CHILD poverty in Scotland fell by almost twice the level in England over a decade, new analysis by a leading social policy think- tank has found.

The Joseph Rowntree ­Foundation (JRF) said Scotland's child poverty fell by 9.9% in the decade to 2012, compared with 5.7% in England.

In the first of three Independence Referendum briefings ahead of the vote on September 18, it said much of the improvement in both England and Scotland is due to a drop in the poverty rate among lone-parent families. But the JRF also said Scotland's progress on tackling poverty in working families set it apart from England.

Scotland's better record has been attributed to an additional reduction in poverty among working couples who have children.

There appears to have been a shift in this group north of the Border towards both adults being in work, which the authors said had not happened in England.

Reduced poverty among children in working families in Scotland accounts for almost four percentage points of the overall fall.

The charity's report said more than half (54%) of children in workless families in Scotland were in poverty, compared with 10% of those in working families.

But it added changes to benefits were likely to have increased further poverty for children in workless families.

Campaign groups claim that the work over the last decade is being undermined by current Westminster welfare reforms, while JRF Scotland advisor Jim McCormick said tackling the issue must be a priority for governments at Holyrood and Westminster regardless of the referendum outcome.

He said: "Progress on reducing child poverty has stalled after a steady reduction and the rate is set to rise again. The challenge for each side of the referendum campaign is to demonstrate how a country where no child grows up and remains in poverty can be achieved."

Dr Peter Kenway, director of the New Policy Institute and co-author of the report, said: "This is probably due to parents in Scotland being better able to access suitable jobs with adequate pay and services such as childcare and transport. But how much credit policy-makers, in either Edinburgh or in London, can take for this is unclear."

Poverty in families with no-one in work remains high and must be tackled if the rate is to be brought down further, the report said.

It states: "In the midst of significant welfare reforms by the UK Government, the Scottish Government can only play a limited role but it has absorbed the cut to Council Tax Benefit, replaced the abolished components of the social fund and provided compensation to some families affected by the under-occupancy charge, or 'bedroom tax'. This could prevent Scotland's workless poverty rates from worsening as quickly as it would otherwise."

Dr Kenway said: "Scotland's challenge is to find a route out of poverty for the many families who are out of work.

"This means people with ill-health and disabilities, caring duties and those with a lack of skills. People in such households must be offered a sustainable route out of poverty."

John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said: "After a decade or more of very real progress independent forecasts now suggest an explosion in child poverty as a result of current UK Government tax and benefit policy.

"This JRF briefing highlights the need to focus support on families who are unable to work as well as those in work."