Bringing Hope, Building Futures: Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2026-2031

Reducing the costs of living

Since 2018, to reduce the cost of living for families we have:

Delivered 65,044 affordable homes, including 48,623 homes for social rent, through our continued investment in the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, with action to keep social rents substantially lower than market rents benefitting approximately 140,000 children in poverty each year.

Delivered the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 that will support the introduction of long-term rent control to help support affordability of homes in the private rented sector and introduce new homelessness prevention duties that will make the prevention of homelessness everybody’s business.

Supported households to maintain their tenancies and avoid homelessness through our investment in Discretionary Housing Payments, which includes supporting around 10,000 children each year through mitigation of the UK Government’s benefit cap.

Continued to invest in the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, benefitting over 100,000 households with children, and saving recipients on average over £900 in 2025-26. Continued to invest in our Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme supporting over 7,300 households in 2024-25 saving households around £450 a year on average on their fuel bills.

Maintained investment in our social contract, including free prescriptions and free tuition, and introduced access to free period products for anyone who needs them.

Supported over 15,000 people, including over 4,000 with council tax arrears, through the Citizens Advice Scotland Council Tax Debt project - with households seeing debt written off or support through Council Tax Reduction worth a total of £2.69 million.

Provided over £2.8 million to clear historic school meal debt and continue to work with COSLA to support the management of school meal debt going forward.

“It’s not normal to go weeks without a proper wash because hot water is too expensive… to do nothing outside of school because sports cost money.”

Young person, Young Scot

Supporting families with the cost of living is essential to reducing child poverty and improving life for parents and children.

The ongoing cost of living crisis is putting ever greater pressure on household budgets, with families continuing to pay much more for essentials like housing, food and energy than they did before.

This particularly impacts priority family types, who tend to spend more of their income on these costs, and the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls has highlighted the multiple ways in which women are disproportionately affected. Women often function as ‘poverty managers’ in the home, taking on responsibility for stretching budgets to meet household needs.

Our action to date has made a real difference. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests that our investment in affordable homes has helped to keep child poverty rates in Scotland six percentage points below the UK average in recent years – equivalent to keeping 60,000 children in Scotland out of poverty.

But we know that families urgently need more support. Our engagement highlighted ongoing worries about the cost of housing, fuel and food. People told us they want more social housing, more help with energy and utility costs, and action to reduce the number of children living in temporary accommodation.

By taking action to reduce living costs, we can help families meet their basic needs and make sure no child is left cold, hungry or without a safe home.

To drive further progress we will take action focused on:

• Delivering more social and affordable homes for families
• Ending child homelessnessMaking homes cheaper to heat
• Tackling public sector debt
• Making homes cheaper to heat

Delivering more social and affordable homes for families

“Since moving into our own property, my daughter and I have experienced a significant improvement in our lives. We finally have the independence and stability we always longed for. The regular check-ups and updates from the housing association make us feel valued and secure. Moreover, the chance to apply for extra funding during challenging times has been truly helpful. We are incredibly grateful for the positive impact this has made in our lives.”

Katie, parent – Housing Associations Charitable Trust engagement

Housing is the single biggest cost many families face every month, leaving less money for other essentials like food and energy. Children need safe, secure and warm homes to grow up in, while access to affordable, high-quality housing helps parents manage household costs, reduce financial stress, and build a stable foundation for work, training and education.

By continuing to invest in the delivery of more affordable homes – including through the establishment of More Homes Scotland – and taking action to strengthen protections for families living in the private rented sector, we will help to reduce the cost families face and ensure they have a strong and stable foundation for their lives. We must do more to ensure our Affordable Housing Supply Programme helps the families who need it most – particularly families in rural areas, households with a disabled person and others at risk of poverty.

In the year ahead we will maintain the progress we have made, including by continuing to:

• Mitigate the UK Government’s bedroom tax and benefit cap, backed by a record £106 million of investment in Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs), helping families to maintain their tenancies. This will give approximately 20,000 children support with bedroom tax, 10,000 children support with benefit cap, and will include families who receive little to no help from the removal of the two-child limit as a result of the benefit cap.

