Child poverty rising blast by MSP

A new report that reveals the number of children living in poverty rose to nearly 17,000 in Ayrshire last year “should shame us all”, says South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth.

The Labour MSP has called for action from both the UK and Scottish Governments after new research showed that the number of children living in poverty in Ayrshire rose from 15,312 to 16,751 between 2014/ 15 and 2018/ 19.

The figures were published by the End Child Poverty Coalition in collaboration with Loughborough University.

In East Ayrshire, the number rose from 5,250 to 5,899.

In South Ayrshire, the figure increased from 4,167 to 4,404.

And in North Ayrshire, the rise was 5,895 to 6,448.

Mr Smyth said: “The increase in child poverty across Ayrshire should shame us all.

“Too often the true extent of poverty can be hidden due the rural nature of the area but this report exposes the growing scandal.

“It is nothing short of a disgrace that kids are still going hungry to bed each night in Ayrshire.”

He added: “Both Governments need to wake up to this scandal and put in place a proper plan to tackle child poverty.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said Scotland was the only part of the UK tackling child poverty “head on,” by “prioritising” the introduction of a brand new Scottish Child Payment.

The spokesperson said: “This benefit of £ 10 per week per eligible child under six will open for applications in November with payments beginning in February. The Scottish Child Payment, together with Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods, will provide over £ 5,200 of financial support for families by the time their first child turns six. For second and subsequent children this will provide over £ 4,900.”

The spokesperson also said the Scottish Government had already invested over £ 120 million in supporting people with food, including ensuring free school meal provision over the summer, and “increased support” for housing.

The spokesperson added: “We also announced £ 30m of funding will be made available to local authorities to tackle financial insecurity, including over £ 10 million to continue Free School Meal provision during holiday periods including Christmas, February and Easter.”

A DWP spokesman said there are 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty than in 2009- 10, adding: “We have already taken significant steps by raising the living wage, ending the benefit freeze and injecting more than £ 9.3 billion into the welfare system to help those in most need.”