Briefing in support of Jayne Baxter MSP’s amendments 165 and 170 relating to child poverty

Background

Child poverty rates in Scotland are set to soar in the coming years. Modelling by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests there will be around 70,000 more children living in poverty in Scotland by 2020 than there are today[i]. We therefore urge the Education and Culture Committee to strengthen the Children and Young People Bill by accepting Amendments Nos. 165 and 170 (see Appendix 1). This will ensure that the legislation includes specific provisions to helpaddress the needs of children living in poverty.

Amendments Nos. 165and170would ensure that - as well as safeguarding, supporting and promoting the wellbeing of children - local Children’s Services Plans (as created in Part 3 of the Bill)will support, promote and deliver the targets and main aims of the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland.Given that the key aims of the Child Poverty Strategy include maximisation of household resource and tackling socioeconomic disadvantage,the amendments would ensure that local Children’s Service Plans make an explicit contribution to tackling child poverty.

Key issues

  1. The need to tackle child poverty

Both Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) acknowledge that children have a right to live their lives free from poverty. They also acknowledge that experiencing poverty can undermine the enjoyment of wider human rights and wellbeing.We believe that, with adoption of Amendments Nos.165 and 170, the Bill could make a major contribution to tackling child poverty and meeting human rights obligations.

2. The need to strengthen links between the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland and Children’s Services Plans

We believe that Children’s Services Plans mustplay a vital part in developing and progressing the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland and in ensuring that a consistent approach is taken across Scotland by local authorities, health boards and by other key agencies to tackling child poverty. Amendments Nos. 165 and 170 will place tackling child poverty at the very heart of children’s services planning and ensure that the design and delivery of services will include a strong focus on tackling child poverty. The amendments will alsoensure that the links between the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Strategy and Children’s Services Plans are strong and effective, avoiding duplication and strengthening both service planning and poverty reduction agendas

3. The need to promote a consistent approach to tackling child poverty

Amendments Nos. 165 and 170 will also require local authorities and their partners to report on their progress in relation to tackling child poverty as part of Children’s Services Plans. In doing so, the amendments will help to promote a more consistent and transparent approach by local authorities, health boards and other key agencies across Scotland to tackling child poverty.

Background Information on Key Issues

1. The Need to Tackle Child Poverty
1.1The Children and Young people (Scotland) Bill’s Policy Memorandum states that the purpose of Children’s Services Plans (CSPs) is to ensure that those bodies responsible for planning and developing services will “work together in considering how to improve the whole wellbeing of all children and young people in their area.” While we strongly support the creation of CSPs, we are concerned that no attempt to improve “whole wellbeing for all children” will be successful unless it is accompanied by targeted steps to address the cause, effects and underlying determinants of child poverty at local level.

1.2 The impact of poverty on child wellbeing is well documented. Children from poor households are more likely to experience low birth weight, chronic illness and mental health problems[ii]. By the age of three, children in poverty lag one full year behind their more affluent peers in terms of cognitive development, social skills and school readiness[iii]. Failing to tackle child poverty therefore undermines wider initiatives aimed at improving child wellbeing, ensuring that any advances are both limited and felt disproportionately by children from more affluent families.
1.3The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) acknowledges that children have a right to live their lives free from poverty.Articles 27 and 28of the Convention assert thatchildren have the right to a standard of living adequate to meet their physical and mental needs and detail the government’s duty to assist those who are ‘poor or in need’.
1.4 GIRFEC too highlights the effect of poverty on wellbeing. Wellbeing Indicator 8 relates to inclusion, which is described as “Having help to overcome social, educational, physical and economic inequalities and being accepted as part of the community in which they live and learn”.

1.5 It therefore follows that any bill which gives legislative effect to GIRFEC and the UNCRC should also strengthen the rights and opportunities of children experiencing poverty. We are concerned, however, that these relatively complex links have not been clearly drawn out in the Bill or in its accompanying documents.

1.6 The Bill’s Policy Memorandum, for instance, makes three references to child poverty – two of which relate to the provisions on child care and early learning. This raises concerns that there has not been adequate consideration as to how other parts of the Bill – such as those dealing with Children’s’ Service Planning, the role of the Named Person and Kinship Carers - could be used to help tackle child poverty.

1.7 If the Bill is to succeed at improving wellbeing for all children, while also contributing to Scottish Government strategies such as Achieving Our Potential, Equally Well and the Child Poverty Strategy[iv] then these links must be made much more clearly. Failure to do this could result in the relationship between poverty and wellbeing being overlooked by child practitioners, planners and policy makers.

2. Strengthening Links between the Scottish Child Poverty Strategy and Children’s Services Planning
2.1We believe there is a need to strengthen links between the Child Poverty Strategy and Children’s Services Plans in order to avoid duplication of effort and strengthen both service planning and poverty reduction agendas.

