Seòmar agus comataidhean

I do not want to put you on the spot—

Good morning. In your opening contribution, minister, you advised that you will make regulations for child welfare reports. It might be helpful to the committee if you could say a bit more on the Scottish Government’s plans for that.

On the regulation of child welfare reporters, Scottish Women’s Aid and Children First suggested to the committee that some worthwhile changes could be made to current practices just now, even if the full implementation of the relevant part of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 cannot be delivered at the present time. Is that something that the Scottish Government could consider? What engagement is planned with those stakeholders—or is the work plan still to be worked up?

You have said that you will be making regulations. Will that be at the start of 2025, or is it likely to be nearer the end of the year? I would like to get clarity on that.

I have one final question.

Yesterday’s budget announcement that we will scrap the two-child policy in Scotland has been widely welcomed across the country. It is clear that we will require access to DWP data. There is a worry that DWP might not give that the priority that it needs, particularly when time is of the essence. Do you share that concern?

Absolutely.

I will stay on the same theme. What feedback do local authorities receive on their local child poverty action reports? Is it automatic, or do they get it only if they ask for it?

To what extent is data sharing required for local authorities to tackle child poverty? What lessons have been learned about its effectiveness?

Good data sharing is key. We heard evidence from some councils to suggest that more could be done, through better data, to increase the take-up of the Scottish child payment. Are you aware of the potential to improve take-up?

The qualifying benefits for the Scottish child payment are reserved. Does that suggest that the use of DWP data is really the problem?

Thank you for those reassurances. I am sure that this will be at the top of the agenda next week.