Local Government and Communities Committee, 16 Sep 2009

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Official Report 271KB pdf

---

Child Poverty

Item 3 is child poverty in Scotland. I invite members' comments on the response from the Scottish Government and on the suggested courses of action at paragraph 20 of the clerk's paper.

I was disappointed with the Government's response, under paragraph 7, that only 14 single outcome agreements currently include an income and poverty proxy indicator aimed at reducing child poverty. Given that we have 32 local authorities, I found that disappointing. I would be keen for us to monitor progress on that.

In general, in relation to the conclusions in paragraph 20, I think that we should just monitor the progress that is being made. The suggested six-month review period is fine.

Are members content with that?

Members indicated agreement.