Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Official Report 1117KB pdf

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Child Poverty

The next item of business is a statement by Shona Robison on the tackling child poverty progress report. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.

14:55  

Today, I have published the third annual progress report due under the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. During the past unprecedented year, we have done everything in our power to support children and families who have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and to continue to drive progress on our ambition to eradicate child poverty. We have built on the strong supports that have been established to date, and worked with partners to deliver entirely new support, rising to the challenge and demonstrating our capacity and capability to make significant change at pace.

The report published today highlights that all 66 of the actions that we have previously reported on are either in progress or being delivered. It also highlights that the scale of the investment that we have targeted at low-income families with children continues to grow, rising to £978 million in 2020-21, including £118 million of targeted investment made through our response to Covid-19. That is part of almost £2.5 billion that we have invested to support low-income households, including more than £434 million of Covid-related investment in social assistance.

The report also highlights the scale of the challenge that we face in eradicating child poverty in Scotland. We know that the Covid pandemic will make reducing poverty that much harder, which is why we must work together across Scotland to deliver the change that is needed.

During the past year, we have continued to take action against each of the three key drivers of poverty. We have stood up a wide range of new support to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and protect children and families, working in partnership with local authorities and wider partners, including the third sector. We have made strong progress in maximising household incomes through social security with the introduction of three new benefits, which are unavailable elsewhere in the UK, each offering completely new support. That includes our job start payment, which supported more than 230 young parents to transition in to work with payments of £400 to meet essential costs, and our child winter heating allowance, which supported more than 14,000 children and put £2.8 million in the pockets of families with the most severely disabled children, helping to ease the financial pressures that were caused by winter fuel costs and the Covid pandemic.

Notably, in February, we delivered on a landmark commitment by commencing payment of the game-changing Scottish child payment for eligible families with children under the age of six. It is our 10th benefit and is worth £40 every four weeks. I am delighted that, by the end of March, we had made payments worth more than £3.6 million for more than 78,000 children.

In addition, we introduced new pandemic support payments to provide immediate financial support to families in need, reaching almost 145,000 children and young people. We will build on that approach to deliver bridging payments of £520 each year until the Scottish child payment is rolled out in full at the end of 2022 as committed to, and we will fulfil one of our 100 days commitments by paying a further £100 for each child around the start of the summer holidays in addition to the £100 paid at Easter.

Importantly, we have now committed to doubling the Scottish child payment by the end of the current parliamentary session by increasing payments to £80 every four weeks. We will look to do that as early as possible, thus putting more money into the pockets of families who need it.

We have delivered new action to reduce living costs and ensure access to essentials. That includes the May 2020 launch of connecting Scotland, which is one of the most comprehensive national programmes aimed at tackling digital exclusion in the world. Since then, the programme has supported more than 17,000 families with children and 4,000 young care leavers, helping them to get online and access the benefits that digital connectivity can bring.

To tackle food insecurity and reduce the strain on family budgets, we invested more than £56 million to support the continued provision of free school meals for around 156,000 children and young people during school closures, periods of online learning and school holidays, promoting a cash-first approach, as parents know best what they need. We will continue that support during forthcoming school holidays, alongside commencing the expansion of our universal free school meal offer for primary school children.

Despite the impacts of the pandemic, we have also continued to deliver progress on our action to increase incomes from work and earnings. In 2020-21, more than 4,500 workers saw an increase in their earnings as a result of living wage accreditation, and we have applied fair work first criteria to more than £2.4 billion of public sector grant funding, helping to deliver fairer workplaces for workers across Scotland.

The impact of the pandemic has meant that it has not been possible to deliver the anticipated progress on all commitments. However, we have taken ambitious and realistic steps to ensure that we deliver on them as quickly as possible and that we go further in future. For example, our expansion of early learning and childcare is now set to be completed from August, although more than half of councils are already delivering the expanded offer of 1,140 hours. Given the importance of childcare to families, we have set out the next stage of our ambition, which is to further expand childcare and to develop a wraparound childcare system that provides care before and after school, all year round.

As soon as possible, we will complete delivery against the target of 50,000 homes that we set during the previous parliamentary session, and we have committed to delivering a further 100,000 affordable homes by 2031-32.

