John Swinney to put ending child poverty at heart of legislative plans

John Swinney has said he will put eradicating child poverty at the centre of his legislative programme, to be outlined today in parliament.

The first minister will deliver his first programme for government since taking office on Wednesday afternoon.

He has said this will deliver on the four priorities he set out in May: tackling child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services, and reaching net zero.

But it comes the day after his finance secretary had to make significant public spending cuts in order to balance the budget.

Speaking ahead of his statement, Swinney said giving every child a good start in life was his government’s “single greatest priority”.

He added: “Even as we face unprecedented budgetary constraint, I am optimistic that we can still greatly enhance the lives of children and their families.

“We also know that investment in public services, growing our economy and tackling climate change all contribute to improving lives and livelihoods. That is why this programme for government is also focused on delivering the right care in the right place, prioritising the development of renewable energy to reach net zero and working with businesses to grow a stronger and more inclusive economy.”

The first minister had planned to deliver this statement before the summer recess, but it had to be delayed due to the general election.

Child poverty campaigners have welcomed the issue being labelled as a top priority, but added today’s announcements must “demonstrate the seriousness of that commitment”.

John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group Scotland, has warned the current pace and scale of action is  not enough to hit the Scottish Government’s own targets to reduce child poverty.

He said: “The tough reality facing government and opposition alike is that there is no credible route to eradicating child poverty that doesn’t involve further serious investment in social security, childcare, affordable family housing and action to support parents access decent jobs.

“More can and must be done to reform public services so that hard up families can access them, but those services need to be available and adequately funded in the first place.”

This programme for government will be the first of this parliamentary session which has not been delivered in partnership with the Scottish Greens, following the end of the Bute House Agreement earlier this year.

Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater has said the statement is Swinney’s “last chance to rescue his climate credentials” following cuts made to active travel and nature restoration budgets by Shona Robison.

She said: “We have no time to waste, but the SNP is taking us backwards and undermining a lot of the progress that was introduced by the Scottish Greens.

“Our focus must now be on urgently and rapidly delivering the policies that will help us to cut our emissions and seize the immense potential of our green transition.

“We need to see a clear commitment to our environment, that means maintaining a presumption against new fossil fuel exploration, moving money from major road building projects into public transport and laying out a clear timeline for the Heating in Buildings bill that will deliver warmer, greener homes.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “People want to see an end to long waits for NHS treatment and a competent plan to fix social care, getting people the care they need and delivering for staff. They want to see our economy growing and ministers finally cleaning up the sewage scandal they have repeatedly chosen to ignore.

“All of that should be at the very top of John Swinney’s agenda but, like so many others across Scotland, I won’t be holding my breath.”