Edinburgh School Uniform Bank has taken another step forward in addressing the needs of children facing poverty by including stationery items in every clothing crisis pack.
This initiative comes in response to feedback from the Child Poverty Action Group Report on the cost of the school day.
By ensuring that children not only have access to proper school uniforms but also essential stationery, ESUB is helping to create a more level playing field.
This move will aid in reducing the stigma associated with poverty and enable children to focus on their education without the added worry of lacking basic school supplies, crucial for fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students.
This would not be possible without the generosity of our supporters! Thank you!
Seven years after the introduction of the two-child limit, there are almost 1.6 million children in 440,000 families affected by the policy. These families are missing out on up to £3,455 a year per child.
The two-child limit restricts support through universal credit (UC) or child tax credit to the first two children in a family, for children born after 6 April 2017.
Parents having a third or subsequent child after that date are not eligible for support for that child.
The majority of families affected by the policy are living in poverty, despite 59 per cent of these families having one or both parents in paid work.
Affected families report not being able to provide for children’s basic needs, including food, clothing and heating. The policy also means families struggle to pay for housing and childcare.
The policy affects every area of children’s lives. Parents report that children’s education, mental health, and learning and development are all negatively affected by the two-child limit.
Children are also missing out on the ‘everyday’ experiences of childhood such as days out with their family, being able to go on holiday, or having the occasional treat such as an ice cream.
Abolishing the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty, and the most urgent action the government must take to reduce child poverty.
It would lift 300,000 children out of poverty and mean 700,000 children are in less deep poverty, making a significant difference to the lives of over a million children at a cost of £1.7 billion.
The two-child limit will continue to drive up poverty as more children are born. Child poverty is already at a record high, with 4.3 million children in poverty in the UK today.
This means in an average classroom of 30, nine children are living in poverty.
Campaigners respond to annual Scottish child poverty reports
Child poverty campaigners respond to latest child progress reports from Scottish Government and independent Poverty and Inequality Commission.
One in four children still living in poverty, against 2030 target of less than one in ten.
“Reports are crystal clear that progress has stalled” say campaigners.
John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, has responded to the publication of the Scottish Government’s sixth Annual Tackling Child Poverty Progress Report and the Poverty and Inequality Commission independent scrutiny report.
The annual report is a statutory requirement under the 2017 Child Poverty (Scotland) Act and sets out the progress made towards meeting legally binding child poverty targets. The Act requires Scottish Ministers to consult the Commission in preparing its report.
Mr Dickie said; “We have seen very real action on child poverty in Scotland, not least the roll out of the Scottish child payment, but today’s reports are crystal clear that progress has stalled and that the policies in place are not enough to meet statutory targets. If child poverty really is the First Minister’s number one priority, then investment decisions need to back that up.”
Responding to the Cabinet Secretary’s statement to Parliament yesterday in which she said it had “not been possible to invest in all of the actions the government would have wished“, Mr Dickie said: “The failure of the 2024/25 Scottish budget to fully fund the childcare, employment and housing actions in the government’s own plan must never be repeated. The Scottish government’s child poverty delivery plan needs to be turbocharged, not underfunded.
“All political parties need to act at every level of government to deliver the economic, tax and spending plans that will ensure every family has the resources needed to protect their children from poverty. Here in Scotland the first step needs to be an immediate real terms increase to the Scottish child payment, and a commitment to ensure it reaches £40 per week by the end of the Parliament.
“At UK level all parties must commit to scrapping the poverty producing two-child limit and to increasing child benefit by £20 per week.
“Our children deserve nothing less.”
The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires Scottish Ministers to ensure less than less than 10% of children are living in poverty by 2030.
The latest official statistics (for 2021 to 2023) show that 24% of children (250 000 children) were living in poverty in Scotland.
controversial two-child limit on benefits a key driver, says CPAG
YESTERDAY’Sofficial poverty statistics show child poverty has reached a record high with an estimated 100,000 more children pulled into poverty last year.
The DWP’s annual Households Below Average Income shows 4.3 million children (30%) were in poverty in the year to April 2023. It shows:
100,000 more children were pulled into relative poverty (after housing costs). That means 4.3 million children (30% of all UK children) were in poverty – up from 3.6 million in 2010-11.
69% of poor children live in working families
46% of children in families with 3 or more children are in poverty, up from 36% in 2011/12.
