Chamber and committees

I am conscious of the time, and I know that Heather O’Rourke wants to come back in. I will give her the opportunity to make the point that she wants to make before I close the session.

Thank you. That was a very important point to bring to our attention, and that was a great way to end the session.

I thank the witnesses for their evidence, some of which was quite difficult to hear—it would have been difficult to deliver to us, as well. If the witnesses feel that anything was missing this morning, they should feel free to follow that up in writing.

The committee will not meet next week, as the council elections are on Thursday 5 May. Like Paul McLennan and Evelyn Tweed, I will cease to be a local councillor on that day. We will be back on 12 May to continue taking evidence in the inquiry.

I close the public part of the meeting.

I do not have time, sorry. I normally would.

We have ensured not only that free period products are available in multiple locations but that they can be ordered and delivered straight to the home for all via an online form.

We have also made great strides in allocating digital devices and connectivity to ensure that pupils have the tools that they need for learning. If we listened to other members, we would think that no child had received a laptop or the connectivity that they need.

Holiday times can be very hard for families. We have ensured that we have school meal provision coupled with access to free activities and outings. A simple but effective tool has been the move towards automatic awards for free school meals and clothing grants to reduce the stigma of the application process and increase uptake. Across the parties, we all recognise that increasing uptake is vital. We need to ensure that we do it, but we should remember that more than three quarters of eligible families are already in receipt of the Scottish child payment.

I am sorry, but I do not have time.

The measures that are set out in the Scottish Government’s motion complement the wide range of policy initiatives included in its child poverty strategy for Scotland to maximise household resources and improve children’s wellbeing and life chances. I am sure that we can all agree that that has never been more important as costs soar and family budgets are squeezed like never before. All our children deserve a supportive and nurturing school environment free from money worries.

No young person should be unable to fully participate in their school life. No young person should lie awake worrying about finding money for dress-down days, book sales or bake sales. No young person should be prevented from having tuition in favourite subjects such as home economics or music due to family budget pressures. No child should miss school due to the stigma that is brought on by poverty and disadvantage. And no child should miss out on the excitement and the challenge of their school residential because the fee that is set is itself a mountain to climb.

I remember my school days clearly and, although most of those memories are fond, the time when we were experiencing deep poverty, when I was about eight, is forever etched in my soul, despite those memories being the ones that I would rather forget. I have already spoken in this place about the hunger, the food banks and the anxiety that I had surrounding food insecurity, but I also remember clearly not having so much as a quarter to buy a cake at the many fundraising bake sales. I remember scouring the Scholastic book leaflet that was popped into my schoolbag and earmarking all the books that I would choose if money was not so tight, and I watched with envy, my cheeks burning with stigma and shame, as the box of books was unpacked in the classroom, with gleeful, happy kids running up to fetch their books when the teacher shouted their name. Even at that young age, I knew the pressures that my parents were under and I had not even shown them the order form in case it made the whole situation worse. Kids in poverty make those kinds of decisions all the time to protect themselves and their carers. I can also vividly remember feeling my toes cramping at the front of my shoes as they began to pinch but not saying a word. Right now, in our country there are young people ignoring their pinched toes, crumpling up and hiding away their book order forms, feigning a sore belly on yet another non-uniform day and dreaming of a primary 7 school residential that they know they will not be able to attend.

We know that that is damaging for the wellbeing of our young folk, and we know that that all adds to the poverty-related attainment gap. When a small child spends their life worrying about money and food, they will often struggle to focus on anything else, including their lessons. That is why reducing the cost of the school day for low-income families is crucial, and why recognising the on-going work across national and local government and third sector partners in this area is key. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s recommitment to delivering on her priority policies.

According to the Child Poverty Action Group, which has pioneered this work in its cost of the school day programme, removing cost barriers at school helps to build the right foundations and conditions for better participation, wellbeing and attainment. Boosting incomes through access to financial entitlements helps to support families in the here and now and contributes to the wider national mission of ending child poverty. An independent evaluation of the cost of the school day programme found that those approaches can support increased understanding of child poverty, the development of poverty-sensitive school policies and practices, reduced cost barriers, increased participation in school and after-school activities, reduced financial pressures and improved promotion and uptake of entitlements.

As a member of the party of government, I am proud that we created the Scottish child payment and glad that our budget decisions ensured that we will increase it to £25 per week per child. That money is vital to help the families that face the worst effects of the Tory cost of living crisis and have experienced the worst cut to welfare in living memory. The Opposition might say that the uplift was only ever to be temporary but, when every penny is a prisoner and that extra £20 a week meant avoiding a trip to the food bank, having it snatched away again results only in further poverty and debt. It is not like a banker’s bonus and it is not a nice wee bung. It made a huge difference to families and its removal was cruel. Our welcome decision to mitigate the UK Tory benefit cap, including the hated rape clause, will mean that larger families that were plunged into absolute poverty will see a marked improvement to their finances.

My SNP-led local authority in East Ayrshire, where I am still a councillor for exactly 10 more days, is making great strides in reducing the cost of the school day in a number of ways with our poverty proofing our establishments programme, which uses innovative ideas to help families. Those include everything from using PEF funding for something like a school steamie, where the community has access to clothes-washing facilities, to free breakfast clubs and reducing hunger and food waste by packaging up surplus school food for children to help themselves to on the way out the door for home. Many schools are also holding clothing swaps because it is recognised that children not only grow over the summer but continue to grow throughout the year.

Welcome back, everyone. Our focus with our second panel will be on public policy research and analysis addressing poverty. I welcome Jack Evans, Scotland policy and partnerships manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation; Philip Whyte, director of IPPR Scotland; and Emma Congreve, knowledge exchange fellow at the Fraser of Allander Institute.

I will invite members in turn to ask questions on different themes. Theme 1 is on child poverty trends and the economic context, and I bring in Miles Briggs to ask about that.

Pam, do you want to move on to your second theme?

That takes us full circle to the mainstreaming equalities agenda and the need to embed good practice at every level and in every area of work.

We move to questions from Natalie Don and then Pam Duncan-Glancy.

Good morning and welcome to the 13th meeting in 2022 of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee.

I should say first of all that we have had a change of committee membership, and I want to welcome to the committee Paul McLennan. He replaces Marie McNair, whom I thank for her valued contribution to the committee since its establishment.

Agenda item 1, therefore, is a declaration of interests. I invite Paul McLennan to declare any relevant interests.