Speaking as the Westminster Scottish Affairs Committee begin to take the final evidence in their enquiry into Poverty in Scotland from Scottish and UK Government Ministers, John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said:
“With a quarter of Scotland’s children still living in poverty it’s vital that politicians at Westminster and Holyrood act together now to end what can only be described as a national scandal.
"A half of children in poverty live in families where an adult is working so we need far more action from both Holyrood and Westminster to end the low pay, insecurity, discrimination and family unfriendly employment practice that means work is too often not a route out of poverty.
"At the same time the current welfare safety net leaves too many families on hopelessly inadequate incomes. So we also need action from the UK Government to increase benefit and tax credit support rates, and action from the Scottish Government to make sure advice and information is available to parents so that they get all the financial support they are entitled to.
"Politicians in both London and Edinburgh need to balance the drive to target resources with the need to make sure support reaches all families that need it. That means balancing investment in means tested tax credits with more investment in universal child benefit, working toward a universal approach to providing child care free at the point of delivery, and rolling out the free school meal pilots as soon as possible.”
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