Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan: progress report 2024-25

Section 3 - At a glance summaries

Introduction

The following section provides a series of ‘at a glance’ tables providing a summary overview of activity in 2024-25 and other key information.

Table 3.1 provides an overview of the status of each action reported on this year and how each action is expected to tackle child poverty.

Table 3.2 sets out a short progress update for actions which have not been reported against in each of the nine thematic areas in the first section of this report.

Table 3.3 sets out what has been spent from the Tackling Child Poverty Fund.

Table 3.4 sets out an estimate of our investment directed at low income households in 2024-25 and spend to support children in poverty.

Table 3.5 outlines the requirements of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017, and how we have addressed each within this report.

Table 3.6 details how we have responded to each of the Poverty and Inequality Commission’s comments relating to the child poverty targets.

Table 3.7 details our response to each of the nine recommendations set out within their 2024-25 scrutiny report.

Overview of progress

The following table provides an at a glance update on the status of all actions in ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ as of 31 March 2025. The table also summarises how each action will help us to tackle child poverty.

Of the 113 actions reported on this year, 68 are complete or delivering at scale, 30 are in progress and 8 are in the early stages of development – which includes 5 new commitments. Work on the Youth Work Strategy continues to be paused while we consider the strategic recommendations made as part of the review of Community Learning and Development.

A total of 6 actions have been aligned with other commitments and will be delivered through them. Proposals for a Council Tax exemption for under 22s have been aligned with wider efforts to explore greater discretion for Local Authorities to deliver targeted discounts and exemptions. Commitments on community mental health resilience and social prescribing have also been aligned with the actions in the Mental Health in Primary and Community Care Report.

Table 3.1 – Summary of action status

Status key:

DEL: Being delivered at scale / completed

IP: In progress

ES: Early stages of development

PA: Paused

AL: Aligned with other action

Expected outcome key:

EMP: Increasing income from employment – relevant to all four targets

HC: Reducing housing costs – relevant to all four targets

OC: Reducing other costs of living – relevant to the low income and material deprivation target

SS: Increasing income from social security and benefits in kind – relevant to all four targets

LC: Improving children’s life chances in ways that are not about increasing current income or reducing costs of living but potentially relevant to future child poverty levels, when these children become parents themselves

Action	Expected outcome	Status
Commence work in local pathfinder areas	EMP, SS, OC, HC, LC	DEL
Act on findings of Rural and Islands Child Poverty Research	EMP, SS, OC, HC, LC	DEL
Social Innovation Partnership – Flourishing Lives	EMP, SS, OC, HC, LC	DEL
Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund	EMP, SS, OC, HC, LC	DEL
Whole Family Support [NEW]	EMP, HC, SS, OC, LC	ES
Increase scale of employment support	EMP	IP
Test and Learn Pilot for lone parents	EMP, LC, SS, OC, HC	DEL
Challenge Fund	EMP	AL
Parental Transition Fund	EMP	AL
Increasing awareness and uptake of employment support	EMP	IP
Lifetime Skills Offer	EMP	AL
Adult upskilling and reskilling offer	EMP	AL
Reform of post-school education	EMP, LC	ES
Publish an Adult Learning Strategy for Scotland	EMP	DEL
NHS Demonstrator Project and apprenticeship opportunities	EMP	DEL
NHS Anchors	EMP	IP
Just Transition Fund	LC, OC	IP
Strategic plan for childcare	EMP, OC, LC	DEL
Further develop funded early learning childcare for children aged one and two	EMP, OC, LC	ES
Maximise uptake of existing funded early learning childcare for eligible two year olds	EMP, OC, LC	IP
Build a system of school age childcare	EMP, OC, LC	ES
Summer 2022 holiday programme	EMP, OC, LC	DEL
Eligibility review for funded childcare	EMP, OC	DEL
Bright Start Breakfasts [NEW]	EMP, OC, LC	ES
Deliver concessionary fares for eligible groups	EMP, OC, LC	DEL
Fair Fares Review	EMP, OC, LC	DEL
Next generation of digital travel systems	EMP, OC, LC	IP
Community Bus Fund	EMP, OC, LC	DEL
Review of Demand Responsive Transport	EMP, OC, LC	DEL
Extend free bus travel to asylum seekers [NEW]	OC	IP
Connecting Scotland	EMP, HC, OC, SS, LC	IP
Shared vision for tackling child poverty in partnership with business and employers	EMP	ES
Refreshed Fair Work Action Plan	EMP	DEL
Workplace Equality Fund	EMP	DEL
Women Returners Programme	EMP	DEL
Public sector grant recipients to pay at least the real Living Wage to all employees	EMP	DEL
Community Wealth Building	EMP	IP
£12 per hour pay commitment for childcare workers	EMP	DEL
Build child poverty into major Scottish Government events	LC	IP
Public Sector Pay Policy	EMP	DEL
Supported Business	EMP	DEL
Expand the number of employers paying at least the real Living Wage and offering Living Hours	EMP	DEL
Whole Family Wellbeing Funding	EMP, OC, LC, SS, HC	IP
Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill	LC	IP
Implement Bairns’ Hoose Model	LC	IP
CashBack for Communities	LC	DEL
Strengthen immediate protections for the victims of abuse	LC	IP
Prison Visitor Centres	LC, HC	IP
Getting it Right For Everyone (GIRFE)	LC	IP
Family focused services for people with alcohol and drug problems	LC	IP
Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults	LC, EMP	IP
Community mental health resilience and social prescribing	LC	AL
Inclusion Health Action in General Practice	LC	DEL
Fairer Funding Programme	LC	IP
Third Sector Fund	LC, OC, HC, SS	DEL
STV Children's Appeal	EMP, HC, OC, SS, LC	DEL
Family Fund	LC, OC, SS	DEL
Equality and Human Rights Fund	LC	DEL
Place Based Investment Programme	EMP	DEL
Empowering Communities Programme	EMP	DEL
Increase 8 social security payments by 6%	SS	DEL
Scottish Child Payment	SS	DEL
Bridging Payments	SS	DEL
Develop the systems to mitigate the two-child limit [NEW]	SS	ES
Remove income thresholds from Best Start Foods	SS	DEL
Explore systems of automated payment for Social Security benefits	SS	IP
Carer Support Payment	SS	DEL
Extra payment for carer’s of more than one disabled person	SS	IP
Raising earnings threshold for Carer Support Payment [NEW]	SS	IP
Scotland’s Child Disability Payment case transfer	SS	DEL
Adult Disability Payment (ADP)	SS	DEL
Winter Heating Payment	SS	DEL
National guidance on school uniforms	HC	DEL
Further expand Free School Meal provision	HC, SS	IP
Fund to assist in removing the impact of school meal debt on families	HC, SS	DEL
Publish Scottish guidance for Discretionary Housing Payment	HC	DEL
Independent review of the Scottish Welfare Fund	SS	DEL
Mitigate the Benefit Cap as fully as possible	SS	DEL
£150 Cost of Living Payment	SS	DEL
Benefit take-up strategy	SS	DEL
Social Security Advocacy Service	SS	DEL
Expand the Family Nurse Partnership	LC, HC, OC	DEL
Enhance financial advice from Health Visitors	LC, HC, OC	DEL
Welfare Advice and Health Partnerships	LC, HC, OC	DEL
Free debt and income maximisation advice	SS, OC, HC	DEL
Strategic approach to communications – income maximisation	LC, HC, OC, SS, EMP	DEL
Plan towards ending the need for food banks	SS	DEL
Affordable Housing Supply Programme	HC, LC	IP
Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan	HC	DEL
Private rented housing sector reforms	HC	IP
Gypsy/Traveller accommodation	HC	IP
Double investment in the Home Energy Scotland Loans and Grants scheme in 2022-23	HC	DEL
Fuel Insecurity Fund	HC, SS	DEL
Successor to Warmer Homes Scotland	HC	DEL
Ending Homelessness Together	HC, LC	IP
Scale up Housing First	HC, LC	DEL
Play Park renewal	LC	DEL
Refreshed GIRFEC resources	LC	DEL
The Promise Partnership Fund	LC	DEL
Scottish Attainment Challenge	EMP, LC	DEL
Removal of charges for core curriculum subjects	OC, LC	IP
Improve digital access for school age children	LC, SS	ES
Scottish Mentoring and Leadership Programme	EMP, LC	DEL
Consider models to provide free bikes for children whose parent/guardian cannot afford them	OC, LC	DEL
Free Bikes Partnership Fund	OC, LC	DEL
Investment in sport, active living, and Active Schools programmes	LC	IP
Youth Work Strategy	EMP, LC	PA
School Leavers’ Toolkit	LC	DEL
Tackling the digital divide in further and higher education	EMP, LC	DEL
Enhance the total student support package	EMP, LC	DEL
Young Person’s Guarantee	EMP, LC	DEL
Care Leaver Payment (Care Experience Grant)	SS	IP
Legislate to exempt under 22s from Council Tax	HC, LC	AL

