Tory MSP Adam Tomkins says the Bill focuses very narrowly on income and he says his party does not believe this gets to the root of the problem.

Mr Tomkins says it is not enough to say the solution to poverty is to increase income an he says the drivers of poverty must be identified, like addiction and family breakdown.

He says no anti-poverty srategy will be successful unless the underlying drivers of poverty are addressed.

SNP MSP Alex Neil asks if it is not poverty that leads to addiction and in fact poverty that is the driver.

Mr Tomkins does not agree.

Tory MSP Adam Tomkins says his party will be supporting the general principles of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill.

Mr Tomkins says measuring child poverty is important by taking steps to eventually eradicate it is much more important.

The Tory MSP says this Bill in itself won't do anything to lift children out of poverty and therefore is a "missed opportunity".

Image source, End Child Poverty

From the End Child Poverty in Scotland website, external:

"Members of End Child Poverty in Scotland include the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, The Poverty Alliance, Barnardo’s Scotland, One Parent Families Scotland, Children1st, Save the Children and Children in Scotland.

"End Child Poverty Coalition members in Scotland have written a joint response to the Scottish Government consultation on a Child Poverty Bill for Scotland.

"In our response we support the call for a Child Poverty Bill for Scotland and the income-based statutory targets which are proposed in the consultation.

"The target date is proposed for 2030, which we believe is realistic.

"In addition to the 2030 targets we believe there is a need for the legislation to include interim targets to ensure the Scottish Government and other public bodies are on track towards achieving the 2030 target."

Social Security Committee convener Sandra White says the end date is the 1st April 2031.

Ms White welcomes the cabinet secretary for listening to calls for interim targets.

Labour MSP Elaine Smith asks if the recommendations for a statutorty commission would cover the calls for independent scrutiny.

Ms White says there is differing opinions on this issue and it will be covered again at Stage 2.

Ms White says targets were arrived at following extensive consultation.

The Social Security Committee Convener says a number of witnesses highlighted the inequalities of wealth in today's society.

She says disabled women are more likely to be living in poverty than disabled men.

Ms White says the targets in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill take into account additional income.

Image source, Thinkstock

The Social Security Committee convener says in Scotland one in four children live in a low income household.

Ms White says in Glasgow it is more like one in three.

She says the committee met in Glasgow to hear what is being done there to tackle child poverty.

The SNP MSP says there was strong support for reinstating targets for tackling child poverty.

She says targets alone will not reduce child poverty, but they allow progress to be measured and to allow the government to be held to account.

Social Security Committee convener Sandra White says the members of the committee came to a consensual view on the principles of this Bill.

Ms White thanks everyone who gave evidence including the communities secretary.

The committee convener says "there should be no place for child poverty in a modern Scotland" and "we need to make a difference now".

The SNP MSP says this Bill was brought forward by the Scottish government as a direct response to the decision to repeal the Child Poverty Act by the UK government.

Communities Secretary Angela Constance says on the content of delivery plans she accepts the arguments in favour of including more detail on the face of the bill.

Ms Constance says touchstone issues in eradicating child poverty will be put on the face of the bill.

She says she hopes everyone supports the government's aims to eradicate child poverty.

Labour MSP Alex Rowley intervenes to say that young couples who are in poverty and have a child will continue to be in poverty and asks if a coherent poverty bill is required.

Ms Constance says Mr Rowley makes a fair point that if parents are in poverty then a child is also going to be.

The communities secretary says this Bill will sit alongside other plans to tackle poverty.

She says the evidence heard during Stage 1 identified amendments to be brought forward at Stage 2.

More than a quarter of children in Scotland were living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2015-2016, according to government figures.

It marks what charities described as a "devastating" rise of 4% from the previous year.

Overall figures show 1.05 million people in Scotland were in relative poverty after they had paid housing costs, up 2% from the previous year.

Ministers said making a fairer and more equal Scotland was a "core ambition".

Read more here

Image source, bbc

John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, challenged both the Scottish and UK governments to act quickly to address the problem.

"We cannot afford to lose sight of the tens of thousands of children across Scotland that lie behind these statistics and the devastating impact that poverty will too often have on their health, wellbeing and life chances," Mr Dickie said.

"These figures highlight just how important the Child Poverty Bill currently before the Scottish Parliament is. But legislation alone won't end poverty and the Scottish government must now act quickly to implement the kind of concrete, practical policies that would make a significant dent in these figures.

"The latest modelling suggests that using new powers to top-up child benefit by £5 a week would, for example, reduce child poverty in Scotland by up to 14%, lifting around 30,000 children out of poverty."

Read more here.

