Johnstone urges Scot Gov to heed report by Social Security Committee on Child Poverty Bill
Alison Johnstone MSP, Social Security spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, today (22 May) urged the Scottish Government to heed a report by Holyrood's Social Security Committee on the proposed Child Poverty Bill.
The report recommends that the Bill should include a challenging target to address persistent poverty, and interim targets for "greater immediacy".
The Committee, of which Alison Johnstone is a member, also recommends making full use of Scottish social security powers and providing advice to parents and carers to boost their incomes.
Maximising incomes to tackle poverty has been a consistent priority for Green MSPs. Most notably, Alison Johnstone successfully pushed the Scottish Government last year to agree to a national roll-out of Glasgow's Healthier Wealthier Children scheme, which, like Edinburgh's Family Friendly Advice, and similar initiatives across the country, ensures vulnerable families receive all the financial support they're entitled to.
Alison Johnstone MSP said:
"To have a quarter of a million children living in poverty in Scotland is a national scandal. Setting tough targets isn't enough, so I'm pleased that the committee has agreed that we need an independent commission to scrutinise Scottish Ministers' actions. And we have made clear that ministers cannot simply draw up proposals; they have to back them up with action and funding.
"We've already shown how to boost incomes with the roll-out of schemes such as Healthier Wealthier Children but we could go further with devolved social security powers. I'm pleased that the committee is recommending that the bill requires ministers to outline how they will make use of new social security powers to reduce child poverty. For example, we could top-up Child Benefit by £5 a week to lift 30,000 children out of poverty.
"Setting targets and passing legislation is laudable but it must deliver real change for our poorest families."
STAGE ONE REPORT ON THE CHILD POVERTY (SCOTLAND) BILL (Social Security Committee)
Blog by Alison from earlier this year about the Healthier Wealthier Children scheme