Updates on other actions

The following table provides summary updates on actions committed within ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ which are not included within section 1 of this report. As set out within the Plan, a balanced approach is needed to tackle child poverty effectively, and the following actions remain central to our overall child poverty strategy.

Table 3.2 – Progress on other actions

Action

Just Transition Fund

Activity

We have continued delivery of £75 million allocated through the Just Transition Fund (JTF) since 2022, with over £16 million allocated in 2024-25, supporting businesses, workers and communities in North East and Moray. As part of this, £1 million in project funding was provided through the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Programme, which gives people a direct say in how funding is distributed in their area. In 2024-25 this Programme funded 45 new sustainable initiatives to support the delivery of climate action projects in local areas, including the provision of low emission vehicles, solar panels and improving energy efficiency in local community organisations.

Action

Supported business

Activity

We have increased the use of our supported businesses Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) by public bodies and expanded the number of supported businesses listed. This has continued to ensure Scottish public bodies and third-sector organisations have a clear and efficient route to market for a range of goods and services, which are reserved for and provided by supported businesses. We are continuing to work with supported businesses across Scotland, helping them access and win public contracts through reserved contracts and calls for competition via the DPS.

Action

Connecting Scotland

Activity

Since work resumed on the Connecting Scotland programme in August 2023, 39 grant-funded digital inclusion projects have been delivered via the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. This includes 34 projects supported in 2023-24 and 2024-25 through the Lending Library and Housing and Connectivity Funds, with a combined total of £204,000 in grant funding. A further 5 projects supported through the place-based project fund launched in Spring 2024, which shared £184,000 in grant funding. Work has continued on the Digital Inclusion Alliance project, with several sessions held with stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors to explore next steps. Moving forward, the project will establish an innovation community that focuses on developing solutions to the increasingly complex challenges of digital exclusion and its impacts on wider socioeconomic outcomes for the people and communities of Scotland. Research into a Minimum Digital Living Standard for Scotland has now concluded, with interim findings published in March 2025, and a final report to follow later this year.

Action

Build child poverty into major Scottish Government events

Activity

The refreshed Scotland's National Events Strategy, “Scotland the Perfect Stage 2024-2035” was published on 28 May 2024, marking a significant milestone for Scotland’s events sector. The strategy continues to prioritise investment and support for events and places with a focus on inclusive and responsible events. Where events are seeking Scottish Government funding support, processes have been developed to assess the potential to support our work to tackle child poverty. We continue to work with event organisers of our funded events to embed child poverty considerations into delivery.

Action

Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill

Activity

The Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill was passed by Parliament in June 2023 and received Royal Assent in August 2023. Since then, a number of the Act’s provisions, have been commenced. For the remainder of the provisions in Part 1, a new bail law was implemented in May 2025. The implementation of Part 2 of the Act is progressing, with commencement of further elements planned for 2025. The remaining sections of the Act will be commenced at different times, with the timeline being influenced by multiple factors, and notably the required resource and readiness across our delivery partners in the justice sector.

Action

Barnahus model

Activity

We are continuing to support the delivery of the Bairns’ Hoose model for Scotland, with over £7 million invested towards the programme in 2024-25. We are progressing with the phased implementation of the model, with ten Pathfinder and Affiliate partnerships in place throughout Scotland, made up of three key statutory partners (health, Local Authorities and Police Scotland), and third sector. To reflect the new delivery focused phase of the programme, we have established the National Bairns’ Hoose Implementation Group. We are continuing to support the national roll out of the Scottish Child Interview Model, which is now live in all policing divisions and in 31 Local Authorities, with the majority of the child population now able to access this trauma-informed approach to joint investigative interviewing. We are continuing to work collaboratively with partnerships to share learning as well as national and international research and good practice.

