Child Payment and rolling it out to all eligible children, uprating best start grants and strengthening the Scottish Welfare Fund.

“We have more social security powers than ever, giving us a chance to make sure the system is truly fit for purpose instead of relying on stop gaps and sticking plasters."

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison insisted that tackling child poverty was “a national mission for the Scottish Government.” 

She said: “We are the only part of the UK to have five family benefits including the Scottish Child Payment, which was designed to tackle child poverty head on and will double to £20 in just over a fortnight and be extended to under 16s by the end of the year.

"In 2022/2023 we will invest over £360m in social security over and above what we receive in the block grant to support people in need.

“In addition, our £290 million cost of living support package will reach 73 per cent of households, providing £150 to those receiving Council Tax Reduction and those in bands A-D. This builds on our £41 million Winter Support Fund and continued investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund as well as other measures across government.

“We will go further and next week we will publish our next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan which will outline the next steps we will take alongside our delivery partners to break the cycle of child poverty.”