Poor families have fallen deeper into poverty: 2.9 million children were in deep poverty (i.e. with a household income below 50% of after-housing-costs equivalised median income) 600,000 more than in 2010/11
36% of all children in poverty were in families with a youngest child aged under five
47% of children in Asian and British Asian families are in poverty, 51% of children in Black/ African/ Caribbean and Black British families, and 24% of children in white families
44% of children in lone parent families were in poverty
34% of children living in families where someone has a disability were in poverty
Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of Child Poverty Action Group and Vice-Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, said: “In a general election year, nothing should be more important to our political leaders than making things better for the country’s poorest kids.
“But child poverty has reached a record high, with 4.3million kids now facing cold homes and empty tummies.
“We know that change is possible but we need to see a commitment from all parties to scrap the two child limit and increase child benefits. Anything less would be a betrayal of Britain’s children.”
Liv Eren 20, who grew up in poverty, says: “As an 8-year-old I couldn’t go on the school trip, as a 12-year- old I was wearing last year’s school blazer and that feeling – that knock to your self-esteem – never really leaves you.
“People say growing up in hardship can motivate you, but what could I do aged 8 or 12?. It’s awful.”
Schools are seeing the effects of rising child poverty every day.
Tom Prestwich, Headteacher at Jubilee Primary School in Lambeth said: The levels of poverty we are seeing in school now and the numbers of children affected by it, are the worst I have seen.
“This can have a significant impact on our pupils’ ability to learn and on their overall wellbeing. Pupils who are coming to school hungry, pupils who are overtired because they are struggling to sleep in difficult home conditions, pupils who are cold or uncomfortable because of the clothes they have to wear are all at a disadvantage right from the start of their day.
“We do as much as we can to counteract this. We have breakfast clubs, give out fruit and bagels every day, give out old uniforms and support as much as we can with parents battling for improved housing but it does feel like the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged families is widening.
“This is happening at a time when school budgets are ever more stretched and our capacity to help and support families is reduced as a result.”
Simon Kidwell, head teacher at Hartford Manor Primary School in Cheshire, and president of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “At my school even working families are accessing local food banks and seeking support with uniform and school trip expenses.
“We hear from our members how schools are increasingly finding themselves having to step in and support pupils and families, with local authority budgets stretched to breaking point.”
In addition to the rise in relative child poverty (measured as living on less than 60% of today’s median income) the DWP’s figures show an increase in the number of children in absolute poverty (measured as living on less than 60% of what the median income was in 2010).
Since absolute poverty should always reduce over time as living standards generally rise, the increase is a clear warning that not only are more children being dragged below the relative poverty line, but living standards for children are falling over time, their hardship deepening.
Commenting on the publication of the latest official figures on UK poverty, which show that the number of people living below the poverty line in working households is 1.6 million higher than in 2010, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:“Hard work should pay for everyone. But millions of working families in this country are struggling to cover even the basics.
“In-work poverty has rocketed over the last 14 years.
“The Tories have presided over epidemic levels of insecure work, brutal cuts to social security and years of feeble wage growth.
“Working people deserve far better.”
Households Below Average Income statistics can be found here:
Latest Accredited Official Statistics and Official Statistics published
Covering the period until March 2023, the latest statistics show little recent change in poverty levels for children and pensioners. Poverty for working-age adults is slightly higher than in recent years, which could be driven by people becoming economically inactive as a result of the pandemic.
The four child poverty measures in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act (relative and absolute poverty, combined low income and material deprivation, and persistent poverty) are broadly stable over the recent period. These measures are based on single-year figures which tend to fluctuate year on year, and the three-year averages provide a robust indication of trends.
While the poverty risk is much lower for children where someone in the household is in paid work compared to those in workless households, not all work pays enough to lift the household above the poverty line. Over two thirds of children in poverty live in a household with someone in paid work. This proportion has increased markedly over the past decade or so as more people move into employment.
Other key points are:
Working-age adults (21%) and pensioners (15%) are less likely to be in relative poverty after housing costs compared to children (24%).
Relative poverty has been broadly stable for all age groups. Adults under 25 are more likely to be in poverty than older adults.
Minority ethnic households are more likely to be in poverty compared to white British households. Muslim adults have higher rates of poverty compared to adults of Christian and those with no religion. Some of this difference may be explained by these households being younger.
