
Labour minister suggests UK Government could copy Scottish Child Payment
A Labour minister has suggested that the UK Government could copy the Scottish Child Payment (SCP).
Employment minister Alison McGovern said "all levers are very much on the table" when asked if her government was considering raising the child element of universal credit to the same rate as the SCP.
SNP MP Kirsty Blackman said during Work and Pensions questions in the House of Commons on Monday: "Matching the Scottish Child Payment by raising the child element of Universal Credit would bring more than half a million children out of poverty.
"The Secretary of State has been clear that there are a lot of issues that are being considered as part of the child poverty taskforce.
"Would raising the child element of Universal Credit to the level of the Scottish Child Payment be one of those matters?"
Employment minister Alison McGovern said: "At risk of boring the House, all levers are very much on the table when it comes to getting our kids out of poverty."
The SCP is currently set at £27.15 a week and is paid for every child in eligible low income families.
It has been hailed as one of the successes of the Scottish Government over recent years by keeping kids out of poverty.
Aberdeen North MP Blackman said afterwards:
'The Scottish Child Payment lifts tens of thousands of kids out of poverty so if the Labour Government shares that ambition then replicating it is an absolute no brainer.
'Rather than plotting a scheme to slash payments for disabled people, the Labour Government should look to Scotland for its example on lifting families out of poverty – instead they persist on dipping into the Tory playbook of hammering the most vulnerable.
'It was welcome to hear the Minister say all options remain on the table, but sadly the people who sit round that table previously robbed pensioners of their Winter Fuel Payment, betrayed the WASPI women and enforced the two child benefit cap.
'If the Labour Government copied measures taken by the SNP Scottish Government they'd lift nearly 2 million people out of poverty – that's the fact of the matter, but I won't be holding my breath.'
The child poverty taskforce will publish a report which will outline the UK Government's child poverty strategy later this year.
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