Image source, bbc

Ms Constance says interim targets would be a helpful addition to he bill.

The minister says they must challenge government to strong action.

Tory MSP Adam Tomkins welcomes the announcement about interim targets being introduced at Stage 2 and asks if they will be on the face bill.

Ms Constance says she will come to that, but says the interim targets must galvanise action.

She says putting them on the face of the bill would be prior to work on the issue being completed.

Ms Constance says this Bill provides the robust frame work to eradicate child poverty.

The communities secretary says delivery plans will set out measures that ministers will take to meet four income targets on child poverty.

She says that it will also require annual reports from local authorities and health boards setting out steps that are being taken to lift children out of poverty.

Image source, bbc

Communities Secretary Angela Constance says the Scottish government felt the UK government were characterising poverty as a lifestyle choice.

Ms Constance says the income and poverty statistics indicate rising levels of child poverty in Scotland with 26% living in relative poverty after housing costs.

She says these levels are unacceptable and the IFS has predicted child poverty will increase.

The minister says: "Child poverty is neither acceptable nor is it inevitable."

She says the Bill will establish satutory income targets on child poverty.

In Novemeber we reported that more than 200,000 children are growing up in poverty in Scotland, a new study has suggested.

The survey for the End Child Poverty coalition suggested that 3.5 million children are living in poverty in the UK - with 220,000 of them in Scotland.

The worst-hit local authority area in Scotland is Glasgow, where 34.1% of children are affected.

Image source, Getty Images

According to the Child Poverty Action Group, which assessed benefit data, about 23% of children in Scotland live in low income households. That figure is up from 19% five years ago.

Campaigners have called on the chancellor to use the upcoming Autumn Statement to end the freeze on children's benefits, and reverse the cuts being introduced to in-work benefits under Universal Credit.

The coalition, which is made up of the Child Poverty Action Group, Barnardo's Scotland, One Parent Families Scotland, Children 1st and the Poverty Alliance, also wants the Scottish government to ensure the proposed Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill addresses poverty at local level.

Read more here.

Communities Secretary Angela Constance says the principles of this Bill are "indisputable" in her opinion.

Ms Constance says the Bill aims to lift all children in Scotland out of poverty.

The communities secretary says the Scottish government did not agree with the UK government's decision to repeal the Child Poverty Act and rename the legislation.

The stage 1 debate on the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill begins.

Legislation setting targets for the eradication of child poverty in Scotland was tabled at Holyrood on 10 February 2017.

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill, external will set a series of statutory targets to reduce, and ultimately wipe out, what minsters call a "systemic problem".

Studies show more than 200,000 children in Scotland are growing up in poverty.

Image source, Getty Images

The legislation, external sets an initial target of cutting the number of children in relative poverty to less than 10% by 2030, and in absolute poverty to less than 5%. As of December 2016, the rates stood at 22% and 21% respectively.

The government said it would publish a three-year delivery plan by April 2018, which will be updated every five years alongside annual reports to measure progress.

Poverty has been shown to be the driver of inequalities from educational attainment to the health of children.

Read more here.

An EndChild Poverty (ECP) coalition in Scotland, external spokesperson said:

"We are pleased that local authorities and health boards will have to report on what action they are taking that will contribute to reducing child poverty in their areas.

"However, this is only half the picture.

"The Bill needs to include a requirement that they plan the action they will be taking into the future to make progress towards meeting the targets”.

Image source, End Child Poverty in Scotland

Members of the coalition also argued that an independent body could perform the scrutiny role previously fulfilled by the Child Poverty and Social Mobility Commission at UK level and believe that this role could be fulfilled by the Scottish Government’s proposed Poverty and Inequality Commission.

The spokesperson continued: “Expert scrutiny and oversight is essential in ensuring the Scottish Government and all public bodies will stay on track and make progress in meeting the targets.

"The Committee’s support for the establishment of a Commission on a statutory footing with a scrutiny duty is particularly welcome and we hope that the Scottish government will give the recommendation serious consideration”.

The End Child Poverty (ECP) coalition in Scotland has welcomed a number of the recommendations made by the Social Security Committee which they say represent significant progress in strengthening the Child Poverty Bill.

The coalition strongly welcomes the Bill as providing legal underpinning and accountability to commitments to eradicate the scandal of child poverty in Scotland.

However it is now calling on the Scottish government to implement the Social Security Committee’s recommendations and to bring forward amendments to further strengthen the Bill.

Image source, bbc

As part of its evidence to the committee, members of the End Child Poverty Coalition called for:

• interim targets
• greater detail setting out areas to be covered in the Delivery Plan
• the need for a measurement framework to be included in the Bill
• the need for independent scrutiny