Child poverty falling in Scotland but rising in rest of UK
Westminster has been urged to learn from Holyrood after a study by the Big Issue found that Scotland has seen a 12% drop in child poverty since introducing reduction targets into law in 2017 - equivalent to a reduction of 21,000 living in relative poverty.
Yet in the same period, England and Wales have seen a 15% rise.
READ MORE: Assa Samake-Roman: Build-to-rent won't solve housing crisis but will bleed people dry
The magazine said its study highlighted why Westminster should implement similar poverty reduction targets as Scotland.
Its analysis of UK child poverty statistics found that the assent of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 was a 'parting of the ways' for the different home nations' trajectories on child poverty.
The report said a cyclical target-setting method would translate Labour's stated ambition of 'enduring poverty reduction' into concrete, measurable steps.
Lord John Bird, Big Issue founder and crossbench peer, said: 'With child poverty in England and Wales predicted to rise to new pernicious highs, we cannot accept rhetoric in place of real change – we must demand sustained, legislative action.
'Parliamentarians possess the authority to drive this transformation. Let us not look back and regret another missed opportunity. The time has come to stop simply managing poverty and to begin ending it.'
READ MORE: Children's care service threatened with closure after 'serious concerns' raised
The Scottish Government has previously said it is on a "national mission" to end child poverty.
On Monday, First Minister John Swinney announced more families would be able to benefit from free school meals for children after the summer holidays.
The Scottish Government is investing £3 million in a trial phase which will extend the provision of free school meals to S1 to S3 pupils who receive the Scottish child payment.
And earlier this month, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville announced the Scottish Government would be ditching the two-child benefit cap on March 2.
The two-child limit denies child allowances in Universal Credit and tax credits to third or subsequent children born after April 2017 and has been kept in place by Keir Starmer's Labour UK Government.
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Why not use some of the council land and build a prefab village, or a portacabin village? 'One might think, well, that doesn't sound great. But at least if you are allocated a unit, it's yours – you're not moved every six months because the hotel has run out of contract, you're not moved from A to B because of anti-social behaviour.' He's had a wide-ranging background, spending time in the British Army and as a part-time police officer in his younger years before leaving Northern Ireland in 1984 to continue a career in sales, management and project management. Mr Neill, who moved to Edinburgh in 2023, says that his work experience gives him a 'good background' for becoming a councillor. Murray Visentin, SNP – A well-established local face SNP candidate Murray Visentin says that one of the biggest concerns he's heard of in the ward is issues around the Caledonian Brewery redevelopment, in Shandon. While it's not in the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart ward, he says many local residents are concerned about the parking impact the development – which has two parking spaces for almost 170 units – will have. He also says he's heard that potholes are an issue, as well as anti-social behaviour. He said: 'One thing that has been, even in my Asda, is anti-social behaviour from youths not long after Covid. 'People were stuck in the house for a long time, and the kids felt like they could run amok like they could run amok in their houses. 'And then you've got what people always talk about, which is potholes.' Having spent most of his life in the ward, Murray Visentin says he has a strong tie to the community he's looking to represent. He believes he can serve his local community best by running for council, saying: 'My belief is that local politics can make a difference with people more than national politics. 'It can come across as a negative thing sometimes, but local politics, regardless of party, becomes, 'what can your councillor do for you?' 'And because I know an awful lot of people in the ward, they'll have this local personal contact, and I thought that's probably the best thing I could possibly do for my local community.' Mr Visentin works as a manager at Chesser Asda, and says this brings him people and management skills that would make him well-suited for the job. He presently works as a manager in the warehouse, where he's ended up due to his possessing a forklift license, but has worked as a manager in every part of the store. All candidates A full list of candidates is as follows: Bonnie Prince Bob, Independent Derrick Emms, Independent Lukasz Furmaniak, Scottish Libertarian Party Mark Hooley, Scottish COnservative and Unionist Party Richard Crewe Lucas, Scottish Family Party Q Manivannan, Scottish Green Party Kevin Joseph McKay, Scottish Liberal Democrats Catriona Munro, Scottish Labour Party Gary Neill, Reform UK Mark Rowbotham, Independent Murray Visentin, Scottish National Party Steve Cristopher West, Independent Marc Wilkinson, Independent
