Swinney admits he cannot guarantee child poverty will continue to reduce

First Minister John Swinney has said he cannot guarantee child poverty will continue to reduce, blaming the impact of Westminster policies.

Mr Swinney has pinpointed the eradication of child poverty as his guiding principle since taking office last year, and he has repeatedly touted Scotland’s falling rate in recent figures as being unique in the UK.

However, the figures released earlier this year do not cover the period of Mr Swinney’s premiership, which began in May after the downfall of Humza Yousaf.

The statistics showed relative child poverty fell to 23% in March of last year, but that was well above the Scottish Government’s interim target of 18% by 2023-24.

Speaking to the PA news agency ahead of the SNP’s annual conference, the First Minister said he hopes child poverty will continue to reduce in Scotland.

But he added: “I have to be candid that there are pressures that are drawing it in the opposite direction, not least of which is the actions of the UK Government – and that’s one of the strongest arguments for independence.

“Essentially, our genuine, focused measures to reduce child poverty – and we’ve obviously demonstrated that we can be successful in that respect – against a prevailing trend moving in the opposite direction stands to be undermined by the actions of the UK Government.

“I suppose the way I would characterise it is that we will do everything we possibly can do, but we can’t ignore the prevailing pressure and draw of other factors which might actually make our challenge even greater.

“We’ll give it our all, but I have to take account of the fact that there might well be a prevailing direction that can be a real challenge as a consequence.”

The First Minister and others in the Scottish Government have consistently taken aim at the UK Government over child poverty, particularly around their refusal to abolish the two-child benefit cap.

While recent reports suggest the UK Government is considering replacing the cap with a new tapered system when Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her Budget in November, the Scottish Government has committed to mitigating the effects of the policy north of the border from early next year, likely by introducing a new benefit.

The First Minister also committed to publishing a child poverty plan before the next election.

A spokesman for the UK Government said: “We are working closely with and supporting the Scottish Government through the largest real-terms settlement in the history of devolution.

“The UK government is determined to bring down child poverty.

“We’ve already uprated benefits, increased the national minimum wage and are supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on universal credit deductions.

“We will publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.”