Seòmar agus comataidhean

I am simply asking whether you believe that that will happen.

You have done so, as a Government: by 2030.

Will Parliament see an update and an amendment to those delivery plans? The current one runs from 2022 to 2026, but the First Minister has been very clear that this budget is about eradicating child poverty. Will we therefore see updates and be able to scrutinise that as parliamentarians?

Good morning, and welcome to the first meeting of the Education, Children and Young People Committee in 2025.

We have received apologies from Evelyn Tweed and we welcome back Clare Haughey, who is attending in her place.

The first item on our agenda is scrutiny of the 2025-26 budget. We will hear today from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Jenny Gilruth, and from the Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans, Graeme Dey. Alongside the cabinet secretary and the minister are three Scottish Government officials: Neil Rennick, director general for education and justice; Stuart Greig, head of the governance and assurance division; and Andrew Watson, director of children and families. I welcome them all to the committee and invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement.

This is obviously the Education, Children and Young People Committee, and a lot has been made in this budget about eradicating child poverty. As a result of this budget and the decisions of your Government, when will child poverty in Scotland be eradicated?

You said in an earlier answer that you are happy with the settlement that you got for your portfolio, which includes the future for young people. Do you believe that, as a result of this budget, we will eradicate child poverty in Scotland?

Let us hear the question, and then you can answer.

So you are delivering what the Parliament voted for.

That is separate from universal free school meals—

—sorry, cabinet secretary—which was in your 2021 manifesto and was also agreed by this Parliament. The Government is very keen, when it wins votes, to say that that shows the will of Parliament. Why then, when you lose votes, do you not go to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and say, “Look, Parliament united. We lost this one, we have to do this, put it in the budget.”