Too many people across Scotland, including 250,000 children, are having their life chances restricted by the injustice of preventable poverty. This is completely unjust in a wealthy country like Scotland.

In a letter to the First Minister in August, some 150 charities, trade unions, campaign groups, and community organisations came together to ask the First Minister to put action to tackle poverty at the heart of the Programme for Government.1 In recognition of the fact people living in the grip of poverty cannot afford to wait, these diverse organisations showed their support for a range of critic. [...] The latest scrutiny report from the Poverty and Inequality Commission concluded that, without urgent and concentrated action, the Scottish Government will miss both the interim and 2030 child poverty targets.4 The policy platform outlined in the Programme for Government builds on existing commitments and places continued focus on tackling poverty and inequality in Scotland. [...] Reform is badly overdue, and we are in agreement with the Poverty and Inequality Commission that the current process of tweaks to existing levers “is an inadequate response to the scale of the challenges facing public finances.”12 In September, a joint briefing from a range of organisations including the Poverty Alliance; Oxfam Scotland; IPPR Scotland; One Parent Families Scotland; and the Scottis. [...] We have welcomed the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment, and the subsequent £5 increase last year, with the impact of this policy underscoring the importance of bold policy decisions. [...] In particular, the Commission points to cuts to funding to expand parental employability support; slow progress on the pace of action on funded childcare for one and two year olds and school age childcare; and limited progress in putting child poverty at the heart of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.20 These areas must be priorities for the Scottish Government in the forthcoming budget, if.