The Scottish Government has been urged to guarantee that no money for child poverty will be used to fill a £2.1billion budget black hole. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said cash earmarked for the most vulnerable must not be part of any “bail out” by Holyrood Ministers.
As revealed by the Record yesterday, leaked documents show that the SNP/Green Government is struggling to balance the budget this year due to spiralling spending costs. The size of the black hole could reach £2.1billion, with around £700million of the sum estimated to be for public sector pay rises.
Opposition politicians were shocked when civil servants suggested cuts could be made to programmes for vulnerable children. One idea was to stop or delay a planned £5-a-week increase to the Scottish Child Payment, a vital benefit for low-income families.
Rethinking the rise would save £28million, according to the document. Another idea was halting the £50million “ Promise Fund ”, which provides support for children and their families.
Anas Sarwar wants a firmer pledge that child poverty cash will not be used to balance the books. He said: “Child poverty is a blight on our society. The fact that so many children are living in poverty in Scotland – including almost half of children in Nicola Sturgeon’s constituency – should shame us all.
“We have had assurances from Nicola Sturgeon that tackling child poverty is a top priority. But the news that the SNP is considering postponing the rise to the child payment to tackle the £2.1billion black hole makes a mockery of their claims.
“Money earmarked for tackling child poverty should not be used to bail out SNP economic incompetence. The people of Scotland deserve better than this.”
When approached on Monday, the Scottish Government said it was still “committed” to both policies. All spending portfolios apart from health have also been asked to “model” two per cent cuts in a bid to rein in spending.
John Dickie of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland said any move to scrap an increase to the Scottish Child Payment would be “unthinkable”. He said it would lead to more children being trapped in poverty.
A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “We are absolutely committed to increasing the Scottish Child Payment exactly as we have promised – and are also providing almost £3billion this year in support to tackle the Tory-made cost of living crisis.
"We could do even more with the full powers of independence – but Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour would rather those key powers stay in Boris Johnson’s hands at Westminster.”
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
