Tag: Best Start Bright Futures

A brighter future for every child

Driving progress on child poverty as legislation to be reviewed

The type of targets used to measure the impact on child poverty will be reviewed to ensure continued progress in improving families’ lives.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the Scottish Government will begin the review this summer in consultation with children and families, charities and public bodies.

The announcement came during an update to the Scottish Parliament on progress towards eradicating child poverty. It is estimated that Scottish Government policies in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, published in March, will keep around 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year. 

Ms Somerville said: “Our defining mission is to eradicate child poverty and we are unwavering in that commitment. The review will help to make sure the targets set in our legislation are accounting for all efforts across government in ending child poverty.

“We have made a great deal of progress since the Act was passed in 2017, within the devolved powers we have, including introducing the game-changing Scottish Child Payment, and are making huge strides in cutting everyday costs for families. We must now bring together wider interventions such as our childcare package and free bus travel.

“Against a cost-of-living crisis, continued Westminster austerity, and a volatile international situation, the Scottish Government invested over £3.1 billion in support targeted at low-income households last year, with spend benefiting children rising to almost £1.5 billion, enabling ongoing investment in key policies.”

Child poverty campaigners have responded to Thursday’s (18th June) Scottish Government Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan – Annual Progress Report and her announcement of a review of child poverty targets.

 John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said: “Very real progress has been made on child poverty in Scotland recently, but the Cabinet Secretary’s focus today on reviewing targets rather than strengthening her child poverty plan is hugely concerning.  Struggling families need a stronger plan, not a review of targets. 

“It is vital that Ministers come forward with a revised child poverty plan. The current plan rightly focusses on boosting income from employment and social security and cutting the costs families face, but the scale and detail of action falls far short of what’s needed. A revised plan must demonstrably set out how further year-on-year progress will be made. For the one in five of Scotland’s children still locked in poverty there is no time to lose.”

Mr. Dickie continued: “Plans to increase the Scottish child payment for babies under one are a positive step but they won’t kick in for over a year and will still leave the vast majority of children without any additional financial support.

The promise of more breakfast clubs, after school and holiday activities and further childcare expansion will all be welcomed by families, but don’t yet add up to the scale of intervention needed to make serious further progress.”

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland sent a proposed Programme for Government to every member of the Scottish Parliament ahead of todays Ministerial Statement. The group’s proposal include:

  • Extending the planned increase to Scottish child payment for babies (to £40 a week) to all eligible children, as a step toward doubling its value to at least £55 per week by 2030.
  • Commencing outstanding provisions of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025 to enable gaps in Scottish child payment entitlement to be addressed, and to ensure the payment provides greater security for families whose earnings from work fluctuate by, for example, introducing a 12-week ‘run on’.
  • Ensuring high-quality school aged childcare is available to all parents during term time and school holidays.
  • Subsidising providers to deliver short periods of free childcare to help families when support for childcare costs from universal credit is not available
  • Using public procurement and public body wage setting powers to drive improvements in the quality of work.
  • Investing in the provision of affordable social housing, to ensure all children live in safe, secure and affordable homes; and
  • Funding every school to fully remove cost pressures from families, and overcome poverty-related barriers to learning through expansion of free school meals, extension of school clothing grants, provision of devices and connectivity, and funding access to ‘rite of passage’ residentials and school trips.

Mr Dickie continued: “There is no question that budget pressures and long-term fiscal sustainability pose a real challenge for the Scottish government.

“That is why it is more important than ever to reduce the long-term costs that poverty imposes on our public services and economy.

“Each and every public sector reform and tax and spending decision must be designed to contribute to child poverty reduction.”

Child Poverty Progress Update

Extra support for 30,000 families

Best Start Foods eligibility to widen 

Plans to remove all income thresholds from Best Start Foods by 2023-24 have been announced as part of the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’.

This will increase eligibility to all people in receipt of a qualifying benefit. As a result, an additional 30,000 people are expected to benefit from Best Start Foods.

Best Start Foods is delivered via a prepaid card and provides £18 every four weeks throughout pregnancy, £36 every four weeks from birth until a child turns one, then £18 every four weeks from one until a child turns three. 

The implementation of this change will be part of the successful delivery in the coming years of our significant, wider benefits programme.

Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said:  “Tackling child poverty is a national mission for us. We continue to take the necessary steps to reach the ambitious targets set out in our Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. Social security is one of the main pillars of this plan and will help us to  deliver support directly into the pockets of those families who need it the most.

“The cost of healthy food was already a pressure for parents and carers, and the cost of living increases are only making this more challenging. We will remove the income thresholds for Best Start Foods so that around 30,000 additional people who receive tax credits or certain benefits will be able to receive Best Start Foods by the end of financial year 2023-24.”

Sharon Hill, the Development Manager of Mayfield and Easthouses Development Trust, which runs a community pantry in Midlothian serving local people, said:  “We have been operating the pantry for less than a year but it is clear that people from all walks of life and backgrounds are looking for ways to cut costs when it comes to doing their essential food shopping.

“We encourage people to ensure that they get all the benefits that are available to them and we welcome any move to open that support up to include more people.

“Like many people involved in community pantries and food banks our aim is to help people get to a place where they don’t require these services any more.”

