Letter to Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, 22 November 2021
Thank you for your letter of 19 October seeking the Committee’s views on the Scottish Government’s second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.
Specifically, you invited the Committee’s views on actions to address the three drivers of child poverty reduction: employment, household costs and social security for families with children in the six priority family groups (Every Child, Every Chance; Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018-2022, page 18.)
The Committee made reaching the child poverty interim targets for 2023 the main theme of its first pre-budget scrutiny 2022-23, as we recognised the need for sustained focus across Parliament and Government to ensure a reduction in the number of children growing up in poverty.
The Committee appreciates the opportunity to be involved in the consultation, however, to respond to the consultation within a month’s timescale is challenging for a Parliamentary committee with existing work programme commitments. This letter therefore draws substantially from our pre-budget work and where appropriate from information gathered during our other activities.
Given the cross-portfolio nature of the original delivery plan, the Committee would find it helpful to know whether other committees of the Parliament have been consulted and what timescales have been set for them and other non-Parliament consultees to respond by.
The Committee makes the following comments, based on evidence it has received, for consideration by the Scottish Government in developing its new child poverty delivery plan.
In work poverty continues to be a significant concern, particularly as the cost of living increases. More and more people are in debt and often that debt is the result of council tax arrears, as well as increased housing and energy costs. In addition, we are yet to see the full impact of ending the furlough scheme. The Scottish Government should explore ways the new delivery plan reflects the reality of working families experiencing poverty in Scotland.
Social security will continue to play a significant role in tackling child poverty in the short-term. Indeed, the Committee has heard from a number of witnesses that social security will ‘have to do the heavy lifting in the short term’. Development of the new delivery plan should set out clearly how the Scottish Government plans to reduce child poverty and meet the statutory targets, including ensuring social security plays the role it needs to by maximising the impact of devolved benefits such as the Scottish Child Payment and Carer’s Allowance Supplement, while also taking into account changes to the UK benefit landscape and the withdrawal of COVID-19 support measures.
The Committee heard extensive evidence on the importance of doubling the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) immediately. The Committee’s pre-budget letter asks for the SCP to be doubled as soon as possible. It also heard that this alone would not be enough. The Scottish Government should consider through its new delivery plan whether further investments in SCP and other devolved support in the future will be necessary to meet the targets. Furthermore, the Committee notes that take-up rate of the Child Payment is 77% and that it needs to be 83% to make a positive impact on the statutory interim targets. The Committee would welcome a focus in the delivery plan on take-up of SCP, and of Universal Credit as the key qualifying benefit. It would also welcome further consideration of automation of these payments to increase uptake.
One of the ‘priority groups’ in the current strategy is families affected by disability. The devolved disability benefits are ‘extra costs’ benefits not ‘low income’ benefits. However, in formulating the new strategy the Scottish Government should consider how Scottish disability benefits can help address poverty in these families, particularly since half of families living in poverty have a disabled person in them and 34% of children who have a disabled person in their house live in poverty. The Committee also heard evidence of the need to provide additional support for these families.
In advance of the full roll-out of the Scottish Child Payment, the Scottish Government is providing a ‘bridging payment’. However, this is not available to all those families who would be entitled to Scottish Child Payment. The Scottish Government should explore ways in which to ensure all children who should access the SCP can get a bridging payment. The Committee would also appreciate an update on progress in getting the agreement on data sharing with the Department of Work and Pensions that is required before full roll-out of the Scottish Child Payment can start.
The Committee heard of the importance of support for unpaid carers, particularly in addressing the poverty experienced by women, lone parent families and families with a disabled person. The removal of measures, such as the doubling of the Carer’s Allowance Supplement and the £20 Universal Credit uplift, will have a significant impact on low income households, pushing them back, or deeper, into poverty. The Committee has listened to extensive evidence given on the importance of the double payment of the Carer’s Allowance Supplement and urges the Scottish Government to remember its positive impact on poverty levels when considering its new delivery plan. The Committee also urges the Government to make clear as soon as possible whether or not it intends to use its regulatory powers to pay the supplement at double the rate in the future. This will provide much needed certainty for families who are struggling.
This is not only essential to avoid a deepening of poverty for those families, but to address the long-term impact of COVID-19 on families’, which previously might not have experienced poverty.
Increased living costs can push families into problem debt, which could result in recovery action, and ultimately lead to more families with children becoming homeless. Tackling homelessness should have greater prominence in the second delivery plan. The Committee heard that last year 11,800 children in families were assessed as homeless. Evidence from the Committee’s session on homelessness on 4 November 2021, highlighted that there has been a 75% increase in the number of children in temporary accommodation since 2014. Some temporary accommodation was described as over-crowded and not suitable for women and children. It was noted that there needs to be a whole system approach to avoid unintended consequences, with more effort required to gather the lived experience of women and children going through the housing system to understand their needs better.
As the first delivery plan recognised, there are a range of actions that can be taken across government to tackle child poverty. This thinking needs to be further embedded through the second child poverty delivery plan. To ensure all policies across government work towards tackling child poverty, the Committee would welcome clearer monitoring of actions to be sure policies are having the desired impact.
Having stabilised families’ incomes though social security, for those families who can work, employment can be a crucial route out of poverty. Provision of childcare which meets the needs of families, must continue to be prioritised to help people to attend training, gain qualifications and enter the workforce. Other policies around transport and social care need to be woven into the approach to ensure families can make the most of employment opportunities.
A targeted, and intersectional approach, which specifically addresses the employment of women, disabled people and people from ethnic minority communities should again be at the core of the new delivery plan in recognition of the significant barriers these groups face and which have been compounded by the pandemic.
Active monitoring of the impact of the withdrawal of COVID-19 support measures should be prioritised in the strategy, so that mitigating policy action can be taken swiftly to minimise the impact on the six priority family groups.
The Committee would find it helpful to know how the Social Renewal Advisory Board recommendations will be reflected in the new delivery plan.
Also of assistance would be a comparison of the funding differences between the two delivery plans, as the Committee received evidence that further resources are needed to increase the pace and scale of change to help achieve the child poverty interim targets for 2023.
The Committee welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan and looks forward to scrutinising the final plan once it is available.
Yours sincerely
Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, 19 October 2021