UK Government’s Child Poverty Taskforce to visit Scotland

The minister who heads up the UK Government’s Child Poverty Taskforce will visit Scotland next month.  

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall will meet with local leaders, key charities and organisations, parents, children and frontline workers next month.  

The trip comes ahead of the task force’s publication of its new strategy to tackle child poverty in spring. 

The group, led by Kendall and education secretary Bridget Phillipson, will focus on reducing the number of children in relative poverty and has committed to “giving all children the best start in life”. 

It is estimated that about 240,000 children (24 per cent) were living in relative poverty after housing costs, over the period from 2020 to 2023, according to the Scottish Government. 

Scottish secretary Ian Murray, who is also a member of the Child Poverty Taskforce, said: “As we fix the country's economic foundations, this government is committed to transforming the lives of Scottish children growing up in poverty. 

"For too long, governments in Scotland have failed to tackle the causes of child poverty. I am proud to be part of the UK Government's Child Poverty Taskforce, which brings together experts in this field and will use the levers of housing, education, childcare and healthcare to build a better future for all. 

“I am delighted that Liz Kendall will soon be in Scotland, to meet parents, children, charities and frontline workers, ensuring Scotland is at the centre of our mission to tackle the scourge of child poverty.”     

The SNP has called on the UK Government to scrap the two-child benefit cap to help tackle child poverty.   

New research by Unity Consulting Scotland on behalf of the Wheatley Group found the two-child cap "disproportionately and negatively" affects larger families and leaves them to choose between “heating and eating”. 

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver the UK Government’s budget next week, but it is not expected that she will scrap the cap after senior Labour politicians said the government was not in a position to do so at the moment.