John Swinney Addresses Parliament on Key Mission
Presiding Officer, when I accepted this Parliament’s nomination as First Minister of Scotland, I made it clear that the single greatest priority for my Government would be the eradication of child poverty.
That was a little more than a month ago, and much has happened since.
We now have a UK General election in July which has meant the Scottish Government – due to pre-election guidance – is unable to set out more detail on the specific plans we intend to take forward.
That, however, is an opportunity for Ministers to engage Parliament on views from across the political spectrum of how we can most effectively achieve our aim of eradicating child poverty.
I made clear when I became First Minister that I wanted to bring people together to focus on shared priorities. I would be the first to accept that in the context of a General Election campaign – with contested agendas, priorities and political choices – the environment for such a conversation is more than a little challenging.
I do intend, however, to participate in this debate in that spirit; to set out the mission of this Government, but also to listen to others, and to commit to reflect on how the Government can work across Parliament to achieve our mission.
Because the election campaign will not last forever; it will be complete in just over three weeks’ time, and we will know the political landscape in which we are operating.
I also intend to participate in the debate on the basis I have set out because I recognise there is a shared desire in this Parliament to achieve the Government’s mission of eradicating child poverty.
And although Parliament may be polarised at this time, surely there must be scope for us to find common ground on an issue as fundamental to the health, the wellbeing and the very future of children in our society.
So, the offer I made to this chamber last month – and the offer I made to Local Authorities, businesses, the third sector and communities – remains the same.
Let us work together to deliver for Scotland. Let us cooperate in good-faith and find consensus. Let us capitalise on our shared values and goals, our shared commitment to this country.
Our challenge is significant given that we are operating in a context of acute difficulty in achieving our aim.
Over the last decade the upheaval brought on by austerity, the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and the impacts of a disastrous Brexit has escalated the scale of the challenge we face.
We are a modern nation, a prosperous nation.
Our economy must meet the needs of everyone in our society.
We must build on our current economic performance to create new opportunities to generate economic activity and wealth.
And we must ensure that the wealth of our country is used to transform the lives of all of our citizens.
Our definition of prosperity must place the wellbeing of current and future generations at its core. And this prosperity must belong to everyone in our society, not only to some.
Every child in Scotland deserves a fair start in life.
They deserve good health, safety, education and opportunity.
As a parent, the greatest priority in my personal life is to see my three, remarkable children grow up safe, healthy and happy.
This is something I share with all the parents, families and communities, across Scotland, and with everyone in this chamber.
My Government will build on the strong foundations laid over the years of this SNP Government, which has seen a transformation in the life chances of children in Scotland.
Since 2007, we have more than doubled funded hours of Early Learning and Childcare to 1140 hours for all three- and four-year-olds, and two-year-olds who will benefit most.
We have established a new social security service, delivering 14 benefits, 7 of them brand new and only available in Scotland, including the Scottish Child Payment.
We have delivered more than 128,000 affordable homes, of which over 90,000 are homes for social rent – that’s 43% more affordable homes per head of population than England, and 73% more than Wales.
This is in addition to giving every baby in Scotland the best start in life by providing families with a Baby Box; expanding free bus travel for all under 22-year-olds, and passing milestone legislation to ensure that children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled under Scots law.
As the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice reported in her statement to Parliament last week – last year, this Government increased its spend, benefitting children in low income households to almost £1.4 billion.
We provided nearly £430 million in Scottish Child Payments to families, supporting more than 329,000 children.
And we increased the value of all Scottish Benefits by 10.1%, except for the Scottish Child Payment which we increased by 25% the year before.
We launched the Carer Support Payment, expanded eligibility for Best Start Foods to reach an additional 20,000 pregnant women and young children, and delivered innovative school age childcare services through our Early Adopter projects.
In total, our investment in social security benefits and payments amounted to an estimated £5.3 billion in 2023 to 2024.
All this, despite the ongoing spending cuts, cost-of-living crisis, and inflationary pressures driven by the UK Government.
Make no mistake, Scotland’s action and policies are having an impact.
We are making a difference.
Though the data showing their full impact is not yet captured in the latest poverty statistics, modelling estimates this Government’s policies will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty in 2024 to 2025 – with relative poverty levels 10 percentage points lower than they would have been otherwise.
The game changing Scottish Child Payment, alone, is estimated to keep 60,000 children out of relative poverty.
Recent analysis from the Trussell Trust found that our policies have helped to slow the pace of demand for food parcels, with Scotland the only part of the UK not to see an increase in the number of parcels distributed through their network last year.
Although these are all signs of great progress, we have a long way to go.
And, make no mistake, the headwinds are significant.
We are greatly constrained by both an historically challenging budget settlement from Westminster and the limits of our devolved powers.
For too long, decisions made at Westminster have undermined the ambition and progress we seek to make in Scotland, and next month’s General Election brings with it its own uncertainty and challenges.
We all have to recognise that the decisions taken at a UK level will inevitably set the context in which we have to operate.
This Government has demonstrated that we will use all the levers available to us to make as much progress as we can.
But a UK Government that was more favourable to our objectives would help rather than hinder us.
Our ambition is to ensure every single child in Scotland has the means, resources and support to reach their fullest potential.
So, we will stay the course until the job is done, because eradicating child poverty is not only the right thing to do, but the surest investment in Scotland’s future.
From the start of this financial year, we have increased all Scottish social security benefits by a further 6.7% to provide more support to people on low incomes and those who need it most.
