Is Swinney serious about tackling child poverty?
Eradicating child poverty has been the 'moral compass' of John Swinney's government this past year.
And in his Programme for Government (PfG) last week, he maintained that it remained the number one focus.
It would be fair to assume, then, that the legislative agenda for the year ahead would be filled with fresh ideas to achieve those ambitions. But there were none.
Read more from Unspun:
The First Minister was right to say that child poverty is estimated to rise in every part of the UK except for Scotland, with the 'game-changing' Scottish Child Payment praised by anti-poverty organisation the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Scotland's child poverty rates are projected to be 10 percentage points lower than England's by 2029.
The benefits of the Scottish Child Payment should not be ignored for the contribution it will make towards this.
But under the vision Swinney has for Scotland, do we simply strive to be better than other parts of the UK, or do we go further and lift as many children out of poverty as possible?
Looking through the PfG, one policy stands out as new – and the impact it will make on children's lives in Scotland is limited.
From September this year, peak rail fares on ScotRail trains will be scrapped for 'good' to drive people out of their cars, while putting money back into the pockets of commuters.
Swinney was asked by journalists why he opted to announce discounted rail fares over child poverty action.
'In any policy programme, you have got to strike a balance in the commitments that you bring forward,' he said.
He said higher earners in Scotland were already being asked to contribute more through higher taxes to allow families on lower incomes to receive the Scottish Child Payment.
Children's charities had hoped the Programme for Government would bring bold action that would help the Scottish Government meet its ambitious targets on child poverty.
By 2030, the Scottish Government must reduce relative child poverty to under 10% and absolute child poverty to under 5%.
Current projections suggest that, while the SNP can be commended for being the only country in the UK not making child poverty worse, it is not on track to meet these targets.
Some 22% of children are in relative poverty, with the 18% interim target missed. Absolute poverty is at 17%, just short of the 14% goal.
Addressing child poverty, Swinney told MSPs in his speech: 'If we want to truly eradicate child poverty in Scotland, we must go further, and I recognise that.'
The PfG included commitments to expand free school meals to pupils in S1 to S3 who are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. It was announced in January already as a sweetener for the Scottish Greens to ensure the budget was passed.
That means that within the PfG, there were no new initiatives to tackle child poverty.
While eradicating child poverty may not be a huge driver in encouraging people to vote, the charities who took Swinney at his word to go further will not forget it – and they will be disappointed.
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