An opportunity to strengthen the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill

Children in Scotland has urged MSPs to push for the inclusion of measures that will strengthen the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill, as it is debated today in the Scottish Parliament.

As a member of the End Child Poverty Coalition, Children in Scotland has made a number of recommendations, including:

• The inclusion of statutory interim targets to help ensure that the Scottish Government and other public bodies are on track to achieve the targets set for 2030.
• A requirement for delivery plans to include five specific components including: the use of Scottish social security powers; the provision of information, advice and assistance to parents and carers in relation to welfare rights; affordable housing; childcare; and parental employment.
• Improvements to the measurement framework that will be used to understand and measure poverty, and assurances that children and young people will be central to the evaluation process.
• A requirement for local poverty action plans to plan for the upcoming year, rather than just reporting on the previous year.