We have committed a further £8.65 million this year for our parental employability support fund, bringing total investment to more than £23 million since 2019, and enabling even more parents to benefit from that service. We have also extended our commitment to the fair start Scotland service until 2023, to ensure that future demand for employment support can be met.

We are determined to maintain the pace and determination with which we responded to the Covid pandemic. That is why, in addition to the measures that I have already mentioned, we have committed to taking further steps in the first 100 days of the parliamentary session. That includes delivering our ambitious summer programme for children and young people and further increasing the minimum value of school clothing grants and our best start food payments.

In Scotland, we are serious about ending child poverty, and we have committed to a wide range of action to do just that. Early analysis of the impact of our Scottish child payment suggested that it could move 30,000 children out of poverty when it is paid at £40 every four weeks. Doubling that will enable us to go even further. However, the UK Government’s cut of £20 to universal credit threatens to knock out the benefit of that ambitious measure and to push 20,000 Scottish children into poverty. The Scottish Government is giving with one hand what is taken away by another. It is a disgrace that our efforts to tackle child poverty are at risk of being undermined by regressive UK Government policy and a broken welfare system.

We have declared a national mission to eradicate child poverty. We know the scale of the challenge that we face and, although the Scottish child payment is a game-changing policy, we need more of those, right across Government, to deliver the change required. The Government is hugely aspirational. Our commitment to exploring the feasibility of a minimum income guarantee, which could be revolutionary in our fight against poverty, is a clear demonstration of our ambition for Scotland.

The Cabinet recognises that that is a cross-Government responsibility, and we are 100 per cent committed to doing everything in our power and using every lever that is at our disposal to deliver the change that is needed. However, it is not just Government that needs to act. We must take a team Scotland approach and work collectively to eradicate child poverty. That will take Parliament, civic Scotland, the public sector, and businesses doing everything that they can to support those efforts.

We will shortly commence consultation on our next delivery plan for tackling child poverty, which is to be published by the end of March 2022. We will build on the action that has been taken to date and on the strong evidence base that has been established. We will be guided by the recommendations and challenge that is offered by the Poverty and Inequality Commission and by the blueprint of the social renewal advisory board. In the plan’s development, we will also work closely with our partners, with experts by experience, and with children and young people themselves.

As the report that is being published today demonstrates, we are already taking wide-ranging action, but we must do more, and I ask all members to help us in that. I call on them to support us in taking the action required and to come forward with ideas—my door is always open to positive and serious suggestions—and I ask them to back the Government in eradicating the blight of child poverty once and for all.

The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues that were raised in her statement. I intend to allow about 20 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business.

I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement.

There is welcome cross-party agreement on, and support for, the actions to tackle child poverty that the cabinet secretary outlined, including the doubling of the Scottish child payment. Many people in the sector are, however, asking what is preventing ministers from taking steps to double the Scottish child payment as soon as possible. The cabinet secretary said that it will be

“by the end of this parliamentary session”—

which is some five years away—and said in the same paragraph that the Government would look to double the payment “as early as possible”. Why will the Scottish Government not commit to a date for delivery?

A key area on which the cabinet secretary did not touch is the Scottish Government’s record on children who live in temporary accommodation. The most recent Scottish Government statistics show that 7,900 children are living in temporary accommodation, which is a 9 per cent increase on the figure for 2019-20.

We all know that a safe and stable home is vital to a child’s wellbeing and development. After 14 years of Scottish National Party Government, the situation is getting worse and worse, especially here in the capital. Will the cabinet secretary say what plans the Scottish Government will put in place to ensure that we end the problem of households that include pregnant women and children living in temporary accommodation? How will the Government prioritise the issue?

First—as, I think, Miles Briggs acknowledged—I note that the Scottish child payment is a game-changing policy in the fight against child poverty. As I said, our manifesto commits us to doubling the payment to £80 per month by the end of this parliamentary session, which has been widely welcomed.

We recognise the need for urgent action. We will double the payment as soon as is practicable. We are considering the timetable for the increase, taking account of the impact on child poverty as well as legislative, financial and delivery considerations, and I will make an announcement in due course. I recognise that there is an appetite to go as quickly as possible.

Miles Briggs asked about children in temporary accommodation. He will be aware of the enormous efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure that people could be in safe accommodation. I do not want anyone to live in unsuitable temporary accommodation, so it is a top priority for me to try to resolve the situation.