The two full statistical publications are available here:
Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland contains statistics on poverty, child poverty, poverty risks for various equality characteristics, household income and income inequality for Scotland. This report also includes statistics on household food security.
The data comes from the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Family Resources Survey, Households Below Average Income dataset. Comparable UK income and poverty figures are published on the same day by DWP.
Figures are presented as three-year averages of each estimate. Three-year estimates best identify trends over time. Data collected during the year between April 2020 and March 2021 are excluded from the most recent estimates as response rates were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, estimates covering this period are for two years rather than three.
The four child poverty measures in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act are based on single-year figures. These are available in the reference tables and in the child poverty summary.
Persistent Poverty in Scotland presents estimates of the proportion of people in Scotland who live in persistent poverty. The data comes from the Understanding Society Survey, and the latest statistics cover the period from 2018 to 2022.
These poverty statistics are used by the Scottish Government and other organisations to monitor progress in tackling poverty and child poverty, and to analyse what drives poverty and what works for tackling poverty and income inequality.
Relative poverty: A person is in relative poverty if their current household income is less than 60% of the current UK median. Increases in the proportion of people living in relative poverty indicate that the gap between the poorest and middle income households is widening.
Absolute poverty: A person is in absolute poverty if their current household income is less than 60% of the UK median in 2010/11, adjusted for inflation. Increases in the proportion of people living in absolute poverty indicate that prices are rising faster than the incomes of the poorest households.
Combined low income and material deprivation identifies the number of children in families that cannot afford basic essential goods and services because of a low income (below 70 percent of the middle household income).
Persistent poverty identifies the number of people in relative poverty for three or more out of four years. People who live in poverty for several years may be affected by it through their lifetime.
Household income is adjusted for household size.
The poverty publications present poverty figures before and after housing costs. Before housing costs figures are a basic measure of household income from earnings and benefits. After housing costs figures subtract spending on rents, mortgage interest payments and other unavoidable housing costs from this basic income.
In Scotland, poverty statistics focus mainly on poverty after housing costs. The poverty estimates in the child poverty summary refer to relative poverty after housing costs.
“Scandal of child poverty in a rich country must end”
Scottish child payment must rise to £30 to protect lower income families who don’t benefit from proposed council tax freeze.
Campaigners at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland are calling for tax and spending decisions to do more to prioritise hard up families ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish budget.
With the proposed £300 million council tax freeze set to benefit better off households they say the very least that is needed to protect lower income families is a £58 million investment to raise the Scottish child payment to £30 per week. CPAG were one of over 150 signatories to a letter sent to the First Minister Humza Yousaf last month urging him to deliver the increase.
The Scottish child payment, which currently provides a vital £25 per week extra support for children in lower income families, must by law be uprated in line with inflation.
However during the SNP leadership campaign the First Minister said he wanted to see it rise to £30 in his first Budget. In a pre-Budget briefing sent to all MSPs the campaigners say this is the “minimum extra investment that is needed to support lower income families and demonstrate the First Minister is genuinely ‘shifting the dial’ on child poverty.”
The group have also joined over sixty other groups today to call on all Scotland’s political leaders to build a fair tax consensus that can provide the social investment needed for ‘a more equitable, resilient, and prosperous Scotland’. They say the Scottish Budget must be a ‘pivotal moment for fundamental change.’
Speaking ahead of today’s budget statement John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said; “Struggling families desperately need a budget that will provide immediate support as well as help meet statutory child poverty targets.
“Increasing the Scottish child payment to £30 is a cost-effective investment that would provide much needed financial support to the lower income families who get little if any benefit from the proposed council tax freeze.
“It would make a substantive impact and demonstrate the First Minister is genuine in his desire to ‘shift the dial’ on child poverty.”
Recognizing the challenging fiscal backdrop Mr Dickie added: “Difficult budget choices will be needed. But the right choice is to prioritise tax and spending decisions that will help end the poverty that still blights the lives of tens of thousands of children across Scotland.
“We are a wealthy country and we need all our political leaders to work together to harness that wealth to end the scandal of child poverty in a rich country once and for all.”
