Political figures working to beat poverty

Monklands parliamentarians have responded to the worrying figures relating to poverty in Lanarkshire.

Airdrie MSP Neil Gray told the Advertiser:“i have campaigned long and hard to see poverty tackled locally and nationally.

“There has been significant investment by local and national government to address child poverty.

“The Scottish Government’s Child Payment, which is only available here, has been doubled to £20 per week and will soon rise again to £25 as it is further rolled out.

“We have invested in cutting the cost of school by expanding free school meals and school uniform assistance.

“North Lanarkshire Council is also continuing its Club 365 programme which has been a great help to local families.

“But through all of this, we are continuing to mitigate against UK Government cuts.

“They have cut Universal Credit by £20 per week, which left an additional 70,000 children in poverty.

“Until we get the full powers of independence we will continue to see Tory policies that increase poverty while we want to do all we can to see the end of child poverty.”

Fulton Macgregor, MSP for Coatbridge, added:“one child being raised in poverty is too much and these recent figures underline the fact that this level of child poverty across Lanarkshire is way too high.

“It is essential that child poverty is eradicated if we are to build the strongest foundation for Scotland’s future. This is a key issue and one that must be tackled urgently.

“Last April, the Scottish Government doubled the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week per child.

“I am confident that the Scottish Government will soon extend this successful scheme, which could make over 400,000 children across Scotland eligible.

“The Scottish Child Payment, in conjunction with three Best Start Grant payments and Best Start Foods, have been introduced to give young children the necessary support they need to flourish.

“Although this level of child poverty is too high, we have seen that this investment has begun a downward trend of children across Lanarkshire being raised in poverty.”