Miles Briggs also alluded to regional variations; the issue is more difficult to tackle in some areas than it is in others. I want to engage with local authorities and housing associations in each area, to consider what more we can do.

The 100,000 affordable homes that we have delivered are important, as is the commitment to building 100,000 more affordable homes, 70 per cent of which will be for social rent. That will make a big impact, but there is more to be done.

I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement.

It is a tragedy but—sadly—it will be no surprise to anyone in the chamber that, at the point when we need to do more, we are set to miss by 4 per cent the child poverty target that Parliament set.

The Poverty Alliance and civic society are united in making it crystal clear that if we are to move towards giving people lives that are free from poverty, we must double the Scottish child payment immediately. Today, the Government committed to doubling the payment by the end of this parliamentary session. That is not soon enough.

Will the cabinet secretary say what the hold-up is? If not now, when will she do so? I share the Government’s concern about the removal of the £20 uplift to universal credit, so I find it hard to understand why the Government is not prepared to use its power to mitigate that policy, right now.

People in single-parent families, people of colour and families that include disabled people or carers are more likely to live in poverty. Those people are being hit hardest. A minimum income guarantee is needed to lift those people above the poverty line. The Government has committed to a minimum income guarantee, but when will it begin to take steps to introduce the policy? Will it set out what those steps will be?

As the cabinet secretary knows, my view is that we cannot successfully reach a minimum income standard without making changes across Government—

Will you ask a question, please?

Will the cabinet secretary today commit to making the minimum income guarantee an organising principle for this Government?

I hope that Pam Duncan-Glancy will not mind my sharing that we had a constructive discussion about issues to do with the minimum income guarantee when we met last week.

I want to get the steering group up and running—as Pam Duncan-Glancy is aware, that is one of our commitments for our first 100 days—and I want then to consider the feasibility of introducing a minimum income guarantee. We discussed the fact that that could encompass not only cash but in-kind support across a myriad of areas of government. That work is important, so I assure her that I want to see it progress at the earliest opportunity.

As I said to Miles Briggs, we want to bring forward the doubling of the Scottish child payment as quickly as possible. However, I am sure that Pam Duncan-Glancy will recognise that, even in the first 100 days, we have brought forward delivery of bridging payments of £520 a year until the end of 2022, by which time we have committed to rolling out fully the Scottish child payment to those who are currently not eligible. That fulfils one of our first 100 days commitments, so it is not a fair accusation to say that the Government is not moving fast enough to put money into the pockets of the families who need it most.

The cabinet secretary will recognise that the United Kingdom Government’s two-child policy is a major driver of child poverty, and that even if the two-child policy did not exist, the UK benefit cap would still enforce that misery for many families. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me and organisations including the Child Poverty Action Group that both policies must go? What actions will the Scottish Government take to support families who are impacted by these draconian measures?

I agree very much with Marie McNair. Scottish ministers have, since the start of the pandemic, written to the UK Government on four occasions calling for the measures, which trap many families in poverty, to be scrapped. Over time, more and more families will be affected by the callous two-child cap. By April 2019, 8,500 families across Scotland had been denied entitlement for their children. In the long run, up to £120 million a year could be cut from benefit spend in Scotland, which will push 20,000 children into poverty. Similarly, the damaging impacts of the benefit cap have been highlighted during the pandemic. Cases have nearly doubled to 6,500, and 97 per cent of those households contain children.

Therefore, I reiterate my call: it is the UK Government’s responsibility to ensure that its policies provide adequate support. I hope that Parliament can unite in calling on it to do that.

The Government’s statement refers to working in partnership with local authorities, partners more widely and the third sector. Funding was set aside specifically to support disabled parents to access employment. Can the cabinet secretary say whether that funding has been distributed to all local authorities? If it has not, can she provide a timescale for that?

First, I note that the partnership with local government is important. Local government is one of the main delivery partners for many of the programmes that have been outlined. I will write to Alexander Stewart on the specific question about moneys to local authorities for parental employment. That is a key pillar of support for families; it ensures that families are supported into work, reduces the cost of living and provides cash and in-kind support to families.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report on Scotland’s curriculum for excellence, which was published this week, found that there has been an apparent improvement in tackling the poverty-related attainment gap, that the impact of socioeconomic status on performance here is among the lowest among OECD countries, and that a greater proportion of resilient young people from less well-off backgrounds are performing at high levels. That is quite a turnaround from the picture in previous OECD reports.