Action

CashBack for Communities

Activity

Phase Six of the CashBack for Communities Programme commenced on 1 April 2023 and runs until 31 March 2026. Phase six sees up to £20 million committed over the three year period, with delivery by 29 grant funded partners. CashBack for Communities is focused primarily on early intervention and prevention to reduce the risk of young people becoming engaged with antisocial behaviour or more serious criminal offending, prioritising young people living in communities in the bottom 20% of SIMD. CashBack for Communities partners report annually on their activities that contribute to reducing child poverty. Examples of this include support for young people (aged 10 -25) to remain in education, gain skills, qualifications and access employment opportunities. The annual report on CashBack delivery for 2023-24 was published in December 2024, highlighting the positive impacts of the fund, noting that 15,368 young people were supported by projects between April 2023 and March 2024.

Action

Strengthen immediate protections for the victims of abuse

Activity

In collaboration with operational justice agencies, we have continued to work to address challenges in implementing Part 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021, relating to domestic abuse protection notices and orders. A workshop was held with key partners in March 2025, seeking to agree an approach which would enable commencement of these provision. In conjunction, progress is being made in relation to Part 2 of the Act, which will provide additional powers to social landlords to apply to the court to end the tenancy rights of persons who have been abusive to their partner or ex-partner. We are aiming to bring Part 2 of the Act into force in December 2025.

Action

Prison Visitor Centres

Activity

In 2024-25 we invested over £800,000 in Prison Visitor Centre (PVC) services at 14 custodial establishments across Scotland, delivered by third sector organisations. In order to capture robust evidence of these impacts and identify opportunities for further improvement we are working with Evaluation Support Scotland and PVC providers to evaluate the service in each centre as well as evaluating the wider approach to funding and delivery.

Action

Third Sector Fund 

Activity

Through our Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention (CYPFEI) and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (ALEC) and Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learners (CYPFAL) third sector funds we are providing around £18 million of annual core funding to 137 third sector organisations supporting children, young people and families. During April to September 2024 organisations reported that 1.3 million people across Scotland were directly supported as a result of this funding.

Action

STV Children's Appeal

Activity

In 2024 the Scottish Government committed to match funding public donations of £1 million, enabling the STV Children’s Appeal to deliver its programme, focused on innovative approaches to tackling child poverty. 15 large scale projects across Scotland provided support to over 7,000 children in 1,800 families. In addition, smaller, local organisations received 113 grants with a total value of £286,000, supporting grassroots organisations to provide highly localised, vital support to families in poverty.

Action

Family Fund

Activity

We awarded over £2.8 million to Family Fund’s Scotland grant programme in financial year 2024-25, to provide small grants to families on a low income in Scotland who are raising disabled or seriously ill children under the age of 18. This funding has enabled 6,454 families raising disabled or seriously ill children on a low income in Scotland to receive a grant for items they would not have otherwise been able to afford. This included essentials such as kitchen appliances, furniture and furnishings, clothing, family breaks, home technology, sensory and play equipment.

Action

Equality and Human Rights Fund

Activity

The Equality and Human Rights Fund is continuing to support a range of civil society organisations that deliver work focused on tackling inequality and discrimination, furthering equality, and advancing the realisation of human rights in Scotland. In 2024-25 the Fund distributed £8.3 million in funding to organisations addressing gender, disability and race equality.

Action

Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP)

Activity

Following a reduction to the regeneration capital budget, the delivery of the Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) was reduced and the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) was unable to support new projects. Despite this, £5.5 million of PBIP funding was delivered to 17 Local Authorities to support priority projects at risk and we continued to support existing multiyear projects with investment of over £9.5 million. £1.5 million was also provided to Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company to support the delivery of the 20 year delivery plan to regenerate the east end of Glasgow, which saw a number of strategic projects come to completion in 2024-25. £8.7 million was delivered supporting continuation of RCGF projects in 2024-25, which are expected to create over 250 new jobs and over 3,000 training places in addition to creating new community spaces where people can access services and new space for local businesses.

Action

Empowering Communities Programme

Activity

We have continued to deliver the Empowering Communities Programme in 2024-25, including delivering £8.6 million of investment through our Investing in Communities Fund. Information from monitoring reports show that in the first 6 months of 2024-25, nearly 190,000 people have participated or benefitted from the projects being delivered, with projects supporting over 4,200 volunteers delivering over 286,000 volunteering hours. 685 people have been supported into employment and 1,369 supported to other positive destinations including higher education through funded projects.

Action

Exemption of under 22’s from Council Tax

Activity

Following continued engagement with Local Authorities, and the identification of practical barriers to delivering an exemption for under 22s, it has become clear that more flexible, locally driven tools may be better suited to addressing complex and varied needs. As such, we will no longer progress the planned exemption and will instead continue our close working with the ‘Joint Working Group on Council Tax Reform’ to explore potential to empower Local Authorities with greater discretion - allowing them to apply tailored discounts that reflect the specific circumstances of their communities. This approach supports our broader commitment to target support where it is needed most, and to strengthen the role of local decision-making.

Action

National guidance on school uniforms

Activity

National guidance on school uniform and clothing was published in September 2024. The guidance is supporting schools and education authorities in their considerations about their clothing and uniform policies. The guidance has a clear focus on reducing costs for families, supporting and encouraging sustainable approaches and ensuring that uniform and clothing policies support the comfort and wellbeing of all pupils.

Action

Play Park renewal

Activity

A total of 887 play parks have been renewed or were in the process of being renewed as of March 2024, through a total of £20 million funding. In 2024-25, we provided a further £15 million to facilitate Local Authority partners renewal plans and reports on the number of renewed play parks in this year are expected by mid-June 2025. In March 2025, the First Minister announced £25 million of funding for 2025-26, delivering our commitment to provide £60 million in this Parliamentary term to support the renewal of play parks in Scotland and provide free, accessible and inclusive spaces for children of all ages to play.

Action

Refreshed GIRFEC resources

Activity

Building on existing GIRFEC resources, including the practice exemplar around tackling child poverty, the Scottish Government commissioned NHS National Education for Scotland (NES) to produce two GIRFEC e-learning modules which were published in December 2024. NES worked in partnership with the Scottish Government, Education Scotland, NES, Police Scotland and the Social Security Standards Council to develop these learning materials. These modules provide a nationally consistent set of professional learning materials to better support the knowledge and skills of the workforce in GIRFEC implementation across public agencies.

