Shirley-Anne Somerville has denied there is “complacency” towards tackling child poverty despite the Scottish Government’s own research suggesting legally binding targets will be substantially missed.
The Social Justice Secretary told The Herald the responsibility of supporting children in poverty weighs on her “heavily”.
Scotland’s child poverty plan for 2026 to 2031 included commitments worth a total of £111 million – but leading charities warned it was “timid” and did not go far enough.
Legally binding targets commit to reducing relative and absolute child poverty to 10% and 5% respectively by the end of the decade.
But interim targets have been missed, with 22% of children in relative poverty, and 17% in absolute poverty.
Ms Somerville joined First Minister John Swinney in stating voters can judge the government’s record on tackling child poverty at the end of the next parliamentary term.
However, a cumulative impact assessment published alongside the delivery plan revealed the Scottish Government currently does not think it will meet the 2030 targets.
Ms Somerville said: “We are determined to meet the targets and we simply have to. It’s the mission of the government and for me it’s not because it’s a statutory target. Of course, that’s important but it’s the right thing to do.”
“In Scotland we have seen progress, but it is not enough,” she added.
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“There’s absolutely no complacency and I feel that responsibility heavily about the children that are in poverty now.”
Policies outlined by the Scottish Government are estimated to keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty – households where income is below 60% of the UK median – in 2026-27.
By 2030-31, the cumulative impact assessment estimates 110,000 children would be kept out of poverty under existing plans.
The report, however, states that ministers will miss the legally binding targets by a significant margin.
“These are above the 10% relative child poverty and 5% absolute child poverty targets set out in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017,” the report states.
“However, this modelling only takes into account policies that are currently in place or have been announced, and represents current economic forecasts. These estimates are likely to change in future.”
The Scottish Government’s report urges “caution” in estimating the impact of projections beyond 2026-27.
The delivery plan, outlined in Holyrood on Thursday, included a £19m transport pledge to help parents with cost increases.
A further £10m will be allocated to incentivise employers to provide opportunities for parents, as well as the creation of an initiative offering 200 work placements in the NHS for parents at risk of poverty.
During SNP conference at the weekend, Mr Swinney announced childcare support will be available from nine months in a package worth £500m over the next parliament if the SNP are returned to government.
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Days after the child poverty delivery plan was unveiled, Ms Somerville spoke candidly about the “struggles” her own parents experienced growing up in Cardenden, a former mining village in Fife.
“I think my parents hid from me the struggles that were going on,” the Dunfermline MSP said.
“So, now when I speak to my mum about what they did to make sure life looked seamless for me, there was a lot going on behind the scenes where there was a lot more struggle than I thought there was at the time.”
She said there was “not much hope” in the village where she grew up, but insists that upbringing has shaped her own drive to move children out of poverty.
“It’s one of the reasons that my politics developed as it was because I was just there like ‘there’s got to be better than this out there. Why on earth are we all going about with a lack of opportunity, no jobs in the village, no hope, kids leaving school with nowhere to go?’
“So that kind of background is basically what shaped me. And I now represent some of the same types of ex-mining villages where folk are struggling.”
In April last year, The Herald launched a child poverty campaign, backed by 23 leading charities, urging the Scottish Government to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week, per child after research showed its effectiveness in reducing rates.
The Scottish Government has taken steps towards this, with more than 12,000 children under the age of one to receive the £40 payment from April next year, while all other eligible children will see the payment increase to £28.20, up from £27.15.
The campaign also called for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished – a measure announced by the UK Government in its most recent budget.
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