We will also drive further progress by:

• Investing up to a further £9 million in DHPs to support up to an estimated 18,000 families impacted by the UK Government’s ongoing freeze to Local Housing Allowance rates – reducing housing-related poverty and helping prevent homelessness.
• Investing a record £4.1 billion over the next four years as part of a wider investment of up to £4.9 billion in affordable homes. This is estimated to support delivery of 36,000 affordable homes and provide up to 24,000 children with a place to call home. This planned investment supports our continued commitment towards the delivery of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70% will be for social rent and 10% in rural and island communities as well as our wider all-tenure ambition.
• Introducing Awaab’s Law in the rented sector on 6 October 2026, subject to Parliament’s agreement, starting with damp and mould, to ensure landlords promptly address issues hazardous to tenants – improving the quality of homes for families.

Case study - Discretionary Housing Payments help reunite a family

DHPs are administered by local authorities and provide extra financial support to people struggling with their housing costs.

A local council recently supported a family experiencing housing pressures by using DHPs to secure an affordable private rented tenancy. The family did not have enough space in their council property, so they had been forced to live apart. One parent stayed in the council flat with three of the children, while the other parent and their baby were sofa surfing at a relative’s home. This was putting real strain on the whole family’s daily life and wellbeing.

The council recognised that the family needed to be rehoused into a bigger property where they could all live together. They found a suitable private rental property, but the rent was higher than the Local Housing Allowance rate, leaving a shortfall the family could not afford.

By using additional funding for DHPs announced as part of the housing emergency action plan, the council were able to award a payment to cover the rent shortfall. This meant that the family could secure the tenancy, reunite, and move into a stable home that met their needs.

Under ‘Bringing Hope, Building Futures’, we will continue to invest in DHPs to ensure families across Scotland can access safe, warm and affordable homes.

Ending child homelessness

“Staying in a hotel is hard, there is nowhere to wash your clothes, nowhere to cook your own food, the hotel food is cold.”

Young person, Scottish Refugee Council “Your Voice Matters”

Scotland has some of the strongest protections in the world for people experiencing homelessness. But too often, people are unable to get help until it is too late. Where homelessness cannot be prevented, people should be offered a settled home as soon as possible. This approach – known as rapid rehousing – is the cornerstone of Scotland’s homelessness strategy.

Temporary accommodation is an important safety net for families, but it needs to be safe, good quality and used only for a short time. We have committed to reducing the number of children spending long periods in temporary accommodation through our housing emergency action plan.

In the year ahead we will maintain the progress we have made, including by continuing to:

• Invest a further £8 million in 2026-27 in the transition to rapid rehousing, which aims to reduce the need for many forms of temporary accommodation.
• Learn from the 15 homelessness prevention pilots to inform the development of guidance and regulations for the ask and act duties to help families maintain tenancies.

Recognising that women and children who are experiencing domestic abuse are at much higher risk of housing insecurity and homelessness, in the year ahead we will drive further progress by:

• Strengthening support for women experiencing domestic abuse by requiring all social landlords to have a domestic abuse policy and bringing Part 2 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 into force from 1 August 2026 – giving social landlords greater control to transfer a tenancy to a victim-survivor.
• Investing a further £2 million in our national Fund to Leave in 2026-27, giving women more choices and more control by helping to pay for the essentials needed for them to leave an abusive partner and build a more stable future for their children and themselves. The fund will be open to women across Scotland, regardless of their housing tenure, including those in the private rented sector, social housing, or owner-occupied properties.

Case Study - Fund to Leave

Fund to Leave provides financial support to help women leave an abusive partner.

J is a 40-year-old mother of two children, a 16-year-old and an 8-month-old. She was experiencing domestic abuse from her partner, as well as harassment and intimidation from the perpetrator’s family.

J presented to her local authority for homelessness assistance, and she and her children were placed in temporary accommodation. The temporary accommodation was not a safe or suitable place for them, and both J and her 16-year-old daughter felt frightened and distressed there.