Action

Scottish Attainment Challenge

Activity

In 2024-25 we invested over £185 million in the Scottish Attainment Challenge targeted programme that focuses investment according to need, including £130 million of Pupil Equity Funding, £43 million of Strategic Equity Funding and £10 million in the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund. Given the key role of the Pupil Equity Fund in the Scottish Attainment Challenge, a sampling exercise of the Fund has been undertaken, engaging 129 schools across all Local Authorities in partnership with Attainment Advisors, in order to understand the contributions the Fund makes to improving the attainment and wellbeing of children and families impacted by poverty, and to share good practice. This was published in May 2025.

Action

Removal of charges for core curriculum subjects

Activity

We have provided a total of £8 million to Local Authorities and grant aided schools to cover the removal of core curriculum charges for the 2024-25 financial year, with a further £8 million committed in the 2025-26 budget. Non-statutory guidance to provide further clarity for schools and Local Authorities in terms what is considered in and out of scope was published in May 2025.

Action

Improve digital access for school age children

Activity

Work to develop a digital strategy for education is ongoing. We have worked with internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs in this space, and how a strategic approach may add value.

Action

Investment in sport, active living, and Active Schools programmes

Activity

Following continued close working between sportscotland and local partners to address the small number of cases where charges were still in place for Active Schools programmes, it was confirmed that all were free of charge as of 30 August 2024. In 2023-24, there were 4.9 million visits by pupils over 262,000 sessions – an increase from the previous year.

Action

Youth Work Strategy

Activity

The development of a youth work strategy was paused for the duration of the independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD) that was commissioned by the Minister for Higher and Further Education in December 2023, with the ‘Learning: For All. For Life.’ report published in July 2024. The report sets out 20 recommendations varying in complexity and scope. The Scottish Government and COSLA announced that we would take forward recommendation 1.1 to set up a joint CLD Strategic Leadership Group (SLG) which has now met twice. The SLG will play a central role in developing our detailed response to the remaining recommendations, including on youth work.

Action

Tackling the digital divide in further and higher education

Activity

Over 2021-24, the Scottish Government invested £15 million to help people access equipment in Colleges and Universities. As we move away from an emergency response model to reflect the post-pandemic environment, this funding has now concluded. We remain absolutely committed to the principle that access to education should be based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay, and will continue to work with the sector to maintain our commitment to the widening access agenda.

Action

Enhance the total student support package

Activity

From the 2024-25 academic year, the Higher Education student support package was increased by £2,400 to reach £11,400 for our most vulnerable students, including those who are from the lowest household income, estranged and care experienced. This uplift followed an increase of £900 in 2023-24 and £350 in 2022-23, meaning an increase of £3,650 over the last three years.

Investment through the Tackling Child Poverty Fund

The following table sets out investment from the fund to date, including updated spend figures for previous years where these are available. In the past year we have committed investment to increase the value of the Scottish Welfare Fund, as part of a wider package of support for people struggling with energy costs, and to enable the Wise Group to continue to deliver relational mentoring services to thousands of families across Scotland. This is in addition to our continued investment in programmes supported in 2023-24, including to deliver a second round of our Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund.

In the coming year we will continue to draw on the Tackling Child Poverty Fund to support innovation and to accelerate action across Scotland. We remain committed to meeting our commitment to invest £50 million over the life of ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ and will set out further details of programmes supported in due course.

The table below outlines recorded and provisional levels of investment, correct at the point of publication, all totals expressed are £0.000m:

Table 3.3 – Summary of Tackling Child Poverty Fund investment

Programme	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	Total
Doubling the Winter 2022 Scottish Child Payment Bridging Payment	18.991*	0	0	18.991
Emergency food insecurity funding to respond to the cost of living crisis	1.775	0	0	1.775
Social Innovation Partnership	2.600	2.200	1.800	6.600
Fairer Future Partnerships, including evaluation**	0.699	0.693	1.500	2.892
Low income family targeted strategic communications	0.653	0.442	0.369	1.464
Enhancing local tackling child poverty action	0.107	0.263	0.321	0.691
Programme Delivery Costs	1.532	0.950	0.029	2.511
Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund	0	0.220	0.569	0.789
Wise Group	0	0	0.765	0.765
Increase to the Scottish Welfare Fund**	0	0	2.725	2.725
Total	26.357*	4.768*	8.078	39.203

* figures revised with latest estimates of spend

** contribution toward total investment

Investment to support children in poverty

In the 2024-25 financial year, it is estimated that nearly £2.85 billion was invested across a range of programmes targeted at low-income households. Of this, we estimate that over £1.41 billion benefitted children. These totals, along with the breakdown of estimated spend on individual programmes, can be seen in the tables below. Comparative to 2023-24 estimates, this represents a decrease of £20 million in spend targeted to low income households and an increase of almost £35 million in spend which benefitted children.

These figures are estimates. They comprise a mixture of outturn, budgeted, and forecasted figures, depending on what was available at the time. Some of the figures are published, whereas others were sourced internally. Furthermore, although we have attempted to stay consistent with the figures included in the equivalent table in previous progress reports, inconsistencies could remain. For policies targeted at all people on a low income, we have given consideration to any additional evidence which would enable us to produce a better estimate and have included footnotes to indicate the methodology used. In the absence of this information we have continued to use the latest statistics on the proportion of people in poverty who are children as in previous years (22% in 2021-24) to derive an estimate of spend which benefitted children in low income households. We have excluded administration costs where possible.

As in previous years, these estimates do not include spend on universal services from which children in poverty will also benefit, including services focused specifically on children such as funded Early Learning and Childcare and universal Free School Meal provision in primary schools, or wider support including free prescriptions, healthcare, free tuition and free bus travel for under 22s – all of which form a core part of Scotland’s cost of living guarantee. Disability benefits have also been excluded from the calculations, as these are non-means tested and their purpose is to provide support to help with the additional costs associated with having a disability or long-term health condition. Wider investments such as these are important aspects of our overall strategy to reducing child poverty.

As with estimates produced last year, we continue to use a three-year average (albeit excluding 2020-21 due to an unrepresentative sample) for the proportion of people in poverty who are children. This figure will be more stable than the single-year figures used in previous years.

Published alongside the 2025-26 Scottish Budget, our Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement for 2025-26 introduces new analysis showing the distributional impact of public services spending. This shows that the Scottish Budget redistributes from high income households to those further down the income distribution, through both the Tax and Social Security system, and through the delivery of public services.