In total, we are committing a record £6.3 billion for benefits expenditure.
That is £1.1 billion more than the UK Government gives to the Scottish Government for social security.
We are also investing £16 million to expand our Early Adopter Community projects, establishing new communities in Fife and Shetland, to develop local systems of funded childcare designed to meet the needs of families most at risk of poverty.
Last month, I visited one of our new Early Adopter Childcare centres in Fife.
There, I heard firsthand from a parent about the difference that having reliable childcare makes for her and her family.
Thanks to the affordable breakfast club at her son’s school, she and her husband can get to work on time and maintain the employment they need to support their family.
And yesterday, I visited Pollok United to see one of the after-school clubs supported through our Extra Time Programme.
The programme, which is a joint initiative with the Scottish Football Association, provides before school, after school and holiday football clubs for children from families on low incomes.
This year, we are investing an additional £4 million in the Extra Time Programme and expanding to 31 clubs, giving around 3,000 children each week free access to sport and other activities which wrap around the school day.
Presiding Officer, we are also distributing a one-off, emergency fund of £1.5 million to support councils to help remove the impact of school meal debt on families.
And, we remain committed to reducing the number of households – especially those with children – who are forced to rely on temporary accommodation.
We are supporting the passage of the Housing (Scotland) Bill through Parliament, which includes homelessness prevention duties that go beyond what has been delivered in other parts of the UK.
And we have committed nearly £600 million this year to support the delivery of social and affordable homes across Scotland, including acquisitions.
Earlier today, we launched the second round of funding for The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund, which provides grants of up to £80,000 to support local projects to redesign existing services or test promising new approaches to combatting child poverty.
I am proud of this work and confident of the progress we are making towards eradicating child poverty in Scotland.
But, as I have said, we are facing significant headwinds, most notably UK Government decisions which are having a detrimental impact on children in Scotland.
Analysis shows that removing the two-child limit and reinstating the family element in Universal Credit would lift 10,000 children in Scotland out of relative and absolute poverty this year.
It is estimated that families in Scotland have lost £341 million since the inception of the two child limit in 2017, with the policy arbitrarily punishing larger families and forcing more children into destitution and toward the need for emergency food parcels.
Rather than taking money out of the pockets of families, I want to see more provided to them.
So I’m calling on the UK Government to not only abolish the two-child limit, but to introduce an Essentials Guarantee –– which would lift a further 30,000 children in Scotland out of relative and absolute poverty.
This Government has repeatedly asked the UK Government to remove the two-child limit to Universal Credit and to introduce the Essentials Guarantee.
Unfortunately, it is not in our power to make these decisions for ourselves.
But through actions like our Scottish Child Payment and our increase of all Scottish benefits, our Fair Work First measures and our Carer Support Payment, we are mitigating the impacts of the UK Government’s policy decisions.
We are also supporting Local Authorities to continue to mitigate the benefit cap through improved and more targeted support.
This important work is helping over 2,500 low-income households with over 8,900 children.
Three quarters of these are lone-parent families.
And we are able to provide these additional supports within the same fiscal environment that the UK Government uses to justify the absence of them.
We can do this because we do not see the eradication of child poverty as something that comes at the expense of the public purse.
Like building sustainable public services and capitalising on the transition to Net Zero – it is an investment in our economy, both now and for future generations.
But imagine what we could do if we didn’t need to mitigate bad policies or top up existing ones?
Imagine what we could do if, together, we aimed to make Scotland a leading innovator in eradicating child poverty for the public good?
One of the most effective ways of tackling child poverty is to enable parents and carers to enter good, sustainable employment.
That is why we are making up to £90 million available to support the continued delivery of key employability commitments.
We are further strengthening our Fair Work First criteria to better address the labour market inequalities faced by people with disabilities, women, and people of minority backgrounds.
And, as of April, up to 100,000 staff – working in social care, children’s services and early learning and childcare – benefited from the uplift to at least £12 per hour because of our investment; an increase of more than £2,000 a year for some staff, who are mainly women.
But, as I have said, there is only so much we can do within the limits of our devolved responsibilities.
I have long said that the best solution is for Scotland to chart its own course as an independent member of the European Union but, until that time, we need the UK Government to work collaboratively with us and to follow our lead in taking ambitious anti-poverty action. Last month, I wrote to Labour Leader Sir Kier Starmer.
I urged him to change course on the current UK Government’s welfare and spending plans should he become the next UK Prime Minister.
After fourteen years of Tory austerity, things cannot simply continue as they are.
Last week, in her update to this Parliament, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice also called for a reset from Westminster on welfare policy.
I echo that call today and urge an incoming UK Labour government to match Scotland’s ambition, because together we can eradicate child poverty.
There can be no place in our society for cruel policies like the rape clause and the two child limit. I appeal to the incoming UK Government to take an approach that will help rather than hinder Scotland’s determination to eradicate child poverty.
I commit my Government to work collaboratively with the incoming UK Government on a shared endeavour to eradicate child poverty; but there has to be meaningful and substantive change to UK policy to enable this to be the case.
And, I reiterate the offer I made to those of you here in this chamber.
It is the offer I make to Local Authorities, the wider public sector, the third sector, businesses and communities.
Let us work together in a spirit of unity and positive collaboration to get things done for Scotland.
Let us commit to doing everything in our collective power to work constructively, build consensus and achieve the eradication of child poverty.
We cannot afford to rest until every child in Scotland is free of poverty.
