NICOLA Sturgeon will unveil a £100 million blueprint to tackle poverty over the winter – as she will insist the pandemic has exposed a challenge of “no longer accepting problems as inevitable”.
In her keynote speech at the SNP conference today, the First Minster will announce a winter fund for households on low incomes, including a £100 direct payment for families with children receiving free school meals.
Ms Sturgeon will use her St Andrew’s Day address to blame the UK Government for an inability to tackle poverty and inequality, claiming Westminster controlling the majority of Scotland’s social security system has halted progress.
But Scottish Labour has warned the pandemic has elevated child poverty to the level of a humanitarian crisis – calling on the Scottish Government to ensure no more families “fall through the cracks”.
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The First Minister is expected to stress that “we must make sure we are working to the right plan with all the tools we need to do the job” adding that “we won’t wait to be independent to start doing the right things now”.
The SNP has already announced the extension of free school meals to all primary pupils for breakfasts and lunches if the party secures a majority at May's Holyrood election.
She is expected to add: “We will shortly become the only part of the UK to give low income families an extra £10 per week for every child – initially for children up to age 6 and then for every child up to age 16. This has been described as a game-changer in the fight to end child poverty.
“The first payments will be made in February. But I know that for families struggling now, February is still a long way off.
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“So I am announcing today a £100 million package to bridge that gap, and help others struggling most with the impact of Covid over the winter months.
“It will include money to help people pay their fuel bills and make sure children don’t go hungry.
“It will offer additional help for the homeless, and fund an initiative to get older people online and connected.
“And, most importantly of all, it will provide a cash grant of £100 for every family with children in receipt of free school meals.
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“The money will be paid before Christmas and families can use it for whatever will help them through the winter. That could be food, new shoes or a winter coat for the kids.
“Families will know best what they need. That’s not for government to decide.
“Initiatives like this are not just about providing practical help to those who need it most - they are an expression of our values and of the kind of country we are seeking to build.”
But Labour has pointed to figures by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, revealing that 230,000 children are living in poverty in Scotland.
The Aberlour Child Care Trust has also recorded a dramatic surge, of more than 1,000 per cent, in demand for its urgent assistance programme for child poverty during the coronavirus pandemic, which has left many families out of pocket.
Scottish Labour's poverty spokesperson, Elaine Smith, said "poverty is not inevitable".
She added: “Child poverty rates in Scotland are unacceptably high, and the pandemic has threatened to turn the situation into a humanitarian crisis.
“Hundreds of thousands of children are living in poverty every day. This should shame us as a nation, and galvanise us to take action.
“It is vital that the SNP government does all it can to support and fortify the Scottish Welfare Fund during this crisis – we must not allow any more families to fall through the cracks.
“All weekend we have heard the SNP pontificate about a post-independence land of milk and honey, but they have spent a decade failing to use the levers at their disposal to tackle child poverty. Their record in office over the last decade has been one of abysmal failure – the fact that Scotland is not on course to meet its interim child poverty targets within three years is indicative of that."
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