In addition, we continue to evaluate key policies - like No One Left Behind and the Fairer Futures Partnerships - to ensure actions are having the desired impact on child poverty and represent value for money.

Table 3.4a - Estimate of total spend to support children in poverty in 2024-25

Targeting approach	Low income households (£m)	Children in low income households (£m)
Low income households with children	1,002.19	1,002.09
Low income households, not necessarily with children	1,846.12	412.35
Cumulative total	2,848.31	1,414.44

Table 3.4b - Estimate of spend targeted to low income households with children in 2024-25

Policy	Low income households (£m)	Children in low income households (£m)
Attainment Scotland Fund[13]	185.82	185.82
Benefit Cap Mitigation[14]	4.97	4.87
Best Start Foods	15.70	15.70
Best Start Grant	20.00	20.00
Education Maintenance Allowance	17.60	17.60
Family Fund	2.87	2.87
Family Nurse Partnerships[15]	12.83	12.83
Parental Employability Support Fund	33.08	33.08
Promise Partnership Fund	4.00	4.00
School Clothing Grant	13.90	13.90
School Meal alternate holiday provision	21.75	21.75
School Meals, including Free School Meals	169.80	169.80
School Meals, Scottish Child Payment Expansion	22.00	22.00
School Meals, debt fund	2.80	2.80
Scottish Child Payment	454.00	454.00
STV Children's Appeal	1.00	1.00
Whole Family Wellbeing Funding[16]	9.20	9.20
Wraparound (School Age Childcare)	10.87	10.87
Total	1,002.19	1,002.09

Table 3.4c - Estimate of spend targeted to low income households, not necessarily with children in 2024-25

Policy	Low income households (£m)	Children in low income households (£m)
Advice in an Accessible Setting[17]	1.87	0.72
Advice Services (Income max/financial advice)[18]	4.60	2.01
Affordable Homes	607.84	133.73
Carer Support Payment	389.10	85.60
Carer's Allowance Supplement	53.80	11.84
Connecting Scotland	0.32	0.07
Council Tax Reduction - revenue foregone	351.00	77.22
Discretionary Housing Payments (Excluding Benefit Cap mitigation)[19]	81.42	12.66
Fair Start Scotland	15.02	3.30
Fuel Poverty/Energy Efficiency[20]	169.64	33.93
Funeral Support Payment	12.20	2.68
Island Cost Crisis Emergency Fund	1.00	0.22
No One Left Behind employability support (other groups)	36.36	8.00
Job Start Payment	0.30	0.12
Regeneration Strategy[21]	35.90	7.80
Scottish Welfare Fund[22]	53.00	23.85
Social Innovation Partnership	1.80	1.80
Tackling Food Insecurity	1.55	0.34
UC Scottish Choices	0.20	0.04
Winter Heating Payment	29.20	6.42
Total	1,846.12	412.35

Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 Requirements

Section 10 of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 sets out a range of requirements around progress reports. Table 3.5 explains how we have met those requirements, with directions to the relevant sections or specific pages within this report.

Table 3.6 details how we have responded to each of the Poverty and Inequality Commission’s comments relating to the child poverty targets. Table 3.7 details our response to each of the nine recommendations set out within their 2024-25 scrutiny report.

Table 3.5: Summary of Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requirements

Requirement

The Scottish Ministers must, before the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the last day of each reporting year, prepare a report (a “progress report”) on the progress made during the year—

• towards meeting the child poverty targets, and
• in implementing the relevant delivery plan.

Scottish Government response

This is the seventh progress report due under the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017.

Section 2 outlines our approach to assessing progress and presents the most recent data on the four targets, including interim target data for 2023-24.

Progress in implementing the delivery plan (2022-26) is set out in section 1. This relates to activity across 2024-25.

Requirement

Section 11 of the Act requires that, within the progress report to be published by the end of June 2025, Scottish Ministers must include a statement on the percentage of children living in poverty under each target measure in the year of the interim targets (2024-25), confirm if each target measure has been met, and if not provide an explanation why.

Scottish Government response

Section 2 sets out data in relation to each of the four interim targets for 2023-24. This confirms that poverty rates remained above the interim targets on all four measures.

A summary of the wide-ranging factors which have made it challenging to meet the targets is provided. Analysis to better understand what has driven changes in child poverty rates over time is presented at Annex C.

Requirement

Section 12 of the Act requires that, within the progress report to be published by the end of June 2031, Scottish Ministers must include a statement on the percentage of children living in poverty under each target measure in the year of the final targets (2030-31), confirm if each target measure has been met, and if not provide an explanation why.

Scottish Government response

As set out in the annual progress report for 2022-23, due to the timing of data collation it will not be possible for Ministers to include a statement on the percentage of children living in poverty (in terms of the four target measures in the Act) in 2030-31 in the final report due to be published by end June 2031, or to state whether the final targets have been met.

Data for the final targets is expected to be available in March 2032.

Following an exhaustive review of options to meet these requirements, Scottish Ministers have indicated their intent to bring forward primary legislation ahead of June 2031 to address the issue.

Requirement

A progress report must in particular describe the measures taken by the Scottish Ministers in accordance with that delivery plan.

Scottish Government response

Section 1 sets out key progress in implementing ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’, aligned with thematic areas of focus. Brief updates on actions not otherwise reported can be found in table 3.2.

Requirement

A progress report must in particular describe the effect of those measures on progress towards meeting the child poverty targets.

Scottish Government response

Each thematic area of focus in Section 1 includes a summary of the impact of actions based on the latest evidence available.

Section 2 details a summary of changes in the drivers of poverty reduction and the contribution of policies.

Economic modelling was published alongside ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ setting out anticipated impacts on the targets. An updated cumulative impact assessment was published in March 2025.

Requirement

A progress report must in particular describe the effect of those measures on reducing the number of children living in single-parent households against each of the four targets.

Scottish Government response

Section 2 presents the most recent child poverty statistics for the six priority families identified in ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ – including children living in single parent households – and reflects on changes in poverty rates for these groups over time.

Section 1 sets out the impact of policies for lone parent families where available.

Further detail on the impacts of policies on single parent households can be found in Annex 5: summary impact of policies, and the impact assessments published alongside ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’.

Requirement

A progress report must in particular describe the effect of those measures on children living in households whose income is adversely affected, or whose expenditure is increased, because a member of the household has one or more protected characteristics.