Child Poverty Action Group is calling for a Scottish Budget that:
• Increases the Scottish child payment at the very least to £30 per week from April 2024, as committed by the First Minister in his leadership campaign. This investment is supported by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner and over 150 trade unions, faith groups, children’s charities and community organisations from across Scotland. • Ensures sufficient resources are harnessed and allocated to fund the wider measures (including on childcare, employment and housing) set out in the statutory child poverty delivery plan – Best Start, Bright Futures. • Provides additional cash payments to families impacted by the two-child limit and the under 25 penalty in universal credit. • Invests in childcare so not only can the actions in Best Start, Bright Futures be delivered, but every parent can access the childcare they need, when they need it. • Is bold in using tax powers in a progressive way to ensure sufficient resources are available to fully deliver on the actions that are needed to tackle child poverty.
Pupils and staff at Braes High School in Falkirk have been highlighting their innovate approaches to help cut the cost of the school day for families, as part of Challenge Poverty Week.
Cost-saving initiatives include the creation of ‘Take What You Need’ trolleys with essential school items, toiletries and snacks. S1 pupils also receive a Braes Backpack which contains a school starter kit.
The school has received more than £369,000 of Scottish Government Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) in recent years, supporting a range of work including these latest initiatives.
Scotland has the most generous universal free school meal offer of any nation in the UK – saving families an average of £400 per eligible child per year – while the School Clothing Grant has been increased so that those who are eligible receive at least £120 per child of primary school age and £150 per secondary pupil.
The 2023-24 Programme for Government set out commitments to further support reductions in the cost of the school day by funding the removal of core curriculum charges, further expanding free school meals and increasing the school clothing grant for the next academic year.
On a visit to the school, the Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “It was hugely encouraging to visit Braes High School during Challenge Poverty Week and to witness the innovative approaches pupils and staff have adopted to deal with the challenges that, sadly, too many of our young people and their families are facing.
“This work has been supported by the Scottish Government’s Pupil Equity Funding scheme – with more than £520 million this parliamentary term empowering headteachers to take creative and innovative approaches to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap.
“We are determined to do everything in our power to support families out of poverty, including investing in the game-changing Scottish Child Payment – part of a package of measures taken by this government which will help lift 90,000 children out of poverty in Scotland this year.
“We know that many families are still struggling, particularly as a result of the cost of living crisis. Tackling the cost of the school day is a key priority for the Scottish Government.”
Sara Spencer, Cost of the School Day Project Manager at Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland: “We have been delighted to work with Braes High School and their Cost of the School Day Pupil Group and see all of the meaningful ways young people have involved their school community and designed supports that help to make sure everyone can take part and feel included.
“Cost of the School Day at Braes is an inspiring example of what can happen when young people take the lead on equity in their own schools and a reminder of the impact that a poverty aware school culture and a clear focus on reducing the cost of the school day can have.”
Braes HS Head teacher Iain Livingstone said: “Our young people, staff, parents, carers and the wider community work well together to challenge poverty and support all learners. Pupil Equity Funding has helped us take forward a number of projects and support to help our young people get the most out of their education.
“We enjoyed being able to speak with the Cabinet Secretary, and seeing our young people discuss the many developments and ideas they lead.”
Braes High School worked with the Child Poverty Action Group to develop these initiatives. They are part of the new Cost of the School Day Voice network of children and young people.
Schools in Falkirk Council have received more than £26 million from the Scottish Government between 2015-16 and 2022-23 to close the poverty related attainment gap.
Programme for Government will be published tomorrow
Scottish Government investment in the years ahead will be prioritised on measures that help grow Scotland’s economy, tackle poverty and deliver high quality public services, First Minister Humzah Yousaf said.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s publication of his first Programme for Government Humza Yousaf said that by supporting businesses and building a wellbeing economy – focused on well-paid jobs and growth – Scotland can unleash entrepreneurial talent and generate new investment that helps deliver targeted measures to lift families and communities out of poverty.
The Programme for Government will also set Scotland on a path towards tackling some of the big issues facing the country. It will ensure that responding to the climate crisis is at the heart of government, while also taking the next steps in reforming and modernising public services to help tackle the aftermath of the pandemic.
The First Minister said: “The challenges we face – including the cost of living crisis, the impacts of the UK Government’s hard Brexit, and pandemic recovery – are significant, but we have strong foundations that we can build upon, to grasp opportunities and deliver real change.
“During these challenging times, the people of Scotland need a government that is on their side. In the coming days we will outline our measures to support businesses and communities to unleash potential and promote entrepreneurship – helping provide well-paid jobs right across Scotland, and boosting national and local economies.
