Scottish Government launches consultation to tackle child poverty

Date: 1st December 2010
Category: Disability, Basic Health and Welfare

The Scottish Government is seeking views to inform the development of its new Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland.

The strategy will set out the Scottish Government's plans for doing all within its powers to tackle child poverty in Scotland in line with the requirements of the Child Poverty Act 2010.

The first Scottish strategy, which requires to be reviewed every three years up until 2020, will be published in Spring 2011.

Children and young people growing up in poverty are more vulnerable than their peers to a wide range of negative outcomes. This represents a huge injustice and waste of human potential. The Scottish Government's vision is for a Scotland where no child is disadvantaged by poverty. They are already working hard to tackle child poverty in Scotland and it is intended that the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland will build on existing policy, and set out the areas in which we must increase efforts to make this vision a reality.

This discussion paper describes the current approach of Scottish Government and its community planning partners to tackling child poverty in Scotland and improving outcomes for children and families living in poverty. It sets out the key principles of the current approach, and provides a broad overview of the main policies and actions relating to child poverty.

The consultation paper is available here and has a closing date for responses of 7th January 2011.