Scottish Government response

Section 2 presents the most recent child poverty statistics for the six priority families identified in ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ – including children living in families that include a disabled adult or child, minority ethnic families, families with a child under one year old, families with three or more children, lone parent families and families where the mother is under age 25. Section 2 also reflects on changes in poverty rates for these groups over time.

Section 1 sets out the impact of policies for low income families. The impacts for family types at greatest risk of poverty are set out where available.

Requirement

If, in preparing a progress report, Scottish Ministers consider that the measures taken in accordance with the relevant delivery plan have not delivered sufficient progress towards meeting the child poverty targets, the progress report must describe how the Scottish Ministers propose to ensure sufficient progress is delivered in the future.

Scottish Government response

This report recognises the challenge faced in driving forward the actions as set out in ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ at the scale originally envisaged. The challenging economic conditions facing the Scottish Government have required tough decisions to ensure that we are directing resources in a way which makes the biggest difference and protects the most vulnerable, impacting on our ability to progress some actions.

Section 1 sets out priorities for 2025-26 for each of the thematic areas, confirming how the Scottish Government intends to drive forward progress in the final year of ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’.

As set out in the introduction, the Scottish Government has commenced consultation to develop the next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, for the period 2026-31, which we will publish by the end of March 2026. This will set out action to drive further progress toward the 2030 targets. We remain committed to meeting the 2030 child poverty targets and will continue to do everything within our powers and budget to deliver the change needed in the face of challenging economic conditions.

Requirement

In preparing a progress report, the Scottish Ministers must consult the Poverty and Inequality Commission on;

• the progress made during the reporting year towards meeting the child poverty targets,
• whether it appears to the Commission that such progress is sufficient to meet the child poverty targets,
• what further progress the Commission considers is required to meet the child poverty targets.

And, include any comments or recommendations made by the Commission on the matters mentioned above.

Scottish Government response

The Poverty and Inequality Commission shared their advice with the Scottish Government in May 2025.

The advice received is published in full on the Poverty and Inequality Commission’s website.

A summary of key points is set out in Tables 3.6 and 3.7 below, alongside our response.

Table 3.6: Responding to the comments of the Poverty and Inequality Commission

Poverty and Inequality Commission comments and Scottish Government response

In relation to the progress made during the reporting year towards meeting the child poverty targets, the report of the Commission notes:

“The latest child poverty statistics, published in March 2025, showed that all four interim child poverty targets for 2023-24 set out in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 have been missed, although there were some signs of progress for two of the four target measures (relative and absolute child poverty), that were consistent with the expected impact of the Scottish Child Payment.

Delivery of the Scottish Child Payment continues to be a success and make a big difference for families, but the Scottish Government has made limited progress in 2024-25 on delivering the other major actions set out in ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’. The funding allocated for significant commitments, such as early learning and childcare and school age childcare, has been nowhere near sufficient, and the Scottish Government has reduced its ambitions in a number of areas to what can be delivered within its revenue raising and spending plans. It has also put an emphasis on lower cost actions, such as the Fairer Futures Partnerships. In other areas such as employability and affordable housing supply, based on the current trajectory, it does not look as if the Scottish Government will deliver on the aims it has set itself.

The Scottish Government did make a major new commitment in 2024-25, which is to mitigate the impact of the two-child limit by 2026. This is a welcome action which will have a direct impact on child poverty rates.”

Scottish Government response: It is deeply disappointing that poverty rates remained above the interim child poverty targets in 2023-24, however we remain unequivocal in our commitment to meeting the 2030 targets and to eradicating child poverty.

Although we have not met the interim child poverty targets, the proportion of children living in relative poverty has reduced from the previous year and the 2023-24 rate is now lower than it has been since 2014-15, while the proportion in absolute poverty has also fallen with the annual figure the lowest in 30 years. This shows that our action is making a real difference and that despite the strong headwinds of UK Government decisions, as well as a cost of living crisis, we have the foundations in place and will continue to drive forward progress to eradicate child poverty.

As detailed in this report, the financial context of this period, including the impact of inflationary and budget pressures, have resulted in challenging decisions being made to ensure that our actions are delivered in a way which creates the biggest impact and supports the most vulnerable in our society. Despite this, we will continue to do everything in our power to build on the action taken to date, and as we look ahead to 2025-26 we have remained committed to prioritising action to eradicate child poverty through the Scottish Budget.

In relation to whether it appears to the Commission that such progress is sufficient to meet the child poverty targets, the report of the Commission notes:

“On current trends, the Scottish Government is not at all likely to meet the child poverty targets. The interim child poverty targets for 2023-24 have been missed and the reductions in child poverty needed to meet the final 2030 targets are now very large. Data for 2024-25 will not be available till next year, however – given the absence of major interventions to increase incomes or reduce costs during 24-25 – it seems unlikely that it will show a markedly more positive picture than the 23-24 data. Modelling projections of child poverty into the years approaching the final target based on current policy suggest the 2030 targets will be missed, and missed by a substantial margin. The Scottish Government must take decisive action now if it is to have any chance of delivering on the 2030 child poverty targets”

Scottish Government response: The Scottish Government is committed to doing all we can within our powers to meet the 2030 targets. As we work to develop the next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan we are undertaking wide-ranging engagement and consultation to build consensus around key actions, building on the foundations of learning and evidence which we have gathered to date.

Further detail on the range of factors that have impacted on progress towards the targets is included in Section 2 of the progress report. Evidence shows that Scottish Government policies are having a significant impact on child poverty in Scotland. Modelling published in March estimates that Scottish Government policies will keep 70,000 children out of relative poverty in 2025-26, with poverty rates 7 percentage points lower than they would otherwise be. This includes keeping 40,000 children out relative poverty this year through investment in our Scottish Child Payment alone. By 2028-29 the impact of our policies is estimated to grow over time to reach 10 percentage points (100,000 children).

In relation to what further progress the Commission considers is required to meet the child poverty targets the report of the Commission notes:

“The First Minister has said that the eradication of child poverty is the single most important policy objective for the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously to set the child poverty targets. There is clearly no lack of belief that child poverty is deeply damaging for children and society in Scotland and that it needs to be eradicated.

There remains a 12 percentage point gap between the 2030 relative child poverty target and the current relative child poverty rate. To meet the 2030 targets, the Scottish Government will need to put in place the equivalent of another three policies or actions which each have as great an impact on child poverty as the Scottish Child Payment, or many policies that have a smaller but still significant impact on child poverty. Evidently more of the same is not going to get close to the child poverty targets.