“Our focus on boosting economic growth will enable us to invest more in anti-poverty measures and support our vital public services, protecting the most vulnerable in society and raising the standard of living for everyone.”
CPAG: IT’S TIME TO DELIVER
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Programme for Government statement from the First Minister, John Dickie, Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland said: “The First Minister has been right to say that tackling child poverty must be a top priority and his leadership campaign pledge to increase the Scottish child payment to £30 in his first budget was especially welcome.
“His first Programme for Government is his opportunity to show he will deliver on that promise. With low-income families still reeling under the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis there is not a moment to lose to turn his welcome words into concrete policies.”
In a briefing circulated to all MSPs the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland say Scottish government policies, including the Scottish child payment, are working to reduce child poverty.
However, they point to the government’s own analysis showing that the interim child poverty target may be missed, and that the government’s current policy package is not sufficient to meet the 2030 target of less than 10% of children living in poverty by 2030.
With one in four children still locked in poverty they say the Programme for Government must now include action that will:
• increase the Scottish child payment at the very least to £30 per week from April 2024, as committed by the First Minister in his leadership campaign (note 2). To be sure of bringing child poverty below 18% (the interim statutory child poverty target) they say a £40 Scottish child payment is needed (note 3). • Provide additional cash payments to families impacted by the UK government’s poverty producing two-child benefit limit and by the young parent penalty in universal credit . CPAG analysis shows the two-child limit affects over 80 000 children in Scotland and pushes up to 15 000 of them into poverty. • Further invest in childcare so that every parent can access the childcare they need, when they need it. • Keep the manifesto commitment to increase the minimum school clothing grant in line with inflation. That would mean lifting them to at least £150 (from £120) for primary school and £185 (from £150) for high school pupils by summer 2024. • Ensure that schools have sufficient resources to remove cost barriers, including to provide every child with a device and connectivity; remove costs for curriculum related trips and activities and ensure all pupils can attend ‘rite of passage’ trips. • Be bold in using tax powers in a progressive way to ensure sufficient resources are available to fully deliver on the actions that are needed to tackle child poverty.
The 2023-24 Programme for Government will be published alongside the First Minister’s statement to the Scottish Parliament tomorrow (Tuesday 5 September).
This Programme for Government will build on the prospectus paper, ‘New Leadership – A Fresh Start’. This was published in April, shortly after the First Minister was appointed, and set out his three national missions: equality, opportunity and community.
THE ROBERTSON TRUST has announced that six organisations have been awarded over £1.7M under their Financial Security Programme Awards. All of the projects are working to deliver big change that lasts on tackling poverty and trauma in Scotland.
Through our Financial Security theme, we want to fund, support and influence to improve income adequacy, income security, reduce cost-related pressures on finances and improve financial safety nets for people in financial trouble.
We made an open call for long-term change project ideas through our Programme Awards in October 2022 for organisations focused on delivering big change that lasts on financial security in Scotland.
Our Programme Awards will allow us to work alongside some of the organisations best placed to achieve impact on poverty and trauma in Scotland, allowing us to learn from them and them from us as we go.
The successful organisations include proposals to develop strengthening social security in Scotland, reducing the costs of essential goods and services, and preventing and relieving financial crisis now and in the future in Scotland.
We are pleased to share details of the organisations awarded funding:
One Parent Families Scotlandawarded £384,678.00. This project will deliver evidence-based recommendations to achieve transformational change to the UK child maintenance system to contribute to reducing child poverty. A partnership with One Parent Families Scotland, IPPR (Scotland) & Fife Gingerbread, each organisation will lead on different strands of work, while working together across all activities. Ambitious policy proposals will be developed, at both Scottish and UK government levels, to radically reform the child maintenance system (CMS), informed by robust evidence and lived experience. The project aims to see action to tackle immediate shortcomings of the existing child maintenance system, and secure public and political support for long-term, systemic reform.
The Poverty Alliance– awarded £492,697.00 to fund new work to tackle rural poverty. Too often people living on low incomes in rural parts of pay a premium for essential goods and services – food, energy, transport, etc. ‘Taking Action on Rural Poverty’ (TARP) will develop new ways of addressing rural poverty in Scotland by reducing the rural poverty premium. The project will do this by bringing together people with direct experience of poverty, community and voluntary organisations, the private sector and public bodies to identify and test solutions to the poverty premium. It will also work to improve processes to involve people in local decision making and to make changes to national policy that will affect rural poverty.
