michael matheson letter on child poverty

8/6/2019 Michael Matheson Letter on Child Poverty

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Ministear airson Siainte PoblachMinister for Public Health

Micheal Matheson SPA

Michael Matheson MSP

FIT:0845 7741741

E: [email protected]

Ms Kezia Dugdale MSPThe Scottish Parliament

EDINBURGH

EH991SP

The ScottishGovernmentRiaghaltas na h-Alba

Ur faidhlelYour ref: 11061/STAr faidhle/Our ref: 2011/1009059

'~\ July 2011

< u _ _._ / tL~r ~u for your letter of 16 June 2011 to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and

Cities regarding Scottish Government action on child poverty. As tackling poverty falls in myremit I have been asked to reply.

As you know the Scottish Government is taking forward a number of initiatives to tackle child

poverty in Scotland. Details of our approach are contained in the Child Poverty Strategy forScotland which we published in March of this year.

In relation to your specific points, I can tell you that the Scottish Government is currently

considering poverty proofing and has commissioned some research on this matter. Following

consideration of this research the Scottish Government will consider taking forwardappropriate measures for poverty proofing.

A decision has not been taken regarding the introduction of a socio-economic duty in

Scotland. We believe it would be premature to make a decision regarding this until the UK

Government have made a final decision regarding the implementation of the socio-economic

duty as specified in the Equality Act 2010.

You may be aware that the UK Government wrote to the Minister for Housing and

Communities on 16 November 2010 to say they were minded not to commence the socio-

economic duty. Mr Neil wrote to Theresa May, the UK Government Minister for Women and

Equalities on 2 December 2010 to urge the UK Government to implement the duty acrossthe UK. We have not had a response to this letter.

Regarding work on quantification and reporting on persistent poverty, you may wish to note

that the Poverty and income inequality in Scotland: 2009 - 2010 report contains statisticalinformation on persistent poverty in Scotland. Figures are available for persistent poverty

amongst children, working age adults and pensioners, and show falling levels across theperiod of time covered by the report.

Taigh Naomh Anndrais, Rathad Regent, Dun Eideann EH1 3DG

St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG

www.scotland.gov.uk

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/


mailto:[email protected]



The Early Years Framework committed the Scottish Government to promoting childcare

vouchers among employers in Scotland. As you know, from January-June 2009 the Scottish

Government ran a project to promote greater use of childcare vouchers among Scottish

employers in the public, private and voluntary sectors with the report made available to the

public. This has successfully raised the profile of childcare vouchers through individual

contacts and working with the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC).

The report noted that we targeted the main employer organisations in Scotland and soughttheir agreement to publicising childcare vouchers through their membership

newsletters/websites. This included CBI Scotland, the Federation of Small Businesses, the

Institute of Directors, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Scottish Financial Enterprise and the

Scottish Council for Development and Industry.

Since then, there has been ongoing information and promotion of the issue through HMRC

fact sheets for employers, as well as information available for all employees through the

Scottish Government website and national and local Childcare Information Services, as the

2009 report also indicated employer action was influenced by employee demand.

One of key issues is the complexity of support for parents with childcare costs, includingchildcare vouchers and tax credits, which is a reserved matter for Westminster. We will

continue to press for a progressive and more accessible means of supporting childcare

costs. The Scottish Government's position is to support the simplification of the welfare

system in principle, and to acknowledge the possibility that Universal Credit may be an

effective means of achieving this. We will continue to work in partnership with COSLA and

the Welfare Reform Scrutiny Group, to develop a better understanding of the impact of the

UK Government's changes and to send clear messages on welfare reform.

In the meantime, we will continue to seek opportunities to promote childcare vouchers to the

private sector, including through a national summit with Scotland's business community

which will explore new ways of incentivising and encouraging more flexible working, to makeit easier for parents with young children.

I hope this reply has been useful to you.

Michael Matheson

Taigh Naomh Anndrais, Rathad Regent, Dun Eideann EHl 3DG

5t Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH13DG

www.scotland.gov.uk IX\'E,."iTORIN PEOPl8



michael matheson letter on child poverty

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