Hansard

I am sure that that is an aspect that the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care can deal with in his closing speech. I recognise that many hospices, and, indeed, many charities in the third sector, are facing challenges, and we are very keen to support them where we can but within the limited budget that we have.

This Government is committed to tackling the inequality that we have in our community. I only wish that the UK Government had showed even one quarter of our ambition. The UK Conservative Government must face up to the damage and hardship that it has caused by having well over a decade of austerity and welfare cuts. That damage and that hardship have been exacerbated by a hard Brexit and shocking mismanagement of the economy that have led to soaring inflation, spiralling energy bills and the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.

This Government is doing all that it can in the face of that to make a difference. Despite the UK Government’s policies pushing people into poverty, we know that our action is still making a difference. Modelling estimates that 90,000 fewer children will live in relative and absolute poverty this year as a result of this Government’s policies, with our poverty level 9 percentage points lower than it would have been otherwise. That includes an estimated 50,000 children who have been lifted out of relative poverty by the Scottish child payment.

That is a major achievement, but the achievement would be all the greater were we not being held back by UK Government policies that are pushing people into poverty at the same time. UK Government welfare policies, including the two-child limit and the benefit cap, inflict hardship on families on the lowest incomes. The two-child limit alone is affecting 80,000 children in Scotland, and it has removed £341 million from Scottish families since 2017. It is a disastrous policy for people right across this country at their time of greatest need.

If the United Kingdom Government were to reverse key welfare reforms that were introduced in 2015, that would help to lift 70,000 people out of poverty this year, including 30,000 children, and would put an estimated £780 million back in the pockets of the lowest-income households. The Conservatives in Westminster must no longer sit by and watch people suffer—although they may feel that they can, because Labour is promising more of the same. That is why the powers over social security and employment, to name but two, are needed in the hands of this Parliament.

If the UK Government really wanted to do something to alleviate inequality, it could. That is why the First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday, calling for the UK Government to legislate to put in place an essentials guarantee to ensure that social security benefits adequately cover the cost of essentials, including food, transport and energy, and to ensure that deductions such as debt repayments to Government and sanctions or deductions resulting from the benefit cap can never pull support below that level. We know that the Welsh Government also supports that approach. I will follow up with further correspondence to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the coming days.

Over the past five financial years, we have invested £711 million through activities such as discretionary housing payments and the Scottish welfare fund to mitigate the austerity of UK Government policies, including the bedroom tax, the benefit cap and local housing allowance. That money could have been spent on services such as health, education and transport or on further ambitious anti-poverty measures. It could have paid for around 2,000 band 5 nurses each year. That is the price of staying in the union.

However, Scotland cannot wait for the UK Government to act. Although devolution continues to limit what we can do, the Scottish Government is determined to use our powers to the fullest possible extent. That is why, in 2021, we convened an expert group from across the third sector, academia and industry to look at how, under our current powers and within current budget challenges, Scotland can build steps towards a minimum income guarantee. Such a change could be transformational, and I look forward to receiving the group’s recommendations in 2024.

We know that child poverty, in particular, lies at the root of many of the greatest challenges that we face as a country, including tackling health and educational inequalities. The Scottish Government is unequivocal in its commitment to meet our statutory targets through “Best Start, Bright Futures—Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026”. Delivering on our ambition will mean tough choices, and we will not shy away from the decisions that are needed to reduce poverty and support those who are in greatest need. Neither will we shirk from protecting people from harm, as is outlined in our missions.

Our programme for government sets out how we will work to deliver further progress on those shared ambitions. That includes investing £405 million in our unique and game-changing Scottish child payment this year. The payment, which is worth £25 per eligible child per week, is unique in the UK and, as of the end of June this year, was reaching more than 316,000 children. More than £350 million has been paid to low-income families since the payment launched in February 2021.

To ensure that we continue to support people with the cost of living, we are committed to increasing the Scottish child payment, funeral support payment and all disability and carers benefits in line with inflation. I have to stress that, unlike UK benefit systems, the Scottish child payment does not have a limit to the number of children who can qualify for a family. That is a principle based on dignity, and it is a shame that the Tories and the Labour Party have long since given up on that.

To build on our action to date, we have now set ambitious plans to expand access to high-quality funded childcare by the end of this parliamentary session, starting with those who need it most, to help to tackle poverty and support thousands more parents to take up or sustain employment.