The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 aims to tackle, report on and measure child poverty in Scotland. It sets out specific targets relating to the eradication of child poverty as well as making provision for planning and reporting relating to the achievement of these targets.
The Act set out four income targets to be met by April 2030 and four interim ones to be met by 2023.
It also set up a statutory Poverty and Inequality Commission with functions related to the scrutiny of child poverty reduction targets.
The Act states that:
The Committee wants to examine the impact of having these requirements enshrined in legislation underpinned by statutory targets and assess what would be different if there was no Act.
The Committee wanted to hear your views on the Act. It was particularly interested in learning about:
The Committee's call for views closed on 13 September 2024.
The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) has produced a summary paper of the submissions received.
Read the summary of responses (167KB, pdf) posted 27 September 2024
The Committee also received the following written submissions.
On 11 October 2024, the Committee sent a survey to all local authorities across Scotland. The survey aimed to gather further information on the extent of local variation on child poverty policies and governance structures at a senior level.
Read the responses (2MB, pdf) posted 11 November 2024
The inquiry was discussed at the following Committee meetings: