Last Thursday, 12 December, First Minister John Swinney had a lively discussion about children’s rights and child poverty with the Children’s Sector Strategic and Policy Forum, at a meeting chaired by Children in Scotland.  

Forum members were joined by Natalie Don-Innes MSP and the First Minister to talk about embedding children’s rights, policy coherence and doing things differently to deliver on our national child poverty targets. 

There was a warm welcome for the budget's focus on child poverty, including the proposal to scrap the two-child limit which currently restricts support certain families receive through universal credit or child tax credit.  

However, there is much more to be done, and the conversation looked at some of the challenges, with a reflection on the fact that the current suite of policies and allocated resourcing are unlikely to help us reach our national targets if some things do not change.  

There were three key themes. Firstly, being more visible about the embedding of children’s rights in decision making across all of the statutory sector, with the need for the Scottish Government to set a strong example for local authorities and other public bodies. From the point of view of the Forum this is about language, action, and using the tools at our disposal (for example Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments) to the best of our abilities. Making sure that children’s rights is at the centre of our planning will ensure that we are investing in the prevention and early intervention work that is so essential for long-term and sustainable change. 

Secondly, the group looked at tackling instances where there is a lack of policy coherence. That is to say, where a policy from one part of the government undermines something happening elsewhere. There was a good discussion around this with a focus on the role that the third sector can play in outlining where there are challenges around this and what might be done about it.  

Finally, there is the challenge around the third sector itself. As the FM noted in the meeting a ‘well-resourced third sector’ is essential to help deliver on the mission to eradicate child poverty. The third sector is an essential partner in working with babies, children, young people and their families, often at the sharp edge, and yet years of difficult economic conditions have undermined it. Current funding models have tended to exacerbate this situation. As a result, it is difficult for the third sector to be the partner it can and should be. 

Children in Scotland Chief Executive Dr Judith Turbyne, who chaired the meeting, afterwards reflected:   

"We are very grateful to Mr Swinney for taking the time to meet with us and hear first hand the experiences of those leading a struggling children’s sector and working directly with the children and families who are most impacted by government decisions.   

"What is great is that we have a common goal – eradicating child poverty. But, of course, there are challenges.  

"What I enjoyed about the meeting was the mutual respect I could feel in the room, and the common desire to work to eradicate child poverty. The current economic situation is making it difficult for all of us. But a crisis can be a good starting point for doing things differently, for having the difficult conversations, for being brave. And that starts now.  

"We are keen to contribute nationally as a Forum to this work, and we will be seeking to ensure that we engage both bravely and constructively. Our babies, children, young people and their families deserve nothing less."