J was being supported by her local Women’s Aid group and was prioritised for a place in a refuge. However, she needed ongoing treatment for a medical condition and was worried about moving too far away. The refuge was not immediately available and she faced a two day wait – a situation that can put women at real risk of returning to an unsafe home.

J was awarded £560 from the pilot Fund to Leave, which allowed her and her family to stay in a safe hotel for two nights while waiting for the refuge space. The fund also paid for taxis to take the family to the hotel and to the refuge when available, as well as covering the food and essential clothing they needed as they were not able to bring clothes with them when leaving.

J said: “I could never have done this myself, you’ve saved us and given us hope, we’re so grateful can’t thank you enough.”

Making homes cheaper to heat

“Paying bills can make things difficult, can cause arguments.”

“If people can’t afford, say, electricity or heating or stuff like that, it can affect their living conditions, it can affect their standard of life, and it can affect their mental health. It puts a lot of stress on families.”

Young people, Child Poverty Action Group

Heating and energy bills are unavoidable for families, and no one should have to cut back on heat or power to make ends meet. As of 2024, around one in four households with children experienced fuel poverty, with those living in remote and rural areas at greater risk.

Fuel poverty is primarily driven by energy prices, which have risen sharply in recent years. The UK Government continues to hold the main levers that could bring energy costs down, including energy market reforms and the energy price cap. We are calling on them to introduce a social tariff as soon as possible, so people automatically receive a targeted discount that makes their energy bills affordable.

In the meantime, we want to ensure that Scotland’s vast energy wealth directly benefits the people who need it most, and we are committed to working with partners to make homes more energy-efficient so people can keep warm for less. This is in addition to the targeted support we already deliver, such as our Child Winter Heating Payment and Scottish Welfare Fund.

In the year ahead we will maintain the progress we have made, including by continuing to:

• Tackle fuel poverty and support greater energy efficiency through Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based Schemes (ABS) delivery programmes, with the 2026-27 budget including up to £64 million in funding for locally designed and delivered ABS projects. Heating, insulation and renewable measures installed through Warmer Homes Scotland saved households around £450 a year on average on their fuel bills in 2024-25.
• Invest a further £1 million in our Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund, supporting vulnerable island households, with a specific focus on tackling child poverty. Working in partnership with island local authorities this will deliver targeted initiatives tailored to local needs, including in support of fuel payments and energy costs.

We will also drive further progress by:

• Drawing on the Fuel Poverty Panel’s recommendations in response to our Periodic Report on Tackling Fuel Poverty 2021-24 to ensure that a future strategy meets the ambitions and challenges of tackling fuel poverty, as we undertake our duties under the Fuel Poverty Act 2019.

Tackling public sector debt

“My debt contributes to my poorer mental health. It’s definitely something that’s always on my mind… I worry about it. I would much rather be working and able to earn a decent amount of money. I just feel like I can’t at the moment. At the same time, not being able to do that and being in this position financially does make me feel a bit worse.”

Single mother participating in Aberlour public debt research

Debt, including public debt related to council tax, rent arrears and benefit overpayments, reduces the money families have to spend on essentials and can trap them in poverty. Evidence from Aberlour and others shows that women are disproportionately impacted by public debt, especially women who are single parents or who live in a household with a disabled person.

Despite the action we have taken, families are still feeling the strain. Research shows that years of UK Government austerity, the COVID pandemic and the cost of living crisis have placed increasing pressures on household finances – with debts rising as a result.

In the year ahead we will maintain the progress we have made to support people with their public debt, including by continuing to:

• Allocate over £2 million to the Council Tax Debt project across Scotland in 2026-27 to ensure extra capacity for advice for those experiencing council tax and water charges debt, and to continue to develop and share good practice across local authorities – estimated to support up to 15,000 people.

We will also drive further progress by:

• Working with local authority partners to explore how sharing Social Security Scotland data can help target support to households with children that hold council tax debt.