2.2Currently, legislation aimed at reducing child poverty in Scotland has a national rather than local focus. The Child Poverty Act 2010 obliges the Scottish Government to create a Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland every three years and to report on its progress annually[v]. The current Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland sets out key objectives including:

  • Maximising household resources and reducing pressure on household budgets among low income families; and
  • Improving children’s wellbeing and life chances and tackling the underlying social and economic determinants of poverty

2.3 While local authorities in England and Wales also have a legal duty to produce Child Poverty Strategies setting out their plans for reducing child poverty in their area, no such obligation exists Scotland. This is despite local authorities and their community planning partners having control over many of the key policy levers that could have a major impact on child poverty rates, such as education, childcare, employability and the provision of financial information and advice.

2.4 Though the Scottish Government was originally confident that legislation was not required to compel local authorities to act to address child poverty[vi], there is a growing concern that the absence of a duty has led to a lack of action at local level. Freedom of information research shows that almost three years on from the publication of the Scottish Government’s first Child Poverty Strategy[vii] only 5% of local authorities have undertaken a child poverty impact assessment or established a child poverty development group.Indeed, almost half of council officers report that either evidence is not available or they are not aware of evidence in their local authority that demonstrates success in tackling child poverty.

2.5While there is an ongoing need for local bodies to better demonstrate their commitment to the eradication of child poverty in all their roles and functions (including economic development, finance, planning etc.), we believe that Children Service Plans (CSPs) provide an appropriate vehicle to ensure that child poverty and its impact on wellbeing are central to the planning of services. Rather than creating an additional and separated duty on local services to consider and take steps to reduce child poverty, Amendment Nos.165 and 170 would bring child poverty to the heart of service planning decisions. In practice thiswould:

  • Ensure that children’s service planning at local level makes an explicit and co-ordinated contribution to tackling child poverty
  • Recognise the eradication of child poverty as integral to the improvement of child wellbeing in Scotland

2.6. Amendment Nos.165 and 170 would oblige local authorities, NHS boards and other relevant partners to work together and consider child poverty, household income and the underlying social and economic determinants of poverty when planning relevant services, including childcare, local health services and education. This would lead to a coordinated, integrated, child-centered approach to service planning and poverty reduction. It would also encourage policy makers and service planners to draw out the links between child poverty and the provision of local services.

3. Promoting a consistent approach to tackling child poverty

3.1. The amendments would also increase local transparency and accountability in relation to tackling child poverty. This is due to the fact that under section 13 of the Bill, local authorities and health boards will be obliged to report on the implementation of their Children’s Service Plans[viii] and the extent to which identified outcomes have been achieved. If Amendment Nos.165 and 170 are passed, this will include information on progress on the reduction of child poverty and socio-economic disadvantage. The amendments will therefore help to promote a more consistent and transparent approach by local authorities, health boards and other key agencies across Scotland to tackling child poverty.

For more information please contact:

Hanna McCulloch
Policy and Parliamentary Officer
Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland
Unit 9, Ladywell,
94 Duke Street,
Glasgow G4 0UW
Tel: 0141 611 7090
/ Mark Ballard
Head of Policy,
Barnardo’s Scotland
111 Oxgangs Road North,
Edinburgh,
EH14 1ED
Tel: 0131 446 7028

Appendix 1

PART 3: CHILDREN’S SERVICES PLANNING

165 & 170. Amendments to ensure that tackling child poverty is at the heart of children’s services

Amendment 165

Section 7, Page 6, line 31, at end insert-

(“the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland” means the strategy which the Scottish Ministers are required to publish and lay before the Scottish Parliament under Section 11 of the Child Poverty Act 2010”).

Amendment 170

Section 9, Page 7, line 33, at end insert new paragraph-

(“(ia) best supports, promotes and delivers the aims and targets of the Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland”).

Effect

These amendments are designed to ensure that the Children and Young People Bill includes a strong focus on tackling child poverty. The amendments will also help to ensure that tackling child poverty is at the very centre of children’s services planning, and that children’s services plans will make a significant contribution to tackling child poverty.

Placing a duty on local authorities and health boards to ensure that the aims of children’s services plans include helping to tackle child poverty will also help to promote a more consistent approach to eradicating child poverty across Scotland.

1

[i] Figures for Scotland can be found on p41 table B.2 Column 1. The proportion of children living in relative child poverty (after housing costs (AHC) are deducted) is forecast to increase from 21.4% in 2011 to 28.4% in 2020; around 70 000 additional children pushed into poverty by 2020

[ii]Health Consequences of Poverty for Children; End Child Poverty

[iii] C.Telfer, Education: Closing the Attainment Gap; Poverty in Scotland 2011, Child Poverty Action Group

[iv] Scottish Government, Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland 2011

[v] Section 11, Child Poverty Act 2010

[vi] The Scottish Government “believe that the current structure provides the right balance between accountability and sensitivity to local circumstances”

[vii] Local action to Tackle Child Poverty in Scotland; John H. McKendrick and Stephen Sinclair

August 2012

[viii] Under section 13 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill