Benefit will make a‘massive difference’ to families

Hundreds of families in Renfrewshire North and West are set to benefit from a regular cash boost for lowincome parents this year, writes Steph Brawn, Local Democracy Reporter.

An estimated 1,200 families in the constituency – which covers the likes of Renfrew, Erskine, Bishopton, and Kilmacolm– will be eligible for the Scottish Child Payment ( SCP) in 2021/22.

Parents and carers are provided with £40 every four weeks for each youngster under six by the Scottish Government’s Social Security Scotland agency.

And if plans to roll out the benefit to under-16s go ahead at the end of next year, the number of families in the region receiving support could increase to around 2,100.

The area’s MSP Natalie Don asked how many families would benefit from the SCP over the next 12 months at Holyrood this week.

Ministers confirmed the SCP would be rolled out to under- 16s subject to data being provided by the Department for Work and Pensions to enable Social Security Scotland to make top-up payments.

“The SCP will make a massive difference in helping lift many children out of poverty in my constituency,” said Miss Don, who used her maiden speech in the Scottish Parliament to focus on tackling poverty.

“Howe v e r, the UK Government ’ s welfare policies are having the opposite effect.

“The C h i l d r e n ’s Commissioner for Scotland said that if the UK Government scraps the £ 20 Universal Credit uplift in September, this will effectively knock out the benefits the SCP brings into families.

“The UK Government should start matching the SNP government’s ambitions by introducing anti-poverty measures, instead of cuts.”