Scottish government urged to speed up and extend Scottish Child Payments using existing local government payment processes

New JRF report recommends that existing processes for making free school meals and clothing grant payments should be utilised to get payments to families this winter, and to those with older children before 2022

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has urged the Scottish Government to speed up and extend the new Scottish Child Payment using existing local government payment processes.

In Poverty in Scotland 2020: The independent annual report, the JRF looks at what has happened to poverty in Scotland before and during the coronavirus outbreak - with a particular focus on work, social security and housing - highlighting that even before COVID-19 around a million people in Scotland - 230,000 children, 640,000 working-age adults and 150,000 pensioners - were in poverty.

Among the report's key findings in relation to social security and poverty are that -

• the poverty rate for those in receipt of income-related benefits stands at around 40 per cent, 26 percentage points higher than for those who are not in receipt of benefits;
• amongst families with children, the situation is even starker as children who live in families in receipt of income-related benefits are more than three times as likely to live in poverty as those whose families are not on benefits; and
• the economic effects of coronavirus have led to changes in the characteristics of universal credit claimants, with claimants in employment increasing by 34 per cent and claimants aged under 30 doubling since the start of the year.

While the JRF welcomes the temporary steps the UK Government has taken to help mitigate the expected increase in poverty levels due to coronavirus, it calls for the measures to continue, in particular to support a reduction in the number of children in poverty -

‘Increases in universal credit and working tax credit as a result of the COVID emergency have stopped family incomes from falling further. However, these temporary measures by the UK Government are due to end in April 2021 JRF modelling estimates that 1.2 million people of all ages in Scotland will benefit if these increases are instead continued. A further 100,000 people would gain if the same increase were extended to legacy benefits (jobseeker's allowance, employment and support allowance and income support). In combination with the first phase of the Scottish Child Payment in 2021/2022, we estimate 25,000 fewer children would be in poverty. It is essential that the UK Government keeps this lifeline and extends it further.’

In addition, the JRF says that while it is supportive of the Scottish Government's commitment to introduce the Scottish Child Payment as soon as possible - welcoming the timetable for opening applications for eligible families with children aged under six in November and making first payments by February 2021 - it warns that -

‘… this leaves a gap in support over the winter when many low-income families will come under further strain, and the Scottish Child Payment will not be open to eligible families with older children for another two years.’

As a result, and recognising that Social Security Scotland may not have the capacity or data to take this much larger volume of applications sooner, the JRF urges the Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to -

‘… prepare local government payment channels to be used as an interim alternative. Building on claims for Free School Meals, School Clothing Grant and Education Maintenance Allowance would only be a partial solution, since eligibility is more limited than for the Scottish Child Payment, but we believe this ‘workaround’ option for some is much better than all eligible families having to wait longer. While the introduction of the new Scottish Child Payment has been delayed only slightly to February 2021, children returned to school in August. This has left a six-month gap where families under growing financial pressure have no additional support.’

For more information, see Now is a 'crucial moment' for Scotland to get back on course to solving child poverty from the JRF website.