Almost a quarter of West Lothian’s children live in relative poverty a new report has found.
That is almost 9000 children, standing at 24.6 per cent, which is higher than the Scottish average.
And the problem has grown since 2015.
In a report to the West Lothian Council’s Executive, the council’s anti-poverty service manager, Elaine Nisbet, outlined the most up-to-date figures following on from almost two years of covid lockdown, job losses and furlough.
The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 set out ambitious targets to significantly reduce child poverty in Scotland by 2030, with interim targets set for 2023.
Latest estimates indicate that 24.6 per cent (8740) of children in West Lothian were in relative poverty in 2019 to 2020, compared to 24.3 per cent in Scotland.
This is the largest proportion of children living in relative poverty since 2014 to 2015 and represents a 3.3 per cent increase in the five-year period between 2015 to 2020.
In her report, Mrs Nisbet said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has served to further highlight long- standing inequalities within our communities as the financial impact of the pandemic has been more significant for those at the highest risk of poverty.
“Consideration of socio-economic factors and the commitment to tackle child poverty has been integral to the pandemic response at both national and local level.”
The Local Child Poverty Action Report (LCPAR) highlights local anti-poverty initiatives delivered by West Lothian Council, NHS Lothian and a number of third sector partners that contribute to these aims and help improve the financial position and life chances of families most at risk of experiencing poverty.”
Mrs Nisbet’s report, drawn up in conjunction with the NHS, highlighted families most at risk and three key factors driving child poverty in the county.
These are: income, cost of living – including energy and food costs – and money received from welfare benefits.
Securing the correct benefits for the most at risk has been core to the work of the advice shops and the anti-poverty service that Mrs Nisbet heads within the council.
Even before the covid pandemic the service was starting to see many more people experiencing debt problems for the first time through issues such as the roll-out of Universal Credit.
Those most at risk are families with disabilities, people with more than three children, lone parents and those of ethnic minorities.
A key part of the West Lothian Anti-Poverty Strategy was to establish an ‘Experts by Experience’ panel to gather the views of those who have had experience of poverty at some point in their lives and to provide a platform for local residents to have their say about how we address poverty at a local level.
The panel currently has 10 members who meet regularly to provide feedback on actions developed to mitigate the impact of poverty.
Though unable to meet face-to-face because of the lockdown and covid restrictions it has developed a range of online tools to help those facing difficulties including a self-help benefit calculator and budgeting planner, an interactive map of local community food resources and a crisis support tool kit developed in response to the pandemic.
Third sector input has also rapidly developed during the pandemic through groups such as West Lothian Food Network.
Delivering the updated figures to the committee the council’s head of finance, Donald Forrest said: “A two-year plan will enable us locally to try and do what we can to reduce that figure.”
Councillor Kirsteen Sullivan, depute council leader told the meeting: “It’s quite a difficult read this report and I think we’d all recognise that many levers to address child poverty lie at a national level both in Scotland and the UK. I’d like to thank the staff of the Anti-Poverty Service for their work, and indeed the community partners.
“It has been a huge effort by community partners coming together to do whatever locally to address some of the challenges that vulnerable families face.”
Councillor Sullivan added: “It looks like it’s going to be a very challenging period ahead and it really is all hands to the pump here to try and make life as easy as possible for those facing severe hardships.”
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