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) – awarded £249,866.00 CPAG strengthening social security project aims to ensure the delivery of Scottish Child Payment and other national and local payments provide greater financial security and stability for those on the margins of entitlement or excluded altogether. The project will develop new ways of bringing together the voice of lived experience and CPAG’s social security expertise to develop and promote approaches that will ensure more families can access Scotland-based payments, and that these payments can be relied upon throughout changes in family’s circumstances. In so doing it will not only aim to prevent families being pulled into poverty but also look to secure greater financial stability for families in Scotland.
Save the Children – awarded £249,761.00. The aim of this ambitious project is to inspire and coalesce public support around sustainable policy solutions to meet Scotland 2030 child poverty targets and deliver financial security in Scotland. The project will provide evidence and deeper insight into public attitudes across Scotland on different interventions that could sustainably drive down child poverty. Importantly, it will build a narrative framework – informed by these insights and our lived experience panel – and work with partners across the sector to ensure policy makers and campaigners have evidence on where the public has an appetite for change. Through engagement and influencing the project will build a network of champions to help ensure that findings and insights are lived and breathed and can have real world impact far beyond the lifetime of this project.
The Trussell Trust – awarded £230,000.00. The Trussell Trust is launching a three-year project that will help gain an understanding of how to provide better access to and engagement with local advice and support services that reduce destitution and prevent food bank use. The project as a whole will run pilots in six areas – Glasgow, Perth & Kinross, North Lanarkshire, Dundee, Orkney, and Aberdeenshire. By testing different models in six localities that represent key geographies of Scotland, the aim is to learn which interventions work in different areas, support community-led priorities, evaluate and learn comparatively from their experiences, and make recommendations to local and national government. The Robertson Trust is providing funding to part-fund the whole project, alongside a number of other funders.
University of Strathclyde (Fraser of Allander Institute) – awarded £158,742.00. The Fraser of Allander Institute and the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities (SCLD) are collaborating to address the limited understanding of the additional costs of disability in Scotland. The social model of disability recognises that people are disabled by barriers in society not by their impairment or disability. The extent to which financial barriers constrain and impact the lives of people with a learning disability and their families is a key part of our research. This project, co-produced with a researcher with lived experience, will provide valuable evidence for the Scottish Government for future programmes of social security reform.
Commenting on the announcement of the new Programme Awards, Robertson Trust Head of Programmes and Practice, Russell Gunson, said: “I’m delighted to share the details of the Robertson Trust’s new programme awards today.
“Each of the awards we have made have demonstrated the potential to deliver big change that lasts on poverty and trauma in Scotland. We’re really excited to be working together to make the most of the potential for long-term change in Scotland.
“Our support comes at a time when people and places facing poverty are experiencing gale force winds against them and their living standards. We have been living through crisis after crisis, stretching back through this cost-of-living emergency, the Covid-19 pandemic and at least back to the financial crash 15 years ago.
“It is often hard to think long-term when the immediate challenges are so pressing but the Trust has protected significant funds for this long-term change work so that we can prevent poverty and trauma in the future, while also helping to make a difference here and now.
“We will only be successful if we commit to the belief that things can change – we’ve made progress before and we know we can again – if we build the participation, partnerships and coalitions necessary to make change irresistible, and if we build social change over the long-term to reshape the systems and structures that sit underneath why we have the levels of poverty, trauma and inequality that we do.
“We look forward to working with each of the projects and are keen to learn alongside them, to understand what helps and hinders in achieving our mutual ambition of ending poverty and trauma, and its negative impacts, in our society.”
Commenting on the announcement of the Programme Awards, David Reilly, Communities and Networks Manager at the Poverty Alliance said:“Rural poverty is an issue of growing concern for the Poverty Alliance.
“This important grant from Robertson Trust will not only allow us to test ideas to practically take action on rural poverty, but will also help us to strengthen the networks and relationships that we need to make long term progress on rural poverty.”
John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland said:“Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland is delighted to be awarded funding by The Robertson Trust. This grant provides us with a unique opportunity to help shape the way Scottish Child Payment and other local and national payments support those currently on the margins.