The Scottish Child Payment demonstrates that decisive policy action by the Scottish Government can have a real and measurable impact in reducing child poverty. The Scottish Government’s commitment to mitigate the impact of the two-child limit is welcome, and could potentially reduce child poverty rates by two percentage points from 2026-27, but it is not enough. The Scottish Government must raise its ambitions and make revenue raising and funding decisions that bridge the gap between where we are now and where need to be in 2030-31.”

Scottish Government response: The Scottish Government is clear on the scale of the challenge faced in meeting the 2030 child poverty targets, and we will continue to drive forward progress on our national mission to eradicate child poverty.

We will publish our third child poverty delivery plan by the end of March 2026, which will set out action to be taken between 2026-2031 to meet the final targets. As part of this, we are now in the process of consulting with a wide range of stakeholders in the development of the delivery plan, including the Poverty and Inequality Commission, building on the considerable evidence and action taken to date, to inform our collective approach.

Through the development of this plan we will listen to our partners, people with lived experience and people on the ground to understand the challenges and opportunities ahead and we will also review existing evidence and research to ensure our work is evidence-led and to support decision-making and thinking, creating the greatest impact through our approach.

Table 3.7: Responding to the recommendations of the Poverty and Inequality Commission

Poverty and Inequality Commission recommendations and the Scottish Government’s response:

Recommendation 1: The Scottish Government should take a whole government approach to meeting the 2030 targets, maximising the impact of all its policies on eradicating child poverty.

Scottish Government response: Since taking office, the First Minister has been clear that eradicating child poverty is his top priority, and we understand that this requires collective effort, both across Cabinet and with our partners, to break the cycle of poverty. That is why collective oversight of child poverty has been enhanced through the establishment of a Cabinet Sub-Committee on Child Poverty in September 2024, ensuring the full weight and authority of Cabinet is focused on eradicating child poverty.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee meets quarterly with delegated authority from Cabinet to support Ministers to take the informed policy and investment decisions that are required to ensure we maintain a balance across the three drivers of child poverty reduction to meet the statutory targets in 2030 and create the conditions required to break the cycle of poverty for children and parents in low income families.

The recommendations made by the Commission are demonstrative of the broad range of action which contributes to the national mission to eradicate child poverty, and we will continue to promote cross-government working to ensure our actions deliver significant impact.

Recommendation 2: The Scottish Government should consider again how to take forward the recommendations of the Commission’s previous report How better tax policy can reduce poverty and inequality.

Scottish Government response: The Scottish Government has undertaken work in relation to the recommendations made in the Commission’s report, with updates noted against each recommendation below:

Recommendation 1: Ensure all land and property in Scotland is registered with a current and accurate valuation.

Response: On 1 April 2026, all rateable non-domestic properties entered on the valuation roll, around 260,000, will be revalued. A draft valuation roll will be published on 30 November 2025. Some properties are exempt from valuation, for example agricultural lands and buildings. Recognising the ongoing concerns raised by the licensed hospitality sector, we have committed to commissioning an independent review of the valuation of licensed hospitality properties to report by the end of 2026.

Recommendation 2: Revalue properties subject to the current council tax and immediately start work to design its replacement .

Response: On 11 February 2025 the Scottish Government and COSLA published a joint programme of engagement aimed at building consensus around long-term reform. As part of this, independent expert analysis has been commissioned to examine the Council Tax system, taking into account market changes, potential reforms, and how any adverse impacts could be mitigated. We want to ensure that any changes to the Council Tax system are informed by robust data, expert modelling, and a wide-ranging public consultation process. Public engagement will begin later this year and include a formal consultation, regional public events, and focused discussions with stakeholders. It will ensure that a diverse range of views is heard – including from those most affected by the system in its current form.

Recommendation 3: Seek to devolve the necessary powers to set rates and bands of income tax for savings and dividend income for Scottish taxpayers.

Response: In December 2024 we published Scotland’s Tax Strategy: Building on our Tax Principles, setting out our intention to consider the tax landscape in the round as we plan our next steps on tax devolution.

Recommendation 4: Improve public understanding of, and compliance with, devolved taxation.

Response: We have commissioned external research into international best practice in tax communication and engagement which will be published in due course. This has informed our approach to using our tax literacy outcomes, and we will publish these in order to produce a systematic framework that sets out our approach to communication that improves public understanding of devolved taxation.

Recommendation 5: Broaden the tax base in Scotland by doing the work required to bring wealth into scope for future tax policy and implement transparency measures on the profits of multinational companies.

Response: Scotland’s Tax Strategy prioritises exploring the reforms needed to deliver sustainable and growing tax revenues in the future, relating to the recommendation to broaden the tax base in Scotland. Exploration will include on elements such as further devolution of tax powers from the UK Government, reviewing how tax is balanced across labour, income and wealth, and considering how tax can be used to encourage positive behavioural change. We will publish an update on progress against the Strategy in early 2026.

Recommendation 3: The Scottish Government should more closely consider the cost effectiveness of policies and actions when making revenue raising and budget decisions.

Scottish Government response: The Scottish Government considers a number of factors when making budgetary decisions, including the impact of the proposal on the four priorities of government, the value for money implications of the proposal, and the evidence gathered through the impact assessment process. In the upcoming Scottish Spending Review, proposals will also be assessed for their effectiveness at delivering on our priorities, including eradicating child poverty, and their contribution to Scotland’s fiscal sustainability.

Since 2009, we have produced an equality statement alongside the budget each year and we are continuing to strengthen approach to equality budgeting, while ensuring the process remains compliant with all statutory duties.

The Scottish Government already conducts distributional analysis of the impact of tax, social security and key spending measures on households in Scotland. This analysis is also provided with every budget event and considers the effects of both universal and targeted policies and assesses the impact on households across different income levels, age groups and household characteristics. For the 2025-26 Budget, new analysis was developed and published to assess the distributional impact of some areas of government spending.

We have launched a Centre of Expertise in Appraisal and Evaluation to ensure strong appraisal and evaluation are central to policymaking. To improve processes further, the new centre will embed a unique approach in civil service work, joining up evaluation with appraisal which are key processes for effective policy making and understanding the impact of our actions.

Going forward, we are exploring further options to strengthen equality budgeting methodologies. This includes running a pilot to develop ‘gender budget tagging’ which will look at a cross-cutting policy area which places focus on improving outcomes for women, including child poverty.