Background

  • The Scottish Government replaced the UK Healthy Start Voucher scheme in Scotland with Best Start Foods on 12 August 2019
  • Best Start Foods aims to help tackle the impacts of child poverty by supporting low income families to buy healthy foods
  • Best Start Foods is delivered via a prepaid card and provides £18 every four weeks throughout pregnancy, £36 every four weeks from birth until a child turns one, then £18 every four weeks until a child turns three
  • The card can be used to buy healthy food, including eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables and pulses
  • Applicants under 18 will be eligible for Best Start Foods during pregnancy and up until their child turns one, without the need to be in receipt of benefits
  • Applicants over 18 need to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit. At present, income thresholds also apply for some of these qualifying benefits.  These income thresholds will be removed by 2023-24
  • Eligible families, and carers can find out more and apply at mygov.scot/beststart or by calling Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 2222
  • Best Start Foods is part of a package of Five Family Payments. By the end of 2022, the Scottish Government’s package of Five Family Payments for low income families will be worth up to a maximum of over £10,000 by the time a family’s first child turns 6, and £9,700 for second and subsequent children

Scottish Government launches latest child poverty delivery plan

Best Start, Bright Futures

Child poverty in Scotland is projected to fall to its lowest level in nearly 30 years as a result of the actions taken to date and commitments in the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

More than 60,000 fewer children could be living in relative poverty in 2023 compared to 2017, according to updated modelling.

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said a focus on long-term parental employment opportunities, strengthened social security and support to reduce household costs are at the heart of the new four year delivery plan, Best Start, Bright Futures.

In 2022-23 this work will be supported by investment of almost £113 million on top of funding already allocated to ongoing programmes.

Actions include:

  • Significantly increasing employment services with the aim of supporting up to 12,000 parents to enter and progress in sustainable and fair work through actions taken over the life of the Plan, with initial investment of up to £81 million in 2022-23 in employability support for parents
  • Increasing Scottish Child Payment from £20 to £25 when the benefit is extended to under 16s by the end of 2022. This means £1,300 of support per eligible child per year. It is five times more than originally asked for by campaigners and an investment of £671 million over the next two years
  • Delivering a new Parental Transition Fund to tackle the financial barriers parents face in entering the labour market, particularly over the initial period of employment, with an investment of up to £15 million each year
  • Taking immediate steps to mitigate the UK Government’s Benefit Cap as fully as possible within devolved powers, through Discretionary Housing Payments. This will support our priority families, in particular, who are disproportionately impacted by this policy

https://twitter.com/i/status/1507077314328285187

Ms Robison said: “I am proud that our actions of the past four years, together with those set out in this plan, are projected to deliver the lowest level of child poverty in Scotland in 30 years.

“We are taking immediate steps to put cash in the pockets of families – tackling the cost of living crisis and helping to lift thousands of children out of poverty in Scotland.

“Our package of five family benefits for low income families, including the increased Scottish Child Payment, will be worth over £10,000 by the time a family’s first child turns 6, and £9,700 for second and subsequent children.

“That is a difference of more than £8,200 for every eligible child born in Scotland in comparison to England and Wales – highlighting the unparalleled support offered by this government to children across the early years.

“We will also build on our investment in employment support for parents, through new skills and training opportunities and key worker support to help reduce household costs and drive longer term change.

“Our national mission to tackle child poverty is already giving more children the best start and a bright future. We are determined to meet our ambitious targets set for 2023-24 and 2030 and beyond, so that no children in Scotland are living in poverty. We know there is not a silver bullet and this cannot be done overnight.”

Scottish Government Minister and Scottish Green Party Co-Leader Patrick Harvie said: “This plan delivers on key commitments to tackle child poverty and inequality in the cooperation agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party.

“We welcome the actions being taken, particularly in mitigating the UK Government benefit cap and increasing the Scottish Child Payment which will provide major support to thousands of low income households.”

Reacting to the Scottish Government’s publication of its Child Poverty Delivery Plan, Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance said: “Child poverty is unjust and unnecessary. It’s a sign of Scotland’s commitment to compassion and justice that there are stretching targets to end it.

“A clear message from Poverty Alliance members ahead of the  new plan was to ‘put money in people’s pockets’. Commitments to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £25 by the end of this year and to mitigate the unjust benefit cap are therefore welcome. With one in four children in Scotland still growing up in the grip of poverty, and the rising cost of living meaning that many more families are being swept into hardship every day, this new plan needed to set out how we can do more to protect people from harm.

“On the back of the Chancellor’s failure of a Spring Statement yesterday, we needed to see real commitments that will make a positive impact on the lives of people on low incomes. Alongside the mitigation of the benefit cap, the expansion of employability support that provides tailored support to families can help to make that impact.

“However, there is significant scope to go much further to ensure that cash makes it to those who most need it. There is clear evidence that increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £40 would have an even greater impact in unlocking families from poverty and take us closer to the target of eradicating child poverty by 2030.

“The rising tide of poverty sweeping across the country demands that the actions contained in this Plan are not the peak of our ambitions, but merely a start. Our efforts cannot and must not cease.”

best-start-bright-futures-tackling-child-poverty-delivery-plan-2022-2026Download