Nicola Sturgeon has been urged by over 100 leading poverty campaigners to double the “lifeline” Scottish Child Payment to help desperate families.
In an open letter to the First Minister they have called on her to “do the right thing” to help thousands of poverty-stricken children.
The SCP is a vital £10-a-week payment for low income Scots that has initially been paid out for the under 6s.
Sturgeon’s SNP Government plans to extend the income boost to under-16s by the end of next year and double it to £20 a week over the course of the five year term.
However, around 260,000 kids are living in poverty and a think tank has projected it could rise to 29% of all children by 2023 - the highest in over twenty years.
In an unprecedented call, the End Child Poverty Coalition is demanding the doubling of the SCP is brought forward much earlier.
They want a commitment included in Sturgeon’s “programme for government” this month and implemented next year.
The letter to Sturgeon, whose signatories include the moderator of the Church of Scotland and the bosses of Barnardos, Save the Children and Oxfam, states:
“Every level of government has a duty to boost incomes where it can, and we are clear that the UK Government must scrap its planned and unjust £20 Universal Credit cut.
“But just as the UK Government has a moral responsibility to do the right thing, so too does the Scottish Government have a moral responsibility to use all of the powers at its disposal to loosen the grip of poverty on people’s lives.”
The coalition added: “The evidence is clear that if it is doubled now, it will represent the single most impactful action that could be taken to help meet the interim child poverty targets in 2023, and would signal that ending child poverty will be a defining priority for this Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.”
“If it is not, more and more children will be pulled into poverty and the opportunity to meet the interim child poverty targets will be missed.
“We therefore urge your government to do the right thing, to capitalise on the cross-party consensus that already exists, and to commit to doubling the Scottish Child Payment in this year’s budget.”
The powerful coalition includes organisations such as the Poverty Alliance, Save the Children, Barnardo’s Scotland, Oxfam, The Trussell Trust and Children 1st.
Other signatories include Church of Scotland Moderator Lord Wallace and Larry Flanagan, who is general secretary of the EIS teachers trade union.
Polly Jones, Head of the Trussell Trust, said:
“Food bank use has rocketed by 63% over the last five years because people can’t afford the basics. Over the last year, families have struggled more than most. We have the powers and we have the cross-party consensus to double the Scottish Child Payment now. If Scottish ministers are serious about making ending child poverty a ‘national mission’ then we must not delay.”
Eilidh Dickson of Engender, a campaign group for women’s issues, said:
“Child poverty and women’s poverty are inextricably linked. Doubling the Scottish Child Payment is an urgently needed response to supporting children and their caregivers. The Scottish Government must implement this now as part of its mission to eradicate child poverty.”
Scottish Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “With 260,000 children in Scotland living in poverty, there is no time to waste.
“Every year that this vital increase is delayed is another year of families missing out – but the government are still dragging their feet.
“In the election Scottish Labour pledged to double this payment immediately, and we will keep the pressure on the Scottish Government to do this and get this money to those who so urgently need it.”
Last night the Scottish Government insisted they were pushing ahead with rolling out the SCP to more families.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:
“Tackling child poverty is a national mission for this government. Tens of thousands of families are already benefitting from our Scottish Child Payment and we have committed to doubling the payment by the end of this parliamentary term. We will be extending to all under 16s by the end of next year subject to the necessary data being made available by DWP.
“Ahead of that roll out we have introduced bridging payments worth £520 a year in 2021 and 2022, to provide immediate support to around 145,000 children and young people of school age. Backed by £77 million of additional investment every year this means we are reaching as many low income families as possible almost two years ahead of the full roll out of the Scottish Child Payment.”