Recommendation 4: The Scottish Government should, in preparation for the third Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, develop a shared understanding with COSLA and stakeholders on what is required to meet the 2030 targets and address national and local accountability.

Scottish Government response: Through our approach to consultation and engagement, we are seeking to build wide-ranging consensus on the action needed to meet the 2030 targets. This includes through engagement with Local Authorities, health boards, third sector partners, business, and with people with lived experience of poverty.

COSLA and Local Government are key strategic partners with whom we work closely. COSLA and SOLACE have been welcome members of the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Programme Board, providing valuable advice, input and support, enabling us to work together to maximise shared opportunities, and address shared challenges. We will look to continue and build on that relationship as we commence implementation of the third plan.

Recommendation 5: The Scottish Government should provide further funding for advice services to maximise take-up of both devolved and reserved social security entitlements.

Scottish Government response: The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the awareness and take-up of benefits and other sources of financial and practical help. That is why we have allocated at least £16 million to income maximisation, welfare and debt advice services in 2025-26, an increase of over £3 million from 2024-25. This vital support ensures that Scottish households are supported to claim all that they are entitled to, challenge decisions affecting their payments, maximise their household incomes and deal with problem debt.

To deepen our understanding of people and families who may not be accessing the support they are entitled to, we published a commissioned evidence review of 'seldom-heard groups' across the Scottish social security system in May 2024. This set out the current seldom-heard groups, their experiences within the social security system and the barriers and enablers to these groups accessing entitlements. The review found that many of the persistent barriers to take-up are shared across these groups. We also commissioned a Citizen Panel, facilitated by the Poverty Alliance, to better understand how stigma affects people’s experiences of the social security system. Informed by these two pieces of research, the Scottish Government is currently developing a seldom-heard groups action plan to focus on tackling persistent, cross-cutting barriers to devolved benefit take-up in the run up to the next Benefit Take-Up Strategy which is due to be published by October 2026.

As reserved benefits remain the responsibility for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), we have repeatedly urged the UK Government to more actively promote reserved benefits and develop a benefit take-up strategy to ensure everyone can get the support they are entitled to. Scottish Government analysts regularly engage with DWP analysts to share information and discuss priorities. As part of that, we encourage DWP to expand their benefit take-up analysis and estimates to include Universal Credit, particularly for Scotland.

Recommendation 6: The Scottish Government should consider options for investing further in social security

Scottish Government response: We know that our decision to invest in Scotland’s social security safety net to target help at those who need it most is vital in our efforts to eradicate child poverty, with the Commission noting the significant impact of the Scottish Child Payment in particular. However, we must also remain aware of the limits placed on us as a devolved government, as social security spending by the Scottish Government already exceeds the funding received from the UK Government through the Social Security Block Grant Adjustments (BGA). This is a result of deliberate policy choices and delivery changes made by the Scottish Government and of spending on payments unique to Scotland introduced since 2018, which do not receive BGA funding.

The Scottish Government is deeply concerned by UK Government plans cut £4.8 billion from benefits by 2029-30, with the DWP’s own impact assessment highlighting that by 2029-30 an estimated 3.2 million families will lose out – with 96% of households including a disabled person. Not only will these measures push an estimated 50,000 children into poverty, but they will reduce the funding received by the Scottish Government in the future, constraining the options available to further invest in and reform social security benefits offered in Scotland. We will need time to work through the detail of these reforms and understand the impacts on both devolved disability benefits in Scotland and the people who rely on this support.

Despite this, the Scottish Government remains clear in our commitment to providing vital social security assistance to people in Scotland, and mitigating where possible the impacts of 15 years of UK Government policies such as the bedroom tax and benefit cap. That is why we are developing the systems needed to effectively scrap the impact of the two-child cap by April 2026, investing in a way which seeks to end the impact of the cap in Scotland as far as we can within our devolved powers.

The Scottish Government’s review of international evidence, published alongside this annual report, further reinforces the importance of investment in a robust social security system – in parallel to wider action to tackle child poverty.

Building on this and wider evidence, together with views shared through our ongoing consultation on the next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, we will carefully consider the range of action needed to outline a balanced course to the 2030 targets.

Recommendation 7: The Scottish Government should explore further the role of housing costs in the private rented sector in child poverty.

Scottish Government response: Housing has a vital role to play in tacking child poverty. The Housing (Scotland) Bill, if approved by Parliament, provides a framework that supports the introduction of a long-term system of rent control for Scotland. This will stabilise rent levels for private tenants in areas where rents are identified as rising steeply, limiting rent increases to CPI+1% up to a maximum of 6% of existing rent.

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme has flexible grant funding arrangements in place ensuring that housing needs identified by Local Authorities as a priority can be supported. Our guidance for Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords on the grant funded element of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme includes provisions to ensure that grant applicants ensure rent affordability for tenants. This applies to all homes delivered through the programme, including accessible homes for households with a disabled person.

In development of the next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, we will consider what steps that we can take to further strengthen the action to deliver affordable homes and support those living in the private rented sector.

Recommendation 8: The Scottish Government should look to understand more about households in the deepest poverty and consider what specific actions could be taken to reduce poverty for these children.

Scottish Government response: We note recent analysis, published in April 2025, from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation focused on deep poverty among families in Scotland. This sets out trends in deep and very deep poverty rates over time and highlights key areas for action. We will also give ongoing consideration to how we may further strengthen the evidence base on this important issue.

As set out in updated Child Poverty Modelling, published by the Scottish Government in March 2025, it is estimated that rates of deep poverty would be seven percentage points higher in 2025-26 in the absence of Scottish Government policies - representing some 70,000 children who would otherwise be in deep poverty. The impact of our policies is estimated to rise to 10 percentage points or 100,000 children in 2027-28.

In development of the next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan we will give careful consideration to how we can further strengthen the impact of our action for households in the deepest poverty.

Recommendation 9: The Scottish Government should work with the Department of Work and Pensions in relation to child poverty data.

Scottish Government response: The Scottish Government has a long-term commitment to working with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on child poverty data. Following the DWP Family Resources Survey transformation plan, we have been involved in ongoing collaboration with DWP, including contributing to the development of the Scottish Child Payment imputation methodology for the Family Resources Survey, as well as advising on updating the DWP and HMRC children in low income families local measure to incorporate the Scottish Child Payment as an income stream. We continue to work alongside DWP and other stakeholders to develop new and innovative ways to improve the data gathered.