Sarwar and Swinney accused of 'inaction on child poverty'

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

Mr Swinney will visit her Junior's Charity on Monday as he campaigns in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, despite its funding being stripped in 2023.
Scottish Labour leader Mr Sarwar visited the charity on Sunday, accusing the SNP leader of 'political stunts' - but he signalled his own party's position on the Scottish Child Payment has changed.
In 2021, he called for the benefit to be increased to £40 per week but he has now told The Herald the welfare approach was "wrong".
It comes as the End Child Poverty Coalition revealed 24.7% of children in the Westminster constituency of Hamilton and Clyde Valley lived in relative poverty.
That constituency includes Hamilton and Larkhall, while the East Kilbride and Strathaven constituency - which has 19.4% of children in poverty - includes Stonehouse.
Ms Robertson told The Herald the "huge" levels of child poverty in Hamilton has only worsened in recent years.
Read more:
"Our services have grown, and our numbers are sky high - but there is no funding so the impact that has on the charity to be there for the people and make it work, it is incredibly difficult," she said.
"It wasn't like this when I was growing up but it is one of the most deprived places and it's absolutely horrendous."
She added that both the Scottish and UK Government's were "absolutely not doing enough" to support families in poverty.
"It shouldn't get to that. The cost of everything is so high and the payments and the support is not doing enough."
The charity supports lone parents and disadvantaged families, offering a weekly food bank, baby bank and other vital services.
The Lanarkshire charity learned its Scottish Government funding - issued through the Investing in Communities Fund - had been pulled and has struggled to stay open since.
An SNP spokeswoman said SNP councillors in South Lanarkshire had proposed funding for charities in the budget this year but blamed Labour councillors for voting against it.
She said the government was "providing certainty to charities through the new multi-year fairer funding pilot" and said grants and food payments had helped 20,855 families in South Lanarkshire.
Figures from the End Child Poverty Coalition, calculated using analysis from Loughborough University, found at least one in four children in two-thirds of UK constituencies are still trapped in poverty after housing costs are removed.
Members of the coalition are among those who joined with The Herald last month to urge Mr Swinney to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40, and demand the UK Government scraps the two-child benefit cap as a matter of urgency.
Read more:
A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) also found Scotland may have to spend £920 million a year in benefits to meet its 2030 targets of reducing child poverty to under 10%.
It found increasing the Scottish Child Payment - which is given to low income families for every child under the age of 16 - to £40 per week would have the "best poverty reduction impact per pound".
Meanwhile, Mr Sarwar refused to say whether it remained Scottish Labour's position for the Scottish Child Payment to be increased. In 2021, he urged the Scottish Government to "take the urgent action Scotland needs".
But speaking exclusively to The Herald on Sunday, Mr Sarwar signalled a shift in position.
"The financial conditions have to be right, for me," he said.
"If you look at the challenges we've got right now - and I support the Scottish Child Payment, let me emphasise that - but just thinking that increasing welfare payments is going to be the long-term solution to lift families structurally and permanently out of poverty, I think is the wrong approach."
Mr Sarwar was asked whether the charities who described the benefit increase as the most important method to reduce poverty were wrong.
He said: "No. Look, I respect these charities and I talk to them regularly and I completely understand where they are coming from and I'll continue to work with them but we have to address the structural inequality that exists in our country."
Meanwhile, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: 'We are absolutely committed to meeting the 2030 child poverty targets and thanks to the actions we are already taking, families in the poorest 10% of households are estimated to be £2,600 a year better off in 2025-26 and this value is projected to grow to an average of £3,700 a year by 2029-30.
'However our policies are having to work harder in the current economic context and as a result of decisions taken by the UK Government, such as keeping the two-child limit on Universal Credit which are holding back Scotland's progress.
'While the Joseph Rowntree Foundation predict child poverty will rise in other parts of the UK by 2029, they highlight that policies such as our Scottish Child Payment, and our commitment to mitigate the two-child limit, are behind Scotland 'bucking the trend'."