“It will enable us to bring our expertise together with the voice of lived experience to prevent poverty and increase families financial stability by helping create more inclusive, consistent and secure financial support through the social security system”.
Satwat Rehman, CEO of One Parent Families Scotland, said:“One Parent Families Scotland is delighted to receive this funding from The Robertson Trust. Child maintenance is an issue which single parents have raised with us time and again, calling for there to be a fairer and more equitable system.
“Four in ten children in poverty in Scotland live in a single parent family but maintenance payments can contribute to the costs of raising a child and in giving them a decent quality of life.
“However, over £474 million in child maintenance in the UK has gone unpaid – money owed to children. This is an issue of children’s rights and the rights of the child to financial support.
” Working alongside our amazing partners IPPR Scotland and Fife Gingerbread we will develop ways of supporting families through the maze that is the current child maintenance system and work with families to design a model that works for them and contributes to lifting children out of poverty. “
Claire Telfer, Head of Scotland, Save the Children said:“We are thrilled to have received The Robertson Trust grant for this exciting work.
“We believe this will be a game-changing project in the development of policy and actions to drive down child poverty and we can’t wait to get started”.
David Brownlee, the Trussell Trust’s Financial Inclusion Lead, Scotland, said:“We are delighted to be partnering with The Robertson Trust for this ambitious project. The Trussell Trust has just released its end of year stats, showing the highest levels of need ever in Scotland.
“The record levels of need seen this year, represents a 50% increase in the number of parcels distributed by food banks in the Trussell Trust network in Scotland compared to five years ago in 2017/18.
“The chronic cost of living crisis has only deepened our commitment to end the need for food banks in Scotland and the whole of the Trussell Trust network – this project will play a key part in enabling us to see how to achieve that aim.”
Emma Congreve, Deputy Director of Fraser of Allander Institute, said: “The Fraser of Allander are delighted to be collaborating with SCLD and embarking on this project to produce better evidence to underpin more effective policy for people with learning disabilities in Scotland, especially as this will enable us to recruit and support a researcher with lived experience which we would not have been able to do without this investment.”
Extra funding to help offset UK Government benefit cap
The Scottish Government is providing £8.6 million in direct support for people affected by the UK benefit cap as part of its work to tackle child poverty.
An estimated 4,000 families with around 14,000 children are now able to apply for extra financial support through their local council’s Discretionary Housing Payments scheme.
Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: “We are increasing funding to help bridge the gap between what people need in benefits from the UK Government and what they actually receive. Eligible households could be £2,500 better off on average per year as a result.
“We will spend up to £84 million in 2023-24 on Discretionary Housing Payments to mitigate not only the UK Government’s bedroom tax and the on-going freeze to Local Housing Allowance rates, but now also the benefit cap which is pushing families into hardship.
“Our child poverty targets are ambitious and that is why we are choosing to invest significantly more in social security than the funding we receive from Westminster and helping to mitigate the damaging impact of UK Government welfare cuts.”
John Dickie, Chair of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Mitigating the UK benefit cap is absolutely the right thing to do. Support for struggling families shouldn’t have an arbitrary limit that pushes children into deeper poverty.
“It’s now vital that everyone affected by the benefit cap applies to their local authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment to replace as far as possible the cash support removed by the cap. The Scottish Government has done the right thing, now the UK Government must act to scrap the cap altogether.”
Laura Millar, Strategic Manager at charity Fife Gingerbread, which helps lone parents and families in need, said: “Last year Fife Gingerbread supported the ‘Scrap the Cap’ campaign calling on Westminster to end the benefit cap and the financial hardship this causes.
“Therefore, the Scottish Government’s commitment to empower local authorities to mitigate the impacts of the benefit cap using Discretionary Housing Payments is a positive step.
“Although the number of households affected across Scotland may be relatively small this is an important measure. The greatest risk is that households may be unaware of their entitlement, and every year millions of pounds of benefits go unclaimed. Therefore, we must all raise awareness of this announcement to ensure those most in need of support receive it.”
Funding for benefit cap mitigation by Scottish local authorities through Discretionary Housing Payments is as follows:
2022-23
£2.6 million
2023-24
£6 million
Total
£8.6 million
The benefit cap is a UK Government policy which limits the total amount of benefit that most working age people can receive, even if their full entitlement would be higher.