Given that building resilience has been at the core of the SNP Government’s early years education and development agenda, can the cabinet secretary commit to driving forward that early years agenda by working in partnership with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on tackling the impact of poverty on children?

I thank Fiona Hyslop for her question.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has underlined the importance of the OECD’s findings and recommendations. As I said, we are investing £1 billion over this session of Parliament to close the attainment gap, with record funding of more than £215 million in 2021-22, which will help to provide targeted help to some of the most disadvantaged children and young people.

However, we recognise that more must be done if we are to maintain that relentless pursuit of equality in education. That is why we are introducing free school lunches for primary 4 children as a first step towards providing free school breakfasts and lunches for all primary school pupils. I also mentioned the best start food funding. We have the school clothing grant, as well. All those taken together are important, but I am keen to work with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills to see what more we can do. I want to work with every cabinet secretary and minister to make sure that we redouble our efforts to tackle child poverty.

The Scottish Government rightly recognises that low pay is at the heart of child poverty and that it is an issue that should preoccupy everyone across the country. Why, then, will the Government not commit to paying carers—a workforce that is largely made up of seriously underpaid women with childcare responsibilities—£15 an hour?

Carol Mochan has raised an important point about the social care workforce. She will be aware of the work that is going on around the building of a national care service, of which pay and conditions are a key part. That is important in this agenda, given the three pillars that I talked about, with the first being employment. Care services have a mainly female workforce supporting families, so the employment pillar is important in making sure that we support those families and that workforce. I am confident that pay and conditions will be taken forward and improved as part of building the national care service.

We know that increasing household incomes from work and earnings is one of the key ways to tackle poverty effectively. Can the cabinet secretary outline what impact the parental employability support fund will have on tackling poverty in Scotland?

Jackie Dunbar has made an important point about one of the three key pillars in tackling poverty. Since 2019, we have committed more than £23 million to the parental employability support fund, which provides parents with employability support to help them enter and progress in the labour market.

The fund has a strong focus on each of the six priority family types that are identified in the tackling child poverty delivery plan, providing locally tailored support that is responsive to need. Our 2019-20 progress report estimated that around 11,500 children could positively benefit from our investment in the fund, with increases in parents’ take-home earnings directly impacting on child poverty targets.

What assessment—[Inaudible.]—of the current likelihood of meeting the child poverty reduction targets without new and additional action?

I think that the cabinet secretary struggled to hear that question, perhaps because of the sound quality. It would be helpful if Jeremy Balfour repeated the whole question.

What is the Scottish Government’s assessment of the current likelihood of meeting the child poverty reduction targets without new and additional action?

I apologise to Jeremy Balfour for not hearing him properly the first time.

My immediate response to Jeremy Balfour’s question is that it will be tough. In our report, which I hope everyone looks at, I have laid out the extensive actions that the Government has taken. However, in my statement, I also said clearly that all those actions and all the investment, even taken together, will not be enough. That is why we have committed to redouble our efforts across the Government and to look at everything that we do through a child poverty lens to see whether it works to reduce child poverty. That will be crucial.

I also make the point to Jeremy Balfour that although we could end up with all that work being on the right trajectory to hit those targets, we could be prevented from hitting them because of the actions of the UK Government—for example, in reducing the £20 universal credit uplift. I implore him and his colleagues to make representations on that to the UK Government, because it would be a travesty if the Scottish Government makes progress towards meeting those targets but is held back by UK Government welfare policy.

I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement and the report.

In the cabinet secretary’s statement, she referred to the Scottish child payment as a game changer in the fight against child poverty, but it will not be a game changer for the children who are eligible for the payment but do not receive it because their families are unaware of it, not supported to claim it or put off by the toxic demonisation of benefits claimants.

In January, the Scottish Fiscal Commission projected that by 2025-26 around 99,000 children will be eligible for but not receiving the payment. That would be nothing short of a national disgrace. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure that all families who are eligible will receive the payment?

Maggie Chapman makes a very important point about awareness of the Scottish child payment. She may be aware that, from the start, Social Security Scotland has promoted awareness of entitlement, which is perhaps a bit different from the position taken by the Department for Work and Pensions.

It is very much Social Security Scotland’s job to promote awareness of entitlement. However, that is not just Social Security Scotland’s job; it is everyone’s job. It is the job of health visitors, teachers, social care staff and general practitioners who come into contact with families who they think may be eligible to make sure that awareness is heightened. For example, one important project involves the co-location of benefit advisers in GP surgeries. We should miss no opportunity to make sure that families are aware of their entitlement to not just the Scottish child payment but all the other benefits that they may be able to claim.

I welcome my friend Shona Robison to her place back in the Cabinet.

The impact of Covid on poverty will be a big challenge for us to address. On Monday I took part in a meeting with the Poverty Alliance and other groups across Scotland about just that. Rent arrears and indebtedness was one issue that was highlighted. What assessment has the Scottish Government made of the impact on debt and poverty levels in Scotland of removing the £20-per-week universal credit uplift, and what work has she done to persuade the UK Government to make the uplift permanent?

I thank Neil Gray for his question. I very much enjoyed working with him on the Social Justice and Fairness Commission.

The Scottish Government analysis that was published in November estimated that removing the £20 uplift and reinstating the minimum income floor would reduce benefit spend in Scotland by £476 million in 2021-22. Although the UK Government has extended those measures to the end of September, the scale of the loss to families will be hugely significant if the uplift is cut.

As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has highlighted, even with the uplift, families who are unable to work are still £1,600 per year worse off now than they were in 2011. That is why we have written to the UK Government seven times calling for it to make the uplift permanent and to extend it to those who are in receipt of legacy benefits.

Neil Gray also made a point about rent arrears. Given the importance of the issue, which I recognise, the Deputy First Minister announced the establishment of a tenant grant fund to add to the other measures that we are taking to help people who have been impacted by Covid-19 during the pandemic in relation to rent arrears.

Scottish Liberal Democrats campaigned for years to convince the SNP of the value of offering funded childcare for two-year-olds from deprived backgrounds. Supporting children in their early years is one of the most effective ways of driving down the attainment gap. It also helps parents to return to work by easing the burden of childcare costs and, by extension, it drives down in-work poverty.

Statistics that were released this week show there are still more than 8,000 two-year-olds missing out on that entitlement. What will the Scottish Government do to improve that terrible take-up rate and deliver flexible childcare to those who need it most?

As I said in my statement, the expansion of early learning and childcare is now set to be completed from August this year. Of course, half of councils are already delivering the expanded offer of 1,140 hours to families. Given the importance of the issue, we have set out the next stage of our ambition to further expand childcare and develop a wraparound childcare system before and after school, all year round.

The member makes an important point about two-year-olds. As I said, one of the three key pillars is about cash and in-kind support. Wraparound childcare is one of the most important aspects of in-kind support for families, and it can make a big difference in lifting them out of poverty. I will be working with my Cabinet colleagues to ensure that that is delivered.

Interventions such as the Scottish child payment will make a huge difference, but there will always be a limit to what can be achieved while the majority of powers to tackle child poverty remain reserved to Westminster. The cabinet secretary referred to that in her opening remarks, but will she provide further examples of areas where the Scottish Government is unable to act to tackle child poverty because powers are reserved?

Although around 15 per cent of social security spend is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, and it is our job to make the most of that spend in tackling child poverty, 85 per cent of the spend is not devolved and remains at Westminster, including key income-replacement benefits such as universal credit. I have already outlined the damaging effect of withdrawing the £20 uplift in universal credit. Of course, the benefit cap and the senseless two-child limit just add to the issues and problems.

With full powers over social security, we could deliver a system that is fit for purpose, that treats people with dignity and respect and that tackles and reduces poverty. Similarly, if we had employment powers, we could make the real living wage mandatory, outlaw unfair fire-and-rehire tactics and ban the inappropriate and exploitative use of zero-hours contracts. Those are just a few ideas about what we could do if we had powers in this place over those matters.

That concludes the statement. Before we move on to the next item of business, I am required to remind members that social distancing measures are in place in the chamber and across the Holyrood campus. I ask members to take care to observe those measures, including when entering and exiting the chamber.