Chamber and committees

Good morning. Further to the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service Reform’s opening remarks, I welcome the opportunity to set out the Government’s priorities regarding women’s poverty, particularly in relation to our guiding mission of eradicating child poverty.

The First Minister’s programme for government sets out the key priorities for this Government and makes it clear that our number 1 priority is eradicating child poverty. We recognise that women’s poverty is child poverty, and we have intentionally taken a gendered approach to our tackling child poverty delivery plan, “Bringing Hope, Building Futures”, which was published in March.

The report builds on strong foundations: rates of relative child poverty in Scotland are 6 percentage points below the United Kingdom average as a result of the actions that we have taken. However, it is clear that too many children in Scotland continue to live in poverty, which is why it is so important that we all work together across the Parliament and across Scotland to deliver the change that is needed.

That is why we are taking action across Government to tackle women’s poverty. As set out in our programme for government, we are investing a further £2 million in 2026-27 in our national fund to leave initiative and making the fund permanent, which will support women to leave abusive partners. We are also investing in a new child maintenance project, led by One Parent Families Scotland and Fife Gingerbread, to help more separated families to access regular and reliable child maintenance payments. It is an investment that will primarily support lone parents, the vast majority of whom are women.

We are also investing to deliver a national breakfast club offer and are continuing to invest around £1 billion a year in early learning and childcare. That is in recognition of the fact that women are far more likely to take on childcare responsibilities and reduce their working hours to accommodate family demands. We are also progressing the work that is needed to increase the Scottish child payment to £40 for families with a child under the age of one.

Through the programme for government, we have brought forward the strongest set of proposals on tackling and preventing violence against women and girls. That is underpinned by the First Minister’s commitment to providing leadership to drive change on violence against women and girls, which includes tackling the underlying inequalities experienced by women. We cannot eradicate violence against women and girls without addressing women’s inequality. Our work to tackle poverty and the cost of living crisis, to increase economic opportunities and to advance public service reform are all critical to tackling violence against women and girls.

Our equally safe strategy recognises that women are more likely than men to live in poverty and that violence against women and girls sustains that situation. We know, for example, that women experiencing abuse in the home will find it more difficult to leave their abuser if they are living in poverty.

Prevention is the best route to tackling and challenging attitudes that underpin violence against women and girls. That is why we will introduce a misogyny bill, which will recognise misogyny as a distinct form of prejudice. We are increasing investment in our delivering equally safe fund to support front-line services for women and young girls. We are also working, within our devolved powers, to improve online safety and combat technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.

Later this year, we will also publish the Scottish Government’s first equality strategy for women and girls, as recommended by the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls. That strategy will help to demonstrate and drive forward the range of activities that are being progressed across Government to achieve greater equality for women and girls.

I recognise the importance of taking a gendered approach to budgeting to ensure that our investment addresses women’s poverty. Therefore, I welcomed the opportunity to meet the Scottish Women’s Budget Group over the summer, and I will be reflecting the views of its members on the investment priorities for women in our budget process.

Through action across Government, including on child poverty, social security, employment, and violence against women and girls, we are improving outcomes across Scotland for women.

I very much look forward to hearing the committee’s questions this morning.

That is another critical point. The Government is already doing quite a lot in the early learning and childcare space. As well as the 1,140 hours provision, we are making significant further investments to improve the affordability and flexibility of childcare, which you have mentioned. We are supporting more parents to access work, education and training. We all know that, between parents, the burden of care and responsibility falls predominantly on women, so we are absolutely resolved to ensure that we promote access to work, education and training to women, in particular. We have grown that across 2026-27 through our delivery projects, and more than 7,000 children who are most at risk of living in poverty, and their families, are now benefiting from funded or subsidised childcare activities or other activities.

Going back to the tackling child poverty delivery plan, I note that it focuses on a complete package of support and understanding how best to support women with childcare. All those things are ways to support women to go back into work, education or training, because, once we reduce women’s poverty, that will have a direct impact on reducing and eradicating child poverty.

The Scottish child payment is a fantastic example of the precise things that we are doing. We are hoping to increase the payment for children under the age of one to £40 per week in 2027-28—subject, of course, to the parliamentary process. We estimate that that payment alone will be received by and benefit about 12,000 children per year. That is a tangible example of a payment that will benefit not just our children and young people but our women.

We have targets and measurements on child poverty. Understanding the targets on child poverty is one of the things that the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and Housing, Ms Somerville, is responsible for within her portfolio; we are committed to delivering against those targets.

Our child poverty targets are very bold and very ambitious, but we are up for that challenge. We are also resolute about ensuring that we understand the child benefit cap. I was very pleased that the UK Government made a U-turn on child benefit being capped at two children; as we all know, the rape clause was also within that space. The Scottish Government is doing a great amount of work in relation to that issue; it is a fantastic example of tangible support and outcomes arising from policy decisions that the Scottish Government has taken.

I will take that question.

One thing that we are absolutely firm about is that nobody in Scotland should have to meet a council tax liability that they cannot be expected to afford. In 2025-26 and 2026-27, we provided an additional £2.2 million of funding for Citizens Advice Scotland to support people with debt. That project promoted a dignified and empathetic approach to debt collection. We are also working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to encourage the adoption of best practice.

I am encouraged that there will be a review of council tax arrears, especially through the lens of domestic abuse. The results of that review will be communicated to Parliament by the end of this year.

I will come in on one point that the convener and Fulton MacGregor made. Whatever we do, it has to be done in the most dignified and empathetic manner. As Mr MacGregor highlighted, the burden of responsibility, especially for women who are in domestic abuse situations, is profound. Along with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and other agencies such as Citizens Advice Scotland, we are trying to make sure that dignity and empathy are part of the picture, so we will not lose our focus on that.

10:15

It is important to highlight that the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to the principles of fair work across all sectors.

Ms Gallacher, you highlighted the disparity of pay between council workers and those in the private sector. I will give this answer from the perspective of my previous role as a councillor in the City of Edinburgh Council. The pay decision was a council decision based on local democracy, and the Scottish Government can allocate funding to local authorities. I know that other councillors or former councillors are present, so they might wish to come in on that.

To look at that through a PSR lens, I will go back to the earlier comment about consistency between postcodes. We need to see PSR as an opportunity to balance the consistency of services and pay. That is all up for discussion. We need to have good consultation and an understanding between the Government and local authorities.

Absolutely.

Sure—no worries.

I echo your points. Ms Nevens and I have spoken about this issue. I have met with representatives of the Gypsy Traveller community in the context of anti-racism and community cohesion. I continue to work with COSLA and local authorities to address the situation and I have a meeting in the diary for early October, when I will have further discussion with members of the Gypsy Traveller community.

You will be aware that the First Minister apologised for some of the historical impacts of policies. That is crucial. The Government is determined to work in collaboration and discussion with our Gypsy Traveller community and we are mindful about doing so.

There are some fantastic examples of that. For instance, we have invested about £10,000 in Perth and Kinross Council to support its cultural initiatives linked to the tinker experiments and to ensure that we promote the history and heritage of Gypsy Traveller community. Through the affordable housing supply programme, we have allocated funding for accommodation. So, a lot of work is happening in that space. However, you are absolutely right that engagement is important.

I am pleased to tell the committee that I will meet members of the Gypsy Traveller community in Pitlochry in early October. I will have that meeting in the spirit of collaboration and engagement with which I have all meetings, and